Get back “Open command window here” context menu option in Windows 10

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Windows 10 Creators Update removes the “Open Command Prompt here” context menu entry and replaces it with “Open PowerShell window here”. Microsoft, in an effort to bring the best command line experiences to the forefront for all power users, has made PowerShell as the de facto command shell.

You may also be knowing that since the preview build 14971, “Command Prompt” and “Command Prompt (Admin)” entries in the Win+X menu (the menu which appears when you right-click Start) were replaced with PowerShell links.

Quoting Microsoft:

It (PowerShell) replaces Command Prompt (aka, “cmd.exe”) in the WIN + X menu, in File Explorer’s File menu, and in the context menu that appears when you shift-right-click the whitespace in File Explorer. Typing “cmd” (or “powershell”) in File Explorer’s address bar will remain a quick way to launch the command shell at that location. For those who prefer to use Command Prompt, you can opt out of the WIN + X change by opening Settings > Personalization > Taskbar, and turning “Replace Command Prompt with Windows PowerShell in the menu when I right-click the Start button or press Windows key+X” to “Off”.

For more information, check out the 14971 Preview Build announcement post.

Although you’re able to run the old commands in the PowerShell window, you need to use the “.exe” suffix when running certain commands. For instance, running the “SC” command under PowerShell window gives different results than what you get when running the same command from a regular Command Prompt shell.

“SC” is understood as the alias for “Set-Content” PowerShell cmdlet. So to manage services using the SC (SC.EXE) command in the PowerShell window, you’ll need to type the file extension — .EXE. Whereas the regular Command Prompt (CMD.exe) shell knows SC is nothing but SC.EXE, assuming no file of the same name and with a .COM extension exists in the path.

Add Command Prompt to the Context menu

If you’re fond of the old Command Prompt (cmd.exe), you can add the traditional “Open Command window here” option back in the context menu for file system folders and drives, using a Registry edit.

Copy the following lines to Notepad, and save it with a .REG extension, say cmdhere.reg. Double-click the file to apply the registry settings.

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\shell\cmdprompt]
@="@shell32.dll,-8506"
"NoWorkingDirectory"=""

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\shell\cmdprompt\command]
@="cmd.exe /s /k pushd \"%V\""

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\Background\shell\cmdprompt]
@="@shell32.dll,-8506"
"NoWorkingDirectory"=""

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\Background\shell\cmdprompt\command]
@="cmd.exe /s /k pushd \"%V\""

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Drive\shell\cmdprompt]
@="@shell32.dll,-8506"
"NoWorkingDirectory"=""

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Drive\shell\cmdprompt\command]
@="cmd.exe /s /k pushd \"%V\""

Alternately, you can download the REG file.

Download cmd-here-windows-10.zip

This adds the “Open command window here” option to the right-click menu for folders and drives, which when clicked, opens a Command Prompt window at the current drive or directory path.

add cmd here to right-click menu

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About the author

Ramesh Srinivasan founded Winhelponline.com back in 2005. He is passionate about Microsoft technologies and has a vast experience in Windows — delivering support for Microsoft's consumer products. He has been a Microsoft MVP (2003-2012) who contributes to various Windows support forums.

43 thoughts on “Get back “Open command window here” context menu option in Windows 10”

  5. Thanks for the info and reg file!
    I’m hoping somebody would stop Microsoft making a mess in every update for God’s sake!

  7. Microsoft has given the fix for returning CMD back into the Start menu, but not for the Windows Explorer context.
    Your .reg and explanation is very welcome.

  12. I downloaded the file, and it works perfectly. I personally think they should both be there. It should’ve been like that for a long time, in my opinion.

  15. Thanks, now I don’t have to open cmd from the menu and browse there through commands anymore. I don’t get why Microsoft decided to remove this, powershell can’t do everything that command prompt can.

  16. thank you so muchhh!!!you help me so much guys i’ve been checking all day and i finally found it here in this website lifesaver love you guys!!!

  18. Your regedit works perfectly. The system should have been like this from Microsoft. Add new features, don’t delete the old ones!
    Powershell does not do ‘dir’ correctly.
    Björn

  19. Thanks for the .reg file. I had to log out of my standard account and the log into my admin account for the .reg file to work.

  20. I’ve created a .reg file with the contents shown above, run the reg file and confirmed that the registry contains these entries. Yet the context menu for any directory in File Explorer does NOT contain an entry for a command window.

  22. The zip package worked excellently. Thanks a lot sir. Shame on you MS for “forcing” stuffs on us! Shameful act from MS.

  41. Also you can add this parameter:
    “Icon”=”cmd.exe,0”
    After each “NoWorkingDirectory”=”” line, so this menu option will have cmd.exe icon and get easier to distinguish in context menu.

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