Is it possible to open a Windows Explorer window from PowerShell

Question

I m sure this must be possible  but I can t find out how to do it   Any clues

User · Answer

I came across this question looking for a way to open an Explorer window from PowerShell and also select a file. I'm adding this answer in case others come across it for the same reason.

To launch Explorer and select a file, use Invoke-Expression:

Invoke-Expression "explorer '/select,$filePath'"

There are probably other ways to do this, but this worked for me.

User · Answer

startinfo   new-object System Diagnostics ProcessStartInfo   startinfo FileName    explorer exe   startinfo WorkingDirectory    D  foldername    System Diagnostics Process   Start  startinfo    Hope this helps

User · Answer

Just use the Invoke-Item cmdlet  For example  if you want to open a explorer window on the current directory you can do   Invoke-Item

User · Answer

explorer

User · Answer

Just use the Invoke-Item cmdlet  For example  if you want to open a explorer window on the current directory you can do   Invoke-Item

User · Answer

explorer

User · Answer

Use   ii     which is short for  Invoke-Item     It is one of the most common things I type at the PowerShell command line

User · Answer

explorer

User · Answer

Single line command  this worked for me explorer

User · Answer

I wanted to write this as a comment but I do not have 50 reputation    All of the answers in this thread are essentially to use Invoke-Item or to use explorer exe directly  however  this isn t completely synonymous with  open containing folder   so in terms of opening an Explorer window as the question states  if we wanted to apply the answer to a particular file the question still hasn t really been answered   e g     Invoke-Item C  Users Foo bar txt explorer exe C  Users Foo bar html     those two commands would result in Notepad exe or Firefox exe being invoked on the two files respectively  not an explorer exe window on C  Users Foo   the containing directory    Whereas if one was issuing this command from powershell  this would be no big deal  less typing anyway   if one is scripting and needs to  open containing folder  on a variable  it becomes a matter of string matching to extract the directory from the full path to the file    Is there no simple command  Open-Containing-Folder  such that a variable could be substituted    e g      foo    C  Users Foo foo txt       some code   fooPath   opens C  Users Foo  and not the default program for  txt file extension

User · Answer

You have a few options    Powershell looks for executables in your path  just as cmd exe does  So you can just type explorer on the powershell prompt  Using this method  you can also pass cmd-line arguments  see http   support microsoft com kb 314853  The Invoke-Item cmdlet provides a way to run an executable file or to open a file  or set of files  from within Windows PowerShell  Alias  ii use system diagnostics process   Examples   PS C   gt  explorer PS C   gt  explorer   PS C   gt  explorer  n PS C   gt  Invoke-Item c  path  PS C   gt  ii c  path  PS C   gt  Invoke-Item c  windows explorer exe PS C   gt  ii c  windows explorer exe PS C   gt   diagnostics process   start  explorer exe

User · Answer

start explorer exe    Simple single line command

User · Answer

startinfo   new-object System Diagnostics ProcessStartInfo   startinfo FileName    explorer exe   startinfo WorkingDirectory    D  foldername    System Diagnostics Process   Start  startinfo    Hope this helps

User · Answer

You have a few options    Powershell looks for executables in your path  just as cmd exe does  So you can just type explorer on the powershell prompt  Using this method  you can also pass cmd-line arguments  see http   support microsoft com kb 314853  The Invoke-Item cmdlet provides a way to run an executable file or to open a file  or set of files  from within Windows PowerShell  Alias  ii use system diagnostics process   Examples   PS C   gt  explorer PS C   gt  explorer   PS C   gt  explorer  n PS C   gt  Invoke-Item c  path  PS C   gt  ii c  path  PS C   gt  Invoke-Item c  windows explorer exe PS C   gt  ii c  windows explorer exe PS C   gt   diagnostics process   start  explorer exe

User · Answer

startinfo   new-object System Diagnostics ProcessStartInfo   startinfo FileName    explorer exe   startinfo WorkingDirectory    D  foldername    System Diagnostics Process   Start  startinfo    Hope this helps

User · Answer

Use any of these    start    explorer    start explorer   ii   invoke-item      You may apply any of these commands in PowerShell   Just in case you want to open the explorer from the command prompt  the last two commands don t work  and the first three work fine

User · Answer

Just use the Invoke-Item cmdlet  For example  if you want to open a explorer window on the current directory you can do   Invoke-Item

User · Answer

start explorer exe    Simple single line command

User · Answer

Just use the Invoke-Item cmdlet  For example  if you want to open a explorer window on the current directory you can do   Invoke-Item

User · Answer

You have a few options    Powershell looks for executables in your path  just as cmd exe does  So you can just type explorer on the powershell prompt  Using this method  you can also pass cmd-line arguments  see http   support microsoft com kb 314853  The Invoke-Item cmdlet provides a way to run an executable file or to open a file  or set of files  from within Windows PowerShell  Alias  ii use system diagnostics process   Examples   PS C   gt  explorer PS C   gt  explorer   PS C   gt  explorer  n PS C   gt  Invoke-Item c  path  PS C   gt  ii c  path  PS C   gt  Invoke-Item c  windows explorer exe PS C   gt  ii c  windows explorer exe PS C   gt   diagnostics process   start  explorer exe

User · Answer

explorer

User · Answer

Use   ii     which is short for  Invoke-Item     It is one of the most common things I type at the PowerShell command line

User · Answer

You have a few options    Powershell looks for executables in your path  just as cmd exe does  So you can just type explorer on the powershell prompt  Using this method  you can also pass cmd-line arguments  see http   support microsoft com kb 314853  The Invoke-Item cmdlet provides a way to run an executable file or to open a file  or set of files  from within Windows PowerShell  Alias  ii use system diagnostics process   Examples   PS C   gt  explorer PS C   gt  explorer   PS C   gt  explorer  n PS C   gt  Invoke-Item c  path  PS C   gt  ii c  path  PS C   gt  Invoke-Item c  windows explorer exe PS C   gt  ii c  windows explorer exe PS C   gt   diagnostics process   start  explorer exe

User · Answer

Single line command  this worked for me explorer

User · Answer

This is the only thing that fit my unique constraints of wanting the folder to open as a Quizo Tab in any existing Explorer window    objShell   New-Object -ComObject  Shell Application   objShell Explore  path

User · Answer

Use   ii     which is short for  Invoke-Item     It is one of the most common things I type at the PowerShell command line

User · Answer

startinfo   new-object System Diagnostics ProcessStartInfo   startinfo FileName    explorer exe   startinfo WorkingDirectory    D  foldername    System Diagnostics Process   Start  startinfo    Hope this helps

User · Answer

This is the only thing that fit my unique constraints of wanting the folder to open as a Quizo Tab in any existing Explorer window    objShell   New-Object -ComObject  Shell Application   objShell Explore  path

User · Answer

Use any of these    start    explorer    start explorer   ii   invoke-item      You may apply any of these commands in PowerShell   Just in case you want to open the explorer from the command prompt  the last two commands don t work  and the first three work fine

User · Answer

I wanted to write this as a comment but I do not have 50 reputation    All of the answers in this thread are essentially to use Invoke-Item or to use explorer exe directly  however  this isn t completely synonymous with  open containing folder   so in terms of opening an Explorer window as the question states  if we wanted to apply the answer to a particular file the question still hasn t really been answered   e g     Invoke-Item C  Users Foo bar txt explorer exe C  Users Foo bar html     those two commands would result in Notepad exe or Firefox exe being invoked on the two files respectively  not an explorer exe window on C  Users Foo   the containing directory    Whereas if one was issuing this command from powershell  this would be no big deal  less typing anyway   if one is scripting and needs to  open containing folder  on a variable  it becomes a matter of string matching to extract the directory from the full path to the file    Is there no simple command  Open-Containing-Folder  such that a variable could be substituted    e g      foo    C  Users Foo foo txt       some code   fooPath   opens C  Users Foo  and not the default program for  txt file extension

User · Answer

I came across this question looking for a way to open an Explorer window from PowerShell and also select a file. I'm adding this answer in case others come across it for the same reason.

To launch Explorer and select a file, use Invoke-Expression:

Invoke-Expression "explorer '/select,$filePath'"

There are probably other ways to do this, but this worked for me.

User · Answer

Use   ii     which is short for  Invoke-Item     It is one of the most common things I type at the PowerShell command line

[powershell] Is it possible to open a Windows Explorer window from PowerShell?

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