Windows Explorer Command Prompt Here

Question

I frequently find myself with a folder open in Windows  wishing to have a command prompt open with the same working directory   I am aware of Power Toys  Command Prompt   but that only works as a context menu item on the folder  and not from inside the folder if you are already there   I know you can navigate to the parent directory  and use it from there  but if the parent has thousands of directories in it  this is not so convenient   I have tried some home-brewed batch files associated with folder actions in explorer  but those suffer from similar problems   So  what is the quickest way to open a command prompt with a working directory of the current windows explorer folder   My current approach   horrible    Alt - D  Ctrl - C  copy path  Win - R   cmd   Enter  start command prompt   cd   Space  start a change directory command  Alt - Space  e  p  paste directory  Enter  execute change directory    I know there is something better   What is it

User · Answer

You can edit the registry to add the Command Prompt item to the context menu. Here are a couple of .reg files that I use.

Cmdhere.reg - for WinNT/2000/XP/Vista/7:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\shell\OpenNew]
@="Command Prompt"
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\shell\OpenNew\Command]
@="cmd.exe /k cd %1"
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Drive\shell\OpenNew]
@="Command Prompt"
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Drive\shell\OpenNew\Command]
@="cmd.exe /k cd %1"

Doshere.reg - for Win9x:

REGEDIT4
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\shell\OpenNew]
@="MS-DOS Prompt"
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\shell\OpenNew\Command]
@="command.com /k cd %1"
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Drive\shell\OpenNew]
@="MS-DOS Prompt"
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Drive\shell\OpenNew\Command]
@="command.com /k cd %1"

Copy this into an empty text file and change the extension to .reg. Double-clicking on this in Windows Explorer will add these key to the registry.

User · Answer

Hold Shift while Right-Clicking a blank space in the desired folder to bring up a more verbose context menu  One of the options is Open Command Window Here  This works in Windows Vista  7  8  and 10  Since Windows 10 Creators Update  the option has been replaced with Open PowerShell Here  However  there are ways to enable Open Command Window Here again

User · Answer

This solution also work for background menu  http   www roggel com NGNeer BackgroundCMD

User · Answer

I use StExBar  a Windows Explorer extension that gives you a command prompt button in explorer along with some other cool features  copy path  copy file name  amp  more   https   tools stefankueng com StExBar html EDIT  I just found out  been using it for more than a year and did not know this  that Ctrl M will do it with StExBar   How s that for fast

User · Answer

Right-click the title-bar icon of the Explorer window  You ll get the current folder s context menu  where you ll find the  command window here  item    Note that to see that menu item  you need to have the corresponding  power toy  installed  or you can create the right registry keys yourself to add that item to folders  context menus

User · Answer

http   www petefreitag com item 146 cfm     Open up windows explorer Tools -  Folder Options  File Types Tab Select the Folder file type Click Advanced Click New For the Action type what ever you want the context menu to display  I used Command Prompt  For the Application used to perform the action use c  windows system32 cmd exe  note on win2k you will want to specify the winnt directory instead of the windows directory

User · Answer

I use a lot the  Send To  functionality  I create my own batch   bat  files in the shell sendto folder and send files folders to them using the context menu  to get there just write  shell sendto   in location bar   I have scripts to perform all sort of things  send files by ftp  launch a php server in the current folder  create folders named with the current date  copy sent path to clipboard  etc  Sorry  a bit offtopic but useful anyway

User · Answer

If that s so bothering  you could try to switch to windows explorer alternative like freecommander which has a toolbar button for that purpose

User · Answer

I use StExBar  a Windows Explorer extension that gives you a command prompt button in explorer along with some other cool features  copy path  copy file name  amp  more   https   tools stefankueng com StExBar html EDIT  I just found out  been using it for more than a year and did not know this  that Ctrl M will do it with StExBar   How s that for fast

User · Answer

Right-click the title-bar icon of the Explorer window  You ll get the current folder s context menu  where you ll find the  command window here  item    Note that to see that menu item  you need to have the corresponding  power toy  installed  or you can create the right registry keys yourself to add that item to folders  context menus

User · Answer

This solution also work for background menu  http   www roggel com NGNeer BackgroundCMD

User · Answer

Just type  cmd  to location bar  that s it  It will start a new command prompt in current path   This solution was confirmed to work in Windows XP  Vista  7  8 and 10  including Creators Update    Keystrokes to move the focus to the location bar    AltD in English  pointed out by Tim Stewart in the comments  AltE in German

User · Answer

On vista and windows 7    Alt d -  it will put focus on the address bar of the explorer window and then  type the name of any program you would launch using WIN r  hit Enter   The program will start with its current directory set to that of the explorer instance  e g  python  ghci  powershell  cmd  etc

User · Answer

If that s so bothering  you could try to switch to windows explorer alternative like freecommander which has a toolbar button for that purpose

User · Answer

Tried the answer given by Tough Coder in Windows 7 and it works     Create a shortcut to cmd exe in  HOMEDRIVE  HOMEPATH  Links  open its file properties and change the field  Start at  to  1   Iniciar en  translated from spanish      Now drag folders to it and you ll see the magic  It works too in all standard Open File dialogs  wow     ps  those  strange  tabs above in my picture are because I use Clover  I recommend it

User · Answer

I use StExBar  a Windows Explorer extension that gives you a command prompt button in explorer along with some other cool features  copy path  copy file name  amp  more   https   tools stefankueng com StExBar html EDIT  I just found out  been using it for more than a year and did not know this  that Ctrl M will do it with StExBar   How s that for fast

User · Answer

Tried the answer given by Tough Coder in Windows 7 and it works     Create a shortcut to cmd exe in  HOMEDRIVE  HOMEPATH  Links  open its file properties and change the field  Start at  to  1   Iniciar en  translated from spanish      Now drag folders to it and you ll see the magic  It works too in all standard Open File dialogs  wow     ps  those  strange  tabs above in my picture are because I use Clover  I recommend it

User · Answer

As a very quick solution I can give you this  I tested this on Windows 8 1  1- Find File and Right Click on Command Prompt on File Explorer and then add command prompt to your Quick Access Toolbar     2- After adding it you can access the folder from here     That will open a command prompt in there for you

User · Answer

Right-click the title-bar icon of the Explorer window  You ll get the current folder s context menu  where you ll find the  command window here  item    Note that to see that menu item  you need to have the corresponding  power toy  installed  or you can create the right registry keys yourself to add that item to folders  context menus

User · Answer

For Windows vista and Windows 7  to open the command prompt  1  go to folder you want to work  2 In address bar type- cmd   press enter   it will open the command prompt for that location

User · Answer

Almost the same as yours    Alt d  Ctrl c Win r cmd  K cd   Ctrl v  ENTER

User · Answer

As a very quick solution I can give you this  I tested this on Windows 8 1  1- Find File and Right Click on Command Prompt on File Explorer and then add command prompt to your Quick Access Toolbar     2- After adding it you can access the folder from here     That will open a command prompt in there for you

User · Answer

Hold Shift while Right-Clicking a blank space in the desired folder to bring up a more verbose context menu  One of the options is Open Command Window Here  This works in Windows Vista  7  8  and 10  Since Windows 10 Creators Update  the option has been replaced with Open PowerShell Here  However  there are ways to enable Open Command Window Here again

User · Answer

I use a lot the  Send To  functionality  I create my own batch   bat  files in the shell sendto folder and send files folders to them using the context menu  to get there just write  shell sendto   in location bar   I have scripts to perform all sort of things  send files by ftp  launch a php server in the current folder  create folders named with the current date  copy sent path to clipboard  etc  Sorry  a bit offtopic but useful anyway

User · Answer

Hold Shift while Right-Clicking a blank space in the desired folder to bring up a more verbose context menu  One of the options is Open Command Window Here  This works in Windows Vista  7  8  and 10  Since Windows 10 Creators Update  the option has been replaced with Open PowerShell Here  However  there are ways to enable Open Command Window Here again

User · Answer

Almost the same as yours    Alt d  Ctrl c Win r cmd  K cd   Ctrl v  ENTER

User · Answer

If that s so bothering  you could try to switch to windows explorer alternative like freecommander which has a toolbar button for that purpose

User · Answer

Inside your current folder  simply press Shift Alt F --then--  Enter    The prompt will appear with your current folder s path set   Note  That works only in Windows 7   Vista  What it does is that drops the  File  menu down for you  because the  Shift  key is pressed the option  Open command window here  is enabled and focused as the first available option of  File  menu  Pressing enter starts the focused option therefor the command window    Edit    In case you are in a folder and you already selected some of its contents  file folder  this wont work  In that case Click on the empty area inside the folder to deselect any previously selected files and repeat   Edit2   Another way you can open terminal in current directory is to type cmd on file browser navigation bar where the path of current folder is written    In order to focus with your keyboard on the navigation bar Ctrl L  Then you can type cmd and hit Enter

User · Answer

Use the following in command prompt to open your current location in windows explorer   C  your-directory  explorer

User · Answer

Almost the same as yours    Alt d  Ctrl c Win r cmd  K cd   Ctrl v  ENTER

User · Answer

Hold Shift while Right-Clicking a blank space in the desired folder to bring up a more verbose context menu  One of the options is Open Command Window Here  This works in Windows Vista  7  8  and 10  Since Windows 10 Creators Update  the option has been replaced with Open PowerShell Here  However  there are ways to enable Open Command Window Here again

User · Answer

Inside your current folder  simply press Shift Alt F --then--  Enter    The prompt will appear with your current folder s path set   Note  That works only in Windows 7   Vista  What it does is that drops the  File  menu down for you  because the  Shift  key is pressed the option  Open command window here  is enabled and focused as the first available option of  File  menu  Pressing enter starts the focused option therefor the command window    Edit    In case you are in a folder and you already selected some of its contents  file folder  this wont work  In that case Click on the empty area inside the folder to deselect any previously selected files and repeat   Edit2   Another way you can open terminal in current directory is to type cmd on file browser navigation bar where the path of current folder is written    In order to focus with your keyboard on the navigation bar Ctrl L  Then you can type cmd and hit Enter

User · Answer

For Windows vista and Windows 7  to open the command prompt  1  go to folder you want to work  2 In address bar type- cmd   press enter   it will open the command prompt for that location

User · Answer

If that s so bothering  you could try to switch to windows explorer alternative like freecommander which has a toolbar button for that purpose

User · Answer

Just type  cmd  to location bar  that s it  It will start a new command prompt in current path   This solution was confirmed to work in Windows XP  Vista  7  8 and 10  including Creators Update    Keystrokes to move the focus to the location bar    AltD in English  pointed out by Tim Stewart in the comments  AltE in German

User · Answer

You can edit the registry to add the Command Prompt item to the context menu. Here are a couple of .reg files that I use.

Cmdhere.reg - for WinNT/2000/XP/Vista/7:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\shell\OpenNew]
@="Command Prompt"
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\shell\OpenNew\Command]
@="cmd.exe /k cd %1"
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Drive\shell\OpenNew]
@="Command Prompt"
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Drive\shell\OpenNew\Command]
@="cmd.exe /k cd %1"

Doshere.reg - for Win9x:

REGEDIT4
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\shell\OpenNew]
@="MS-DOS Prompt"
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\shell\OpenNew\Command]
@="command.com /k cd %1"
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Drive\shell\OpenNew]
@="MS-DOS Prompt"
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Drive\shell\OpenNew\Command]
@="command.com /k cd %1"

Copy this into an empty text file and change the extension to .reg. Double-clicking on this in Windows Explorer will add these key to the registry.

User · Answer

Just type  cmd  to location bar  that s it  It will start a new command prompt in current path   This solution was confirmed to work in Windows XP  Vista  7  8 and 10  including Creators Update    Keystrokes to move the focus to the location bar    AltD in English  pointed out by Tim Stewart in the comments  AltE in German

User · Answer

Just type  cmd  to location bar  that s it  It will start a new command prompt in current path   This solution was confirmed to work in Windows XP  Vista  7  8 and 10  including Creators Update    Keystrokes to move the focus to the location bar    AltD in English  pointed out by Tim Stewart in the comments  AltE in German

User · Answer

I use StExBar  a Windows Explorer extension that gives you a command prompt button in explorer along with some other cool features  copy path  copy file name  amp  more   https   tools stefankueng com StExBar html EDIT  I just found out  been using it for more than a year and did not know this  that Ctrl M will do it with StExBar   How s that for fast

User · Answer

On vista and windows 7    Alt d -  it will put focus on the address bar of the explorer window and then  type the name of any program you would launch using WIN r  hit Enter   The program will start with its current directory set to that of the explorer instance  e g  python  ghci  powershell  cmd  etc

User · Answer

Almost the same as yours    Alt d  Ctrl c Win r cmd  K cd   Ctrl v  ENTER

User · Answer

Right-click the title-bar icon of the Explorer window  You ll get the current folder s context menu  where you ll find the  command window here  item    Note that to see that menu item  you need to have the corresponding  power toy  installed  or you can create the right registry keys yourself to add that item to folders  context menus

User · Answer

Use the following in command prompt to open your current location in windows explorer   C  your-directory  explorer

User · Answer

http   www petefreitag com item 146 cfm     Open up windows explorer Tools -  Folder Options  File Types Tab Select the Folder file type Click Advanced Click New For the Action type what ever you want the context menu to display  I used Command Prompt  For the Application used to perform the action use c  windows system32 cmd exe  note on win2k you will want to specify the winnt directory instead of the windows directory

[windows] Windows Explorer "Command Prompt Here"

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