For quick access to the command prompt pointing to a specific directory, I would like to double click on a .bat file (saved on the desktop), and then the command prompt will open pointing to a specific folder, and would like the command prompt to remain open.
This is what I did:
rem -changing the drive to e:
e:
rem - setting the path to the specific folder
cd \users\myName\Documents\folderName\folderName\folderName\
==> this results on the command prompt opening in the specify directory, but closing right away.
I have no problem opening in the 'e' drive (start cmd e: ), but when I specify the path to the folder, it does not work
Is there a way to do this?
You need to use the option /K of the cmd.exe
Please take a look at the following link:
open command prompt window and change current working directory
Hope that helps,
The /K option is the key, as has been said. However, if you want a better CMD environment, considering creating shortcuts to CMD in a desktop folder. By changing the properties of each shortcut, you can then customize the environment, window size, fonts, buffers, etc.
To do this, create a shortcut with a Target something like this:
%windir%\system32\cmd.exe /K C:\Batch\your_batch_file.bat
In your_batch_file.bat, you can set environment variables, paths, select the drive, set the working directory, etc.
By changing the properties of the shortcut, you can totally customize the window size, fonts, colors, buffers, etc.
I use this to set up separate environments for Ruby, JRuby, CMD, etc.
The shortcut properties looks something like :
#echo off
cd /d "e:\users\myName\Documents\folderName\folderName\folderName\"
cmd /k
exit
Related
I am usually working within the same directory (or subfolders of it) and it has quite a long path so it would be really convenient if my command prompt automatically started in that directory (instead of C:\Users\username). How can I change the starting folder to the one I want?
There are two main ways to do it:
Create a shortcut that opens CMD in the directory you want (recommended).
Create a Command Prompt shortcut
Access the properties of the shortcut and set the path where you want it to open in the "Start in" field
Change the path that the command prompt uses by default
Open regedit
Go to "Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Command Processor"
Create a new "String Value" with the name "Autorun" and with the value "cd /d C:\EXAMPLEDIR"
I'm just wondering how I can make a shortcut that will open command prompt in the folder it is currently in.
Why I need this.
I save my c program file in the directory Users\PC\Documents\Other\My_Programs\WIP\Project_1\Test\
So I would have to type cd Users\PC\Documents\Other\My_Programs\WIP\Project_1\Test\ every time I want to open the command prompt in that directory.
Is there a shortcut I can make where I can move that shortcut around anywhere (don't need to change the shortcut) and it will open command prompt in the directory it is current in, so I don't need to keep typing cd .....
you can go to the directory and just type start . in the same directory
or you can make a batch file like test.bat and add below line in the same:
cd Users\PC\Documents\Other\My_Programs\WIP\Project_1\Test\
Save it anywhere and whenever you will run that batchfile, it will automatically move PWD to the required directory
Right-click in the open space of your desktop and click New > Shortcut
For the location, type or copy and paste one of the following lines.
%windir%\system32\cmd.exe /k cd Users\PC\Documents\Other\My_Programs\WIP\Project_1\Test\
As commented by aschipfl, you can already do it, (may be OS dependent)!
In Windows Explorer, or I suppose the desktop, just hold down the shift key, right click in a blank area of it and choose Open command window here, (or whatever your locale states).
I think in Windows 10 at least, the option is even available in the Explorer toolbar menu too.
My goal is to add a few executables to my PATH (for example, chrome), so that I can call
> chrome
from the command prompt and it will launch Chrome.
I know I could add Chrome's containing directory to my path (set PATH=%PATH%<chrome_path_here>;), but since I have a few executables I want to add, I'd rather make a new bin directory that contains symbolic links to the actual executables and just add that single directory to my PATH.
The Chrome executable is located at
C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe
So I tried
> mklink chrome.exe "C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe"
That successfully creates a symbolic link for the files (says so in output, and upon examining with > dir). I know my PATH is set up correctly, b/c when I run > where chrome it finds my new symbolic link.
However, when I try to execute chrome with my new link, nothing happens. A new empty window should appear, but nothing happens. No error message in the command prompt or anything.
What am I doing wrong? Am I misunderstanding symlinks in Windows? This is the approach I use in Linux all the time, but I'm new to Windows Cmd.
Thanks!
Most programs will not run from places other than they install location - which is exactly what happens when you try to run it from symlink.
It would be much easier to create CMD/BAT files in that folder with matching names which will launch programs from locations you want:
REM chrome.cmd
start /b cmd /c "C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe" %*
With Windows 7 I confirm that symlinks do not work, are simply ignored as reported in the original question.
As Harry states in his comment, shortcuts do work, and to me are simpler and easier than writing a separate script for each new command I want to enable under CMD.
He states that you need to add .lnk to your PATHEXT variable in order to do this. I affirm that this does work, and with .lnk added to PATHEXT I can simply enter the name portion of the shortcut to run the command. For example if my shortcut is named "sublime.lnk" and PATHEXT includes .lnk, I can execute the link with the simple command "sublime". Nice!
As an alternative I found that PATHEXT need not be modified if I simply type in the full name of the shortcut, including the .lnk, at my CMD prompt. E.g., I created a shortcut named "sublime.lnk" under %HOMEPATH%/bin, pointing to "C:\Program Files\Sublime Text 2\sublime_text.exe".
Now by placing %HOMEPATH%\bin in my %PATH% I can run sublime via the command "sublime.lnk".
Either of the above are the best way I know of giving access to various commands from around Windows' filesystem from a CMD prompt. I'm not a Windows expert though, and welcome a better or more standardized solution to this problem.
P.S.: I just found out the hard way that you need to ensure the "Start in:" property of any shortcut you use in this fashion is blanked out, or your program will not start in the directory you invoke the shortcut from.
P.P.S.: On a related note, I discovered how to run Windows Explorer (or its replacement) on the directory your CMD session is logged in to: start ..
How do I change default startup directory for command prompt in Windows 7?
I usually do the following to start command prompt from C:\
WIN-R (Run Prompt)
cmd /K cd C:\
I want to do the following to start command prompt from C:\
WIN-R (Run Prompt)
cmd
Make a shortcut pointing to cmd.exe somwhere (e.g. desktop) then right-click on the copy and select "properties". Navigate to the "Shortcut" menu and change the "Start in:" directory.
The following solution worked well for me. Navigate to the command prompt shortcut in the start menu:
C:\Users\ your username \AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Accessories\Command Prompt
Right click on the shortcut file to open the properties dialog. Inside the "Start in:" textbox you should see %HOMEDRIVE%%HOMEPATH%. If you want the prompt to start in C:\ just replace the variables with "C:\" (without quotes).
update
It appears that Microsoft has changed this behavior recently and so now an additional step is required. After performing the steps above copy the modified shortcut "Command Prompt" and rename it to "cmd". Then when typing "cmd" in the start menu it should once again work.
Open regedit and browse to this path
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Command Processor
Create new string vale named Autorun. Set its value to cd /d C:\.
Run cmd again. Voila!
While adding a AutoRun entry to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Command Processor like Shinnok's answer is the way to go it can also really mess things up, you really should try to detect a simple cmd.exe startup vs a script/program using cmd.exe as a child process:
IF /I x"%COMSPEC%"==x%CMDCMDLINE% (cd /D c:\)
Easiest way to do this
Click "Start" and type "cmd" or "command prompt".
Select Top most search application named exactly same "cmd" or "command prompt".
Right Click on it and select "Send To"=>"Desktop".
On Your Desktop New "cmd" Shortcut will appear
Right Click on that icon and choose "properties"
Popup will appear, In "Shortcut" Tab Type the new location in "Start In" option (e.g D:\xyz)
Drag that icon and add/pin it in "Task Bar"
On Windows Start Menu, right click on Command Prompt.
Click on "Properties".
"Command Prompt Properties" dialog box opens.
Edit the field "Start in " to a location where you want to start the command prompt.
Example: Chand %HOMEDRIVE%%HOMEPATH% to D:\PersonalPrograms.
Next time when you start command prompt the start up directory will be D:\PersonalPrograms
Bit late but ignore the registry mods.
Simply change the shortcut target to:
cmd /k "command"
i.e.
cmd /k "cd\myStartUpFolder"
Voila!
This doesn't work for me. I've tried this both under Win7 64bit and Vista 32.
I'm using the below commandline to add this capability.
reg add "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Command Processor" /v AutoRun /t REG_SZ /d "IF x"%COMSPEC%"==x%CMDCMDLINE% (cd /D c:)"
I think the easiest way is to make a cmd shortcut, then change the shortcut's "Start in" directory to the one you want to start with.
On windows 7:
Do a search for "cmd" on your Windows computer
right-click cmd and left click "Pin to start menu" (Alternatively, right-click cmd - click copy and then paste to your desktop )
right-click the cmd in your start menu or on your desktop (depending on choice 2 above) - left click properties
inside the "start in" text box paste the location of your default start directory
Press Apply and OK
Every time you click on the cmd in your start menu or your desktop shortcut, the CMD will open in your default location
changing shortcut under Windows System on 8.1 worked for me - another thing I found is that 'Start In:' WORKS when Advanced -> Run as admin is UNCHECKED, however, if CHECKED, it does not work
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Command Processor
string: Autorun
value: cd /d %~dp0
all bat files will run from the bat file location
One easy way to do it + bonus.
Start cmd with administrator rights, the default directory for the prompt will be C:\WINDOWS\system32.
I created a bat file in that directory (notes.bat)
Opened it with notepad and wrote the following lines. Each line is followed with a comment which should not be added to the bat file.
#echo off
prompt $S$CYourNamel$F$S$G$S
/* This is a comment, do not include it in the bat file - above line will make the prompt look like (YourName) > */
cd C:\Your_favorite_directory
/* This is a comment, do not include it in the bat file - above line will navigate you to your desired directory */
Saved the file and that was it.
Now when You open cmd with admin rights, just write: notes or notes.bat
and it will execute the notes.bat file with desired changes.
go to regedit ( go to search and type regedit)
expand "HKEY_CURRENT_USER" node
under HKEY_CURRENT_USER node expand "software" node
under software node expand "microsoft" node
under microsoft node click on "Command Processor"
path looks like this : "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Command Processor"
it looks something like this :
if you do not see "Autorun" String Value
Right Click - New - Expandable String Value, and rename it to Autorun
double click on "Autorun"
10.enter this value path format:
"CD/d C:\yourfoldername\yoursubfoldername"
Edit: It actually seems that editing the file shortcut breaks the Win+x, c key shortcut. (Moral of the story: only change system files you know how to fix! Eventually after a Windows update it repaired itself.)
What I ended up doing is creating a new customized Command Prompt shortcut in the start folder and pinned to the taskbar that I launch instead of cmd.exe
As other answers point out, changing the registry Autorun cmd start location is a bad idea because it silently will break other programs that shell out for tasks, like Visual Studio Code.
You should just change whatever shortcut you use to open cmd to have a Start In entry.
If you use Win+x, c to launch cmd, you can edit the Start In for
"%LOCALAPPDATA%\Microsoft\Windows\WinX\Group3\02 - Command Prompt.lnk"
type
cmd.exe /k cd c:/
in a text file and save as cmd.bat Clicking this file does the trick. You can pin it to the start menu as well.
To start in a partitioned drive (e.g. D), use
cmd.exe /k d:
My default dir was system32 when starting CMD.
I then created a batch file in that directory to change dir to the one I was after.
This caused me to always call that bat when starting CMD every time.
So I made a reg file & put this inside:
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Command Processor]
"Autorun"="cd C:\\Users\\Me\\SomeFolder"
After saving it, I opened the file, clicked ok to merge with registry, and since then every time I open CMD, I get my dir
In the new Windows Terminal, you can click Settings and edit the line "startingDirectory" to achieve something similar.
Please note, however, that this changes the default startup directory only in Windows Terminal, and not for the command prompt globally.
Use Windows Terminal and configure a starting directory.
Partial settings.json:
{
// Make changes here to the cmd.exe profile.
"guid": "{0caa0dad-35be-5f56-a8ff-afceeeaa6101}",
"name": "Command Prompt",
"commandline": "cmd.exe",
"hidden": false,
"startingDirectory": "C:\\DEV"
},
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Command Processor is no longer valid.
The new key is here:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Command Processor
Change "Autorun" to "CD /d C:\YourFolder" (without double quotes)
Keep the opening of the command prompt clean. Avoid editing the registry key and adding an Autorun, it may come back to bite you.
Create a simple batch file and save it in the C:\Windows or C:\Windows\System32 folder. I call mine !.bat (exclamation mark). It has the following commands:
#echo off
c:
cd \
cls
whoami
It goes to the folder where I need to work, clears the screen and tells me what security context I'm in.
"start in directory" command
cmd /K cd C:\WorkSpace
but if WorkSpace happens to be on different than C drive, console will be launched in default folder and then you still need to put D: to change drive
To avoid this use cd with -d parameter
cmd /K cd -d D:\WorkSpace
create a shortcut and your fixed ;)
hi if you want cmd to automatically open when the machine starts up you can place the cmd.exe executable in the startup folder(just search for startup and place a shortcut of cmd.exe there)
regedit worked great. HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\MICROSOFT\Command Processor, all you have to do is change the AutoRun key value, which is already set to wherever you are currently getting dumped into to a new value in the format of:
cd /d <drive:path>
for c:\, that would be cd /d c:\
for junk, that would be cd d/ c:\junk
its very simple, even a novice thats never used regedit should be able to figure it out. if not, go to the c:\prompt and just type in regedit, then follow the path to the key.
I have many scripts which I interact with from the command line. Everytime I need to use them, I have to open a command line window and copy+paste and CD to the path to the directory they are in. This is tedious (they are in a rather deep file system, so typing out the full path is a pain, copy+paste is better but not much). I tried to create a .BAT file that I could double-click on that would open a new command-line window in the folder the .bat file exists in but it does not work. It opens a new window, but the working directory is not the directory that .bat file is in. Here's what I've got after much googling (My cmd skills ain't so great):
cd %CD%
cmd.exe
I know from when I used Linux that Konqueror had a "Command-line window here" feature, and that's the effect I'm trying to get on Windows.
you probably want to do this:
cd /d %~dp0
cmd.exe
this will set your current directory to the directory you have the batch file in
Create a file named open_dos_here.cmd with the following lines:
%~d1
cd "%~p1"
call cmd
Put this file at any folder.
Then, go to your Send To folder (Win+E; Alt+D;shell:sendto;Enter).
Create a shortcut to point to this open_dos_here.cmd
Then, in any folder, select any file or sub-folder. Right-click and select "Send To" and then select open_dos_here.cmd to open the DOS in that folder.
You can just enter cmd into the address bar in Explorer and it starts up in that path. Likewise for PowerShell.
There's a simpler way -
start /d "folder path"
As a more general solution you might want to check out the Microsoft Power Toy for XP that adds the "Open Command Window Here" option when you right-click: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/powertoys/xppowertoys.mspx
In Vista and Windows 7, you'll get that option if you hold down shift and right-click (this is built in).
I'm thinking that if you are creating a batch script that relies on the Current Directory being set to the folder that contains the batch file, that you are setting yourself up for trouble when you try to execute the batch file using a fully qualified path as you would from a scheduler.
Better to add this line to your batch file too:
REM Change Current Directory to the location of this batch file
CD /D %~dp0
unless you are fully qualifying all of your paths.
Another solution is to use a shortcut file to cmd.exe instead of a batch file.
Edit the shortcut's start in property to %~dp0.
You achieve the same thing, except it has the Cmd icon (and you can change this).
Some people don't like clicking on batch files without knowing what's in them, and some corporate network drives have a ban on .bat files...
The simplest command to do this:
start
You can always run this in command line to open new command line window in the same location. Or you can place it in your .bat file.
Most simple way in explorer is to Shift + right mouse click on the folder or on an empty space in the folder and click on Open command prompt here.
CMD will then start in that folder
I must say, I'm not sure if it works for Windows Vista and below, but it surely works for Windows 7, 8, 8.1 and 10.
Referring to answer of #Chris,
We can also go to parent directory of batch file and run commands using following
cd /d %~dp0..
<OTHER_BATCH_COMMANDS>
cmd.exe
To understand working of command cd /d %~dp0.. please refer below link
What does it mean by command cd /d %~dp0 in Windows
You could add a context menu entry through the registry:
Navigate in your Registry to
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/Software/Classes/Folder/Shell
and create a key called "Command Prompt" without the quotes.
Set the default string to whatever text you want to appear in the right-click menu.
Create a new key within your newly created command prompt named "command," and set the default string to
cmd.exe /k pushd %1
You may need to add %SystemRoot%\system32\ before the cmd.exe if the executable can't be found.
The changes should take place immediately. Right click a folder and your new menu item should appear.
Also see http://www.petri.co.il/add_command_prompt_here_shortcut_to_windows_explorer.htm
When you are in the desired folder , just type CMD in your address bar
A bit late to the game but if I'm understanding your needs correctly this will help people with the same issue.
Two solutions with the same first step:
First navigate to the location you keep your scripts in and copy the filepath to that directory.
First Solution:
Click "Start"
Right-click "Computer" (or "My Computer)
Click "Properties"
On the left, click "Advanced System Settings"
Click "Environment Variables"
In the "System Variables" Box, scroll down and select "PATH"
Click "Edit"
In the "Variable Value" field, scroll all the way to the right
If there isn't a semi-colon (;) there yet, add it.
Paste in the filepath you copied earlier.
End with a semi-colon.
Click "OK"
Click "OK" again
Click "OK" one last time
You can now use any of your scripts as if you were already that folder.
Second Solution: (can easily be paired with the first for extra usefulness)
On your desktop create a batch file with the following content.
#echo off
cmd /k cd "C:\your\file\path"
This will open a command window like what you tried to do.
For tons of info on windows commands check here: http://ss64.com/nt/
Create a new file startCmdLine.bat in your directory and put this line in it
call cmd
That is it. Now double click on the .bat file. It works for me.
You can replace call with start, it will also work.
this code works for me
name it cmd.bat
#echo off
title This is Only A Test
echo.
:Loop
set /p the="%cd%"
%the%
echo.
goto loop
you can try:
shift + right click
then, click on Open command prompt here
Inside given folder click on the top Adddress Bar and type cmd and click enter
It will open command prompt with current folder address.
You can simply create a bat file in any convenient place and drop any file from the desired directory onto it.
Haha. Code for this:
cmd