How to open a folder in Windows Explorer from VBA

Question

I want to click a button on my access form that opens a folder in Windows Explorer   Is there any way to do this in VBA

User · Accepted Answer

You can use the following code to open a file location from vba.

Dim Foldername As String
Foldername = "\\server\Instructions\"

Shell "C:\WINDOWS\explorer.exe """ & Foldername & "", vbNormalFocus

You can use this code for both windows shares and local drives.

VbNormalFocus can be swapper for VbMaximizedFocus if you want a maximized view.

User · Answer

I just used this and it works fine   System Diagnostics Process Start  C  Users Admin files

User · Answer

Here is some more cool knowledge to go with this   I had a situation where I needed to be able to find folders based on a bit of criteria in the record and then open the folder s  that were found  While doing work on finding a solution I created a small database that asks for a search starting folder gives a place for 4 pieces of criteria and then allows the user to do criteria matching that opens the 4  or more  possible folders that match the entered criteria   Here is the whole code on the form   Option Compare Database Option Explicit  Private Sub cmdChooseFolder Click        Dim inputFileDialog As FileDialog     Dim folderChosenPath As Variant      If MsgBox  Clear List    vbYesNo   Clear List     vbYes Then DoCmd RunSQL  DELETE   FROM tblFileList      Me sfrmFolderList Requery      Set inputFileDialog   Application FileDialog msoFileDialogFolderPicker       With inputFileDialog          Title    Select Folder to Start with           AllowMultiSelect   False         If  Show   False Then Exit Sub         folderChosenPath    SelectedItems 1      End With      Me txtStartPath   folderChosenPath      Call subListFolders Me txtStartPath  1   End Sub Private Sub cmdFindFolderPiece Click        Dim strCriteria As String     Dim varCriteria As Variant     Dim varIndex As Variant     Dim intIndex As Integer      varCriteria   Array Nz Me txtSerial   Null    Nz Me txtCustomerOrder   Null    Nz Me txtAXProject   Null    Nz Me txtWorkOrder   Null        intIndex   0      For Each varIndex In varCriteria         strCriteria   varCriteria intIndex          If strCriteria  lt  gt   Null  Then             Call fnFindFoldersWithCriteria TrailingSlash Me txtStartPath   strCriteria  1          End If         intIndex   intIndex   1     Next varIndex      Set varIndex   Nothing     Set varCriteria   Nothing     strCriteria       End Sub Private Function fnFindFoldersWithCriteria ByVal strStartPath As String  ByVal strCriteria As String  intCounter As Integer       Dim fso As New FileSystemObject     Dim fldrStartFolder As Folder     Dim subfldrInStart As Folder     Dim subfldrInSubFolder As Folder     Dim subfldrInSubSubFolder As String     Dim strActionLog As String      Set fldrStartFolder   fso GetFolder strStartPath        Debug Print  Criteria     amp  Replace strCriteria           1    vbTextCompare   amp    and Folder Name is    amp  Replace fldrStartFolder Name           1    vbTextCompare   amp    and Path is     amp  fldrStartFolder Path      If fnCompareCriteriaWithFolderName fldrStartFolder Name  strCriteria  Then          Debug Print  Found and Opening     amp  fldrStartFolder Name  amp   Because of     amp  strCriteria         Shell  EXPLORER EXE   amp       amp  Chr 34   amp  fldrStartFolder Path  amp  Chr 34   vbNormalFocus     Else         For Each subfldrInStart In fldrStartFolder SubFolders              intCounter   intCounter   1              Debug Print  Criteria     amp  Replace strCriteria           1    vbTextCompare   amp    and Folder Name is    amp  Replace subfldrInStart Name           1    vbTextCompare   amp    and Path is     amp  fldrStartFolder Path              If fnCompareCriteriaWithFolderName subfldrInStart Name  strCriteria  Then                  Debug Print  Found and Opening     amp  subfldrInStart Name  amp   Because of     amp  strCriteria                 Shell  EXPLORER EXE   amp       amp  Chr 34   amp  subfldrInStart Path  amp  Chr 34   vbNormalFocus             Else                 Call fnFindFoldersWithCriteria subfldrInStart  strCriteria  intCounter              End If             Me txtProcessed   intCounter             Me txtProcessed Requery         Next     End If      Set fldrStartFolder   Nothing     Set subfldrInStart   Nothing     Set subfldrInSubFolder   Nothing     Set fso   Nothing  End Function Private Function fnCompareCriteriaWithFolderName strFolderName As String  strCriteria As String  As Boolean      fnCompareCriteriaWithFolderName   False      fnCompareCriteriaWithFolderName   InStr 1  Replace strFolderName           1    vbTextCompare   Replace strCriteria           1    vbTextCompare   vbTextCompare   gt  0  End Function  Private Sub subListFolders ByVal strFolders As String  intCounter As Integer      Dim dbs As Database     Dim fso As New FileSystemObject     Dim fldFolders As Folder     Dim fldr As Folder     Dim subfldr As Folder     Dim sfldFolders As String     Dim strSQL As String      Set fldFolders   fso GetFolder TrailingSlash strFolders       Set dbs   CurrentDb      strSQL    INSERT INTO tblFileList  FilePath  FileName  FolderSize  VALUES     amp  Chr 34   amp  fldFolders Path  amp  Chr 34   amp        amp  Chr 34   amp  fldFolders Name  amp  Chr 34   amp         amp  fldFolders Size  amp           dbs Execute strSQL      For Each fldr In fldFolders SubFolders         intCounter   intCounter   1         strSQL    INSERT INTO tblFileList  FilePath  FileName  FolderSize  VALUES     amp  Chr 34   amp  fldr Path  amp  Chr 34   amp        amp  Chr 34   amp  fldr Name  amp  Chr 34   amp         amp  fldr Size  amp               dbs Execute strSQL         For Each subfldr In fldr SubFolders             intCounter   intCounter   1             sfldFolders   subfldr Path             Call subListFolders sfldFolders  intCounter              Me sfrmFolderList Requery         Next         Me txtListed   intCounter         Me txtListed Requery     Next      Set fldFolders   Nothing     Set fldr   Nothing     Set subfldr   Nothing     Set dbs   Nothing  End Sub  Private Function TrailingSlash varIn As Variant  As String     If Len varIn   gt  0 amp  Then         If Right varIn  1 amp         Then             TrailingSlash   varIn         Else             TrailingSlash   varIn  amp              End If     End If End Function   The form has a subform based on the table  the form has 4 text boxes for the criteria  2 buttons leading to the click procedures and 1 other text box to store the string for the start folder  There are 2 text boxes that are used to show the number of folders listed and the number processed when searching them for the criteria   If I had the Rep I would post a picture        I have some other things I wanted to add to this code but haven t had the chance yet  I want to have a way to store the ones that worked in another table or get the user to mark them as good to store   I can not claim full credit for all the code  I cobbled some of it together from stuff I found all around  even in other posts on stackoverflow   I really like the idea of posting questions here and then answering them yourself because as the linked article says  it makes it easy to find the answer for later reference   When I finish the other parts I want to add I will post the code for that too

User · Answer

You can use command prompt to open explorer with path   here example with batch or command prompt   start    explorer exe  path    so In VBA ms access you can write with   Dim Path Path  C  Example  shell  cmd  c start      explorer exe    amp  Path  vbHide

User · Answer

Here is what I did   Dim strPath As String strPath      server Instructions       Shell  cmd exe  c start           amp  strPath  amp        vbNormalFocus   Pros    Avoids opening new explorer instances  only sets focus if window exists    Relatively simple  does not need to reference win32    libraries   Window maximization  or minimization  is not mandatory  Window will open with normal size    Cons    The cmd-window is visible for a short time    This consistently opens a window to the folder if there is none open and switches to the open window if there is one open to that folder   Thanks to PhilHibbs and AnorZaken for the basis for this  PhilHibbs comment didn t quite work for me  I needed to the command string to have a pair of double quotes before the folder name  And I preferred having a command prompt window appear for a bit rather than be forced to have the Explorer window maximized or minimized

User · Answer

The easiest way is  Application FollowHyperlink  path    Which only takes one line

User · Answer

Thanks to many of the answers above and elsewhere  this was my solution to a similar problem to the OP   The problem for me was creating a button in Word that asks the user for a network address  and pulls up the LAN resources in an Explorer window   Untouched  the code would take you to   10 1 1 1 Test  so edit as you see fit   I m just a monkey on a keyboard  here  so all comments and suggestions are welcome   Private Sub CommandButton1 Click       Dim ipAddress As Variant     On Error GoTo ErrorHandler      ipAddress   InputBox  Please enter the IP address of the network resource     Explore a network resource      10 1 1 1       If ipAddress  lt  gt     Then         ThisDocument FollowHyperlink ipAddress  amp    Test      End If      ExitPoint          Exit Sub      ErrorHandler          If Err Number    4120  Then             GoTo ExitPoint         ElseIf Err Number    4198  Then             MsgBox  Destination unavailable              GoTo ExitPoint         End If          MsgBox  Error    amp  Err Number  amp  vbCrLf  amp  Err Description         Resume ExitPoint  End Sub

User · Answer

Private Sub Command0 Click    Application FollowHyperlink  D  1Zsnsn SusuBarokah 20151008 Inventory mdb   End Sub

User · Answer

Here s an answer that gives the switch-or-launch behaviour of Start  without the Command Prompt window  It does have the drawback that it can be fooled by an Explorer window that has a folder of the same name elsewhere opened  I might fix that by diving into the child windows and looking for the actual path  I need to figure out how to navigate that   Usage  requires  Windows Script Host Object Model  in your project s References    Dim mShell As wshShell  mDocPath   whatever path  amp       amp  lastfoldername mExplorerPath   mShell ExpandEnvironmentStrings   SystemRoot     amp    Explorer exe   If Not SwitchToFolder lastfoldername  Then     Shell PathName  mExplorerPath  amp         amp  mDocPath  amp        WindowStyle  vbNormalFocus End If   Module   Private Declare Function FindWindowEx Lib  user32  Alias  FindWindowExA     ByVal hWnd1 As Long  ByVal hWnd2 As Long  ByVal lpsz1 As String  ByVal lpsz2 As String  As Long Private Declare Function GetClassName Lib  user32  Alias  GetClassNameA     ByVal hWnd As Long  ByVal lpClassName As String  ByVal nMaxCount As Long  As Long Private Declare Function GetWindowText Lib  user32  Alias  GetWindowTextA     ByVal hWnd As Long  ByVal lpString As String  ByVal cch As Long  As Long Private Declare Function BringWindowToTop Lib  user32     ByVal lngHWnd As Long  As Long  Function SwitchToFolder pFolder As String  As Boolean  Dim hWnd As Long Dim mRet As Long Dim mText As String Dim mWinClass As String Dim mWinTitle As String      SwitchToFolder   False      hWnd   FindWindowEx 0  0 amp   vbNullString  vbNullString      While hWnd  lt  gt  0 And SwitchToFolder   False         mText   String 100  Chr 0           mRet   GetClassName hWnd  mText  100          mWinClass   Left mText  mRet          If mWinClass    CabinetWClass  Then             mText   String 100  Chr 0               mRet   GetWindowText hWnd  mText  100              If mRet  gt  0 Then                 mWinTitle   Left mText  mRet                  If UCase mWinTitle    UCase pFolder  Or                      UCase Right mWinTitle  Len pFolder    1          amp  UCase pFolder  Then                     BringWindowToTop hWnd                     SwitchToFolder   True                 End If             End If         End If         hWnd   FindWindowEx 0  hWnd  vbNullString  vbNullString      Wend  End Function

User · Answer

I may not use shell command because of security in the company so the best way I found on internet   Sub OpenFileOrFolderOrWebsite     Shows how to open files and   or folders and   or websites   or create    emails using the FollowHyperlink method Dim strXLSFile As String  strPDFFile As String  strFolder As String  strWebsite As String  Dim strEmail As String  strSubject As String  strEmailHyperlink As     String   strFolder    C  Test Files    strXLSFile   strFolder  amp   Test1 xls   strPDFFile   strFolder  amp   Test pdf   strWebsite    http   www blalba com     strEmail    mailto YourEmailHere Website com   strSubject     subject Test   strEmailHyperlink   strEmail  amp  strSubject                   FEEL FREE TO COMMENT ANY OF THESE TO TEST JUST ONE ITEM            Open Folder ActiveWorkbook FollowHyperlink Address  strFolder  NewWindow  True    Open excel workbook ActiveWorkbook FollowHyperlink Address  strXLSFile  NewWindow  True    Open PDF file ActiveWorkbook FollowHyperlink Address  strPDFFile  NewWindow  True    Open VBAX ActiveWorkbook FollowHyperlink Address  strWebsite  NewWindow  True    Create New Email ActiveWorkbook FollowHyperlink Address  strEmailHyperlink  NewWindow  True                                                                                   End Sub    so actually its    strFolder    C  Test Files     and   ActiveWorkbook FollowHyperlink Address  strFolder  NewWindow  True

User · Answer

Thanks to PhilHibbs comment  on VBwhatnow s answer  I was finally able to find a solution that both reuses existing windows and avoids flashing a CMD-window at the user   Dim path As String path   CurrentProject path  amp      Shell  cmd  C start       max      amp  path  amp        vbHide   where  path  is the folder you want to open    In this example I open the folder where the current workbook is saved    Pros    Avoids opening new explorer instances  only sets focus if window exists   The cmd-window is never visible thanks to vbHide  Relatively simple  does not need to reference win32 libraries     Cons    Window maximization  or minimization  is mandatory    Explanation   At first I tried using only vbHide  This works nicely    unless there is already such a folder opened  in which case the existing folder window becomes hidden and disappears  You now have a ghost window floating around in memory and any subsequent attempt to open the folder after that will reuse the hidden window - seemingly having no effect   In other words when the  start -command finds an existing window the specified vbAppWinStyle gets applied to both the CMD-window and the reused explorer window   So luckily we can use this to un-hide our ghost-window by calling the same command again with a different vbAppWinStyle argument    However by specifying the  max or  min flag when calling  start  it prevents the vbAppWinStyle set on the CMD window from being applied recursively   Or overrides it  I don t know what the technical details are and I m curious to know exactly what the chain of events is here

[ms-access] How to open a folder in Windows Explorer from VBA?

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