CODEWITHSUNDEEP
powershellwindows-7shortcut
Dave Bish
Dave Bish

Reputation: 19636

Open Powershell in a specific directory from shortcut

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?

Upvotes: 94

Views: 83708

Answers (14)

Danny C
Danny C

Reputation: 2980

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.

enter image description here

Upvotes: 0

Muhammad Yasirroni
Muhammad Yasirroni

Reputation: 2137

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

Upvotes: 0

JFMoya
JFMoya

Reputation: 113

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.

Upvotes: 2

Troglo
Troglo

Reputation: 1642

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

wt.exe -d "c:\temp"

Upvotes: 1

ΩmegaMan
ΩmegaMan

Reputation: 31576

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"

  1. Click Advanced... and select Run as administrator.
  2. Click OKs out.

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.

Upvotes: 9

Nishith Savla
Nishith Savla

Reputation: 327

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

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

Upvotes: 0

gilu
gilu

Reputation: 197

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\.

Upvotes: 0

Loïc MICHEL
Loïc MICHEL

Reputation: 26120

Use this command.

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

-NoExit: Do not exit after running startup commands.

Upvotes: 152

GtdDev
GtdDev

Reputation: 928

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

Upvotes: 12

frank tan
frank tan

Reputation: 141

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:

enter image description here

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

Upvotes: 2

Scott Dimond
Scott Dimond

Reputation: 19

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'"

Upvotes: 1

Shay Levy
Shay Levy

Reputation: 126702

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

Upvotes: 45

CB.
CB.

Reputation: 60910

try:

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

Upvotes: 6

Dave Bish
Dave Bish

Reputation: 19636

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}"

Upvotes: 10

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