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18 Ways To Open Command Prompt in Windows 10 and 11
18 Ways To Open Command Prompt in Windows 10 and 11
Windows 10/11
By Rakesh
May 15, 2022
In Microsoft, Tutorials, Windows
The Windows Command Prompt has been there since the inception of the OS itself. It was
initially released in December 1987 and was co-developed by Microsoft, IBM, and ReactOS
contributors. The Command Prompt is a command-line interface that allows users to execute
commands to perform tasks faster, automate tasks, troubleshoot specific problems, and so on. In
this tutorial, we’ll check out all possible ways and shortcuts to open the Command Prompt in
Windows 10 and 11. Most of these methods also work on the older versions such as Windows 7
and 8.
The Command Prompt is no more the default shell utility. Windows PowerShell has now
replaced the good old CMD with the Windows 10 build 14791 update. Being an upgraded
version of the CMD, PowerShell has all the functionality of its predecessor but it also has system
administration functionality. Do not forget to check out these 17 ways to open PowerShell in
Windows 10 and 11.
Finally, let’s check out the ways you can open the Command Prompt in Windows 1o, 11, and
most of the older versions of the OS.
When the Power User menu pops up, just click the Command Prompt or Command Prompt
(Admin) option.
1. Click Start (Windows icon in the bottom-left corner of the screen) and click the Settings
icon.
2. Click Personalization. You can directly open the personalization settings by performing
a right-click with your mouse on the desktop screen.
3. Now click Taskbar on the left panel.
4. On the right panel, click the toggle button below ‘Replace Command Prompt with
Windows PowerShell in the menu when I right-click the start button or press
Windows key + X‘.
Done! You can now access the Command Prompt from the Power User Menu on Windows 10 or
11.
Don’t forget to check out these 250 Windows keyboard shortcuts to use Windows 10 or 11 like a
pro.
The Windows Terminal app also adds a shortcut in the Context Menu using which you can
launch PowerShell and Command Prompt whenever you want.
C:\Windows\System32
C:\Windows\SysWOW64
Just double-click the ‘cmd.exe‘ file or right-click the file and choose ‘Run as administrator‘ to
open the Command Prompt.
9. Launch Command Window from File Explorer Address
Bar
While navigating to the Windows\System32 folder might be a bit time-consuming, there is an
easier way to open the Command Prompt in Windows 11, 10, or older. Open File Explorer on
your PC, click inside the address bar, type “cmd” and hit the Enter key to launch the Command
Prompt.
file://C:/Windows/System32/cmd.exe
file://C:/Windows/SysWOW64/cmd.exe
Then press the Enter key. You will see a dialog box below the Downloads icon of the web
browser. Click the Open file option to open the Command Prompt.
I think I have listed all the know ways to open the Command Prompt in Windows 11, 10, and
older versions of the OS. In case you think I have missed any methods that should have been
mentioned in this article, please let me know via your valuable feedback.