Open Powershell in a specific directory from shortcut

Question

How can one make a windows short-cut that opens Powershell into a specific directory?

Such as the target:

%SystemRoot%\system32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\powershell.exe 
    -noexit -command {cd c:/path/to/open}

But that just spits out the command as text. How?

Bouncing

Answer 1

Use this command.

powershell.exe -noexit -command "cd c:\temp"

-NoExit: Do not exit after running startup commands.

Oireachtas

You will want to include 's if there are spaces in your path: powershell.exe -noexit -command "cd 'c:\a path with spaces\readme.txt'" – Romano

Just what I was looking for. The additional quotes are necessary including when working with interpolated paths. – Analogous

If we're talking about any sort of shortcut (as in, tips and tricks), there's this: if you are in the desired folder in Windows Explorer, you can type powershell in the address bar and it will open PowerShell at that location. This also works for cmd and any other application that Windows can find via the PATH environment variable. – Underlaid

Any idea why these solutions open PS in a black CMD style window instead of the standard blue PS window? – Electrocorticogram

Thanks man, I used it to avoid using the terminal in Android Studio where the commands are cropped due to a bug. – Dubbin

the command works, but I get an error message to: The string is missing the terminator: ". + CategoryInfo : ParserError: (:) [], ParentContainsErrorRecordException + FullyQualifiedErrorId : TerminatorExpectedAtEndOfString with %SystemRoot%\system32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\powershell.exe -noexit -command "cd d:\" – Desdemona

Try using single quote or revive the ending `` – Amphigory

example C:\Windows\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\powershell.exe -NoExit -Command Set-Location -LiteralPath "c:\tmp" – Modeling

Answer 2

You can also set the "Start in" shortcut field to your desired location.

Skittish

By far the easiest solution, especially if you're trying to use a path with spaces or odd characters (e.g. anything under Program Files (x86) ) – Postman

"Start in" didn't work for me, still started in c:\windows\system32. – Henpeck

Yes, this doesn't work if the shortcut has "Run as administrator" checked. – Hummer

It's even cooler when you leave the Start in field empty because then it opens in the current location. – Barouche

This is the solution that worked best for me. I made a copy of the existing shortcut, named it " - Vagrant", then set the "Start in" path to where my VagrantFile lived. Now I just hit the shortcut and "vagrant up" and can start working. – Dovetail

Answer 3

Ok - you need to use the & parameter to specify it's a powershell comand & the syntax is slightly different:

%SystemRoot%\system32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\powershell.exe 
-noexit -command "& {cd c:\path\to\open}"

Bouncing

Is there any difference between this and the solution by Kayasak? – Cadal

I am using PowerShell in Hyper, in .hyper.js, I used this solution like: shellArgs: ['-noexit', '& {cd "$HOME\\my old documents"}']. I couldn't make ['-noexit', '-command', '"cd "$HOME\\my old documents"'] or ['-noexit', '-command "cd "$HOME\\my old documents"'] to work. – Sankaran

old post but just helped me :) I was tired of getting stuck in system32 directory as an administrator. Thanks – Proteinase

Answer 4

If you want powershell to start as admin and run in a specific directory, even on a different drive, it is better to use the Set-Location command. Follow these steps

1. Create a ShortCutLink with the target being the powershellcommand exe.
2. Leave Start in: blank. (Normally this starts in current working directory when blank; but we do not care.)
3. Change Target to this with your targets for powershell and locations:

C:\Windows\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\powershell.exe -noexit -command "Set-Location D:\_DCode\Main"

4. Click Advanced... and select Run as administrator.
5. Click OKs out.

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Don't forget the handy trick to change the colors of the shortcut from the Colors tab. That way if you have two or more links which open powershell windows, seeing a different color can visually let you know which shell one is working in.

Intumescence

This is the only one that worked for me -- thank you. For (my) future reference the full path to powershell.exe is C:\Windows\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\powershell.exe – Merissameristem

Answer 5

Define a Shortcut for Powershell, and Open the properties of that, and finally in "Start" type the folder target to be opened when Powershell Shortcut is triggered

Plaster

Go to the installed .exe file in Programs and right-click to properties. Then, add shortcut – Monohydroxy

You can also just right-click and "create shortcut" in any file explorer window, then type "powershell.exe" as the target. – Kratz

Answer 6

try:

%SystemRoot%\system32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\powershell.exe 
-noexit -command "cd c:/path/to/open"

Adermin

Answer 7

If one wants a explorer right click options run this script:

New-PSDrive -Name HKCR -PSProvider Registry -Root HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT
if(-not (Test-Path -Path "HKCR:\Directory\shell\$KeyName"))
{
    Try
    {
        New-Item -itemType String "HKCR:\Directory\shell\$KeyName" -value "Open PowerShell in this Folder" -ErrorAction Stop
        New-Item -itemType String "HKCR:\Directory\shell\$KeyName\command" -value "$env:SystemRoot\system32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\powershell.exe -noexit -command Set-Location '%V'" -ErrorAction Stop
        Write-Host "Successfully!"
     }
     Catch
     {
         Write-Error $_.Exception.Message
     }
}
else
{
    Write-Warning "The specified key name already exists. Type another name and try again."
}

This is what is shown now:

---

Note that you can download a detailed script from how to start PowerShell from Windows Explorer.

Scend

Answer 8

I use a .ps1 script file to open a PowerShell terminal at a specific path from a shortcut in the taskbar. The script:

cd 'directory path'
powershell

Running "powershell.exe" from a PowerShell terminal will start a new PowerShell session, preventing the terminal window from closing.

Gonta

Answer 9

Copy this code into notepad and save with a reg extension. Double click the resulting file.If you get a message about importing to the registry click on yes and then ok. Navigate to any folder in explorer and bring up the context menu. This is typically done by clicking the right mouse button.

---

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\Background\shell\PShell]
"MUIVerb"="Open in Powershell Window"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\Background\shell\PShell\command]
@="c:\\windows\\system32\\WindowsPowerShell\\v1.0\\powershell.exe -NoExit -Command Set-Location -LiteralPath '%V'"

Nawrocki

Answer 10

If you prefer to launch Windows Terminal with your prefered command line shell, you can use:

wt.exe -d "c:\temp"

Escent

Answer 11

I just wanted to add my Developer Powershell link ... for the records.

C:\Windows\SysWOW64\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\powershell.exe -noe -c "&{Import-Module """C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2019\Professional\Common7\Tools\Microsoft.VisualStudio.DevShell.dll"""; Enter-VsDevShell d998f19b; cd c:\dev\}"

This will start the Developer Powershell (VS 2019) in c:\dev\.

Tot

To open this directory in Total Commander: add new button with this command C:\Windows\SysWOW64\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\powershell.exe and these parameters: -noe -c "&{Import-Module """C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio\2022\Professional\Common7\Tools\Microsoft.VisualStudio.DevShell.dll"""; Enter-VsDevShell YOUR-VS-HEX-CODE; Set-Location '%P'}" – Tot

Answer 12

If you are using Powershell 7 (pwsh), simply use the -WorkingDirectory flag like this:

pwsh -WorkingDirectory "C:\path\to\your\directory"

Whimsy

Answer 13

If you are on a folder (File Explorer), you can write powershell on the address bar. This will open powershell that already moved to your current folder. The shortcut:

ctrl+L (move keybord to address bar)
powershell

Eb

Answer 14

In Windows 11 the shell has a "Settings" section that lets you create profiles. You can easily configure a specific profiles to open to a specific directory and to run as an admin (if required). You can also set specific profiles to be the default any time the shell opens a new tab. That would be equivalent to creating a specific shortcut, but would apply to anytime you open the shell and not limited to a specific shortcut. You can easily open different profiles from within the shell by clicking on the drop down in the tabs bar.

Willwilla