Is there an equivalent of 'which' on the Windows command line?

Question

As I sometimes have path problems, where one of my own cmd scripts is hidden (shadowed) by another program (earlier on the path), I would like to be able to find the full path to a program on the Windows command line, given just its name.

Is there an equivalent to the UNIX command 'which'?

On UNIX, which command prints the full path of the given command to easily find and repair these shadowing problems.

Answer 1

I suggest you use Windows PowerShell's Get-Command cmdlet, as described in another answer to this question by Marawan Mamdouh.

If you're like me and don't use PowerShell, use Windows' where.exe program. Like Unix which, it shows the full path that would match the filename-only command you type:

C:\> where edit
C:\Windows\System32\edit.com

Unlike which, where.exe can show all the paths that match the given filename, though only the first one shown would normally be used when launching a program:

C:\> where notepad
C:\Windows\System32\notepad.exe
C:\Windows\notepad.exe

where.exe tries to follow the Windows command shell CMD.EXE's rules for what file names and paths work as commands. That includes the %PATHEXT% environment variable and the ability to open non-program data files using their filenames with extensions:

C:\> set pathext
PATHEXT=.COM;.EXE;.BAT;.CMD;.VBS;.VBE;.JS;.JSE;.WSF;.WSH;.MSC

C:\> where Enterprise.xml slmgr
C:\Windows\Enterprise.xml
C:\Windows\System32\slmgr.vbs

where.exe will even accept wildcards, so where nt*.exe finds all files in your %PATH% and current directory whose names start with nt and end with .exe:

C:\> where nt*.exe
C:\Windows\System32\ntoskrnl.exe
C:\Windows\System32\ntprint.exe
C:\Windows\System32\ntvdm.exe

Check the online docs for where.exe or run where.exe /? for more help.

---

Notes:

• When using PowerShell, run where.exe as where.exe, never where. Plain where in PowerShell is an alias for the Where-Object cmdlet, which does something very different from where.exe / which.
• where.exe is available in Windows Server 2003 and later. Sorry if you're still on Windows XP.

Answer 2

Under PowerShell, Get-Command will find executables anywhere in $Env:PATH.

$ Get-Command eventvwr

CommandType   Name          Definition
-----------   ----          ----------
Application   eventvwr.exe  c:\windows\system32\eventvwr.exe
Application   eventvwr.msc  c:\windows\system32\eventvwr.msc

And since powershell let's you define aliases, which can be defined like so.

$ sal which gcm   # short form of `Set-Alias which Get-Command`
$ which foo
...

PowerShell commands are not just executable files (.exe, .ps1, etc). They can also be cmdlets, functions, aliases, custom executable suffixes set in $Env:PATHEXT, etc. Get-Command is able to find and list all of these commands (quite akin to Bash's type -a foo). This alone makes it better than where.exe, which.exe, etc which are typically limited to finding just executables.

Finding executables using only part of the name

$ gcm *disk*

CommandType     Name                             Version    Source
-----------     ----                             -------    ------
Alias           Disable-PhysicalDiskIndication   2.0.0.0    Storage
Alias           Enable-PhysicalDiskIndication    2.0.0.0    Storage
Function        Add-PhysicalDisk                 2.0.0.0    Storage
Function        Add-VirtualDiskToMaskingSet      2.0.0.0    Storage
Function        Clear-Disk                       2.0.0.0    Storage
Cmdlet          Get-PmemDisk                     1.0.0.0    PersistentMemory
Cmdlet          New-PmemDisk                     1.0.0.0    PersistentMemory
Cmdlet          Remove-PmemDisk                  1.0.0.0    PersistentMemory
Application     diskmgmt.msc                     0.0.0.0    C:\WINDOWS\system32\diskmgmt.msc
Application     diskpart.exe                     10.0.17... C:\WINDOWS\system32\diskpart.exe
Application     diskperf.exe                     10.0.17... C:\WINDOWS\system32\diskperf.exe
Application     diskraid.exe                     10.0.17... C:\WINDOWS\system32\diskraid.exe
...

Finding custom executables

Unlike UNIX, where executables are files with the executable (+x) bit set, executables on windows are files present in one of the directories specified in the $PATH env. variable whose filename suffixes are named in the $PATHEXT env. variable (defaults to .COM;.EXE;.BAT;.CMD;.VBS;.VBE;.JS;.JSE;.WSF;.WSH;.MSC;.CPL).

As Get-Command also honours this env. variable, it can be extended to list custom executables. e.g.

$ $Env:PATHEXT="$Env:PATHEXT;.dll;.ps1;.psm1;.py"     # temporary assignment, only for this shell's process

$ gcm user32,kernel32,*WASM*,*http*py

CommandType     Name                        Version    Source
-----------     ----                        -------    ------
ExternalScript  Invoke-WASMProfiler.ps1                C:\WINDOWS\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\Invoke-WASMProfiler.ps1
Application     http-server.py              0.0.0.0    C:\Users\ME\AppData\Local\Microsoft\WindowsApps\http-server.py
Application     kernel32.dll                10.0.17... C:\WINDOWS\system32\kernel32.dll
Application     user32.dll                  10.0.17... C:\WINDOWS\system32\user32.dll

See Get-Command for more options and examples.

Answer 3

Here is a function which I made to find executable similar to the Unix command 'WHICH`

app_path_func.cmd:

@ECHO OFF
CLS

FOR /F "skip=2 tokens=1,2* USEBACKQ" %%N IN (`reg query "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\App Paths\%~1" /t REG_SZ  /v "Path"`) DO (
 IF /I "%%N" == "Path" (
  SET wherepath=%%P%~1
  GoTo Found
 )
)

FOR /F "tokens=* USEBACKQ" %%F IN (`where.exe %~1`) DO (
 SET wherepath=%%F
 GoTo Found
)

FOR /F "tokens=* USEBACKQ" %%F IN (`where.exe /R "%PROGRAMFILES%" %~1`) DO (
 SET wherepath=%%F
 GoTo Found
)

FOR /F "tokens=* USEBACKQ" %%F IN (`where.exe /R "%PROGRAMFILES(x86)%" %~1`) DO (
 SET wherepath=%%F
 GoTo Found
)

FOR /F "tokens=* USEBACKQ" %%F IN (`where.exe /R "%WINDIR%" %~1`) DO (
 SET wherepath=%%F
 GoTo Found
)

:Found
SET %2=%wherepath%
:End

Test:

@ECHO OFF
CLS

CALL "app_path_func.cmd" WINWORD.EXE PROGPATH
ECHO %PROGPATH%

PAUSE

Result:

C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\Office15\
Press any key to continue . . .

https://www.freesoftwareservers.com/display/FREES/Find+Executable+via+Batch+-+Microsoft+Office+Example+-+WINWORD+-+Find+Microsoft+Office+Path

Answer 4

It is possible to download all of the UNIX commands compiled for Windows, including which from this GitHub repository: https://github.com/George-Ogden/UNIX

Answer 5

Just have to post this Windows' one liner batch file:

C:>type wh.cmd
@for %%f in (%*) do for %%e in (%PATHEXT% .dll .lnk) do for %%b in (%%f%%e) do for %%d in (%PATH%) do if exist %%d\%%b echo %%d\%%b

A test:

C:>wh ssh
C:\cygwin64\bin\ssh.EXE
C:\Windows\System32\OpenSSH\\ssh.EXE

Not quite a one-liner if you wrap the code in setlocal enableextensions and endlocal.

Answer 6

try this

set a=%~$dir:1
If "%for%"=="" (Echo %1 not found) else (echo %1 found at %a%)

Answer 7

I am using GOW (GNU on Windows) which is a light version of Cygwin. You can grab it from GitHub here.

GOW (GNU on Windows) is the lightweight alternative to Cygwin. It uses a convenient Windows installer that installs about 130 extremely useful open source UNIX applications compiled as native win32 binaries. It is designed to be as small as possible, about 10 MB, as opposed to Cygwin which can run well over 100 MB depending upon options. - About Description(Brent R. Matzelle)

A screenshot of a list of commands included in GOW:

Answer 8

You can first install Git from Downloading Git, and then open Git Bash and type:

which app-name

Answer 9

For you Windows XP users (who have no where command built-in), I have written a "where like" command as a rubygem called whichr.

To install it, install Ruby.

Then

gem install whichr

Run it like:

C:> whichr cmd_here

Answer 10

In Windows PowerShell:

set-alias which where.exe

Answer 11

Cygwin is a solution. If you don't mind using a third-party solution, then Cygwin is the way to go.

Cygwin gives you the comfort of *nix in the Windows environment (and you can use it in your Windows command shell, or use a *nix shell of your choice). It gives you a whole host of *nix commands (like which) for Windows, and you can just include that directory in your PATH.

Answer 12

If you can find a free Pascal compiler, you can compile this. At least it works and shows the algorithm necessary.

program Whence (input, output);
  Uses Dos, my_funk;
  Const program_version = '1.00';
        program_date    = '17 March 1994';
  VAR   path_str          : string;
        command_name      : NameStr;
        command_extension : ExtStr;
        command_directory : DirStr;
        search_dir        : DirStr;
        result            : DirStr;


  procedure Check_for (file_name : string);
    { Check existence of the passed parameter. If exists, then state so   }
    { and exit.                                                           }
  begin
    if Fsearch(file_name, '') <> '' then
    begin
      WriteLn('DOS command = ', Fexpand(file_name));
      Halt(0);    { structured ? whaddayamean structured ? }
    end;
  end;

  function Get_next_dir : DirStr;
    { Returns the next directory from the path variable, truncating the   }
    { variable every time. Implicit input (but not passed as parameter)   }
    { is, therefore, path_str                                             }
    var  semic_pos : Byte;

  begin
      semic_pos := Pos(';', path_str);
      if (semic_pos = 0) then
      begin
        Get_next_dir := '';
        Exit;
      end;

      result := Copy(Path_str, 1, (semic_pos - 1));  { return result   }
      { Hmm! although *I* never reference a Root drive (my directory tree) }
      { is 1/2 way structured), some network logon software which I run    }
      { does (it adds Z:\ to the path). This means that I have to allow    }
      { path entries with & without a terminating backslash. I'll delete   }
      { anysuch here since I always add one in the main program below.     }
      if (Copy(result, (Length(result)), 1) = '\') then
         Delete(result, Length(result), 1);

      path_str := Copy(path_str,(semic_pos + 1),
                       (length(path_str) - semic_pos));
      Get_next_dir := result;
  end;  { Of function get_next_dir }

begin
  { The following is a kludge which makes the function Get_next_dir easier  }
  { to implement. By appending a semi-colon to the end of the path         }
  { Get_next_dir doesn't need to handle the special case of the last entry }
  { which normally doesn't have a semic afterwards. It may be a kludge,    }
  { but it's a documented kludge (you might even call it a refinement).    }
  path_str := GetEnv('Path') + ';';

  if (paramCount = 0) then
  begin
    WriteLn('Whence: V', program_version, ' from ', program_date);
    Writeln;
    WriteLn('Usage: WHENCE command[.extension]');
    WriteLn;
    WriteLn('Whence is a ''find file''type utility witha difference');
    Writeln('There are are already more than enough of those :-)');
    Write  ('Use Whence when you''re not sure where a command which you ');
    WriteLn('want to invoke');
    WriteLn('actually resides.');
    Write  ('If you intend to invoke the command with an extension e.g ');
    Writeln('"my_cmd.exe param"');
    Write  ('then invoke Whence with the same extension e.g ');
    WriteLn('"Whence my_cmd.exe"');
    Write  ('otherwise a simple "Whence my_cmd" will suffice; Whence will ');
    Write  ('then search the current directory and each directory in the ');
    Write  ('for My_cmd.com, then My_cmd.exe and lastly for my_cmd.bat, ');
    Write  ('just as DOS does');
    Halt(0);
  end;

  Fsplit(paramStr(1), command_directory, command_name, command_extension);
  if (command_directory <> '') then
  begin
WriteLn('directory detected *', command_directory, '*');
    Halt(0);
  end;

  if (command_extension <> '') then
  begin
    path_str := Fsearch(paramstr(1), '');    { Current directory }
    if   (path_str <> '') then WriteLn('Dos command = "', Fexpand(path_str), '"')
    else
    begin
      path_str := Fsearch(paramstr(1), GetEnv('path'));
      if (path_str <> '') then WriteLn('Dos command = "', Fexpand(path_str), '"')
                          else Writeln('command not found in path.');
    end;
  end
  else
  begin
    { O.K, the way it works, DOS looks for a command firstly in the current  }
    { directory, then in each directory in the Path. If no extension is      }
    { given and several commands of the same name exist, then .COM has       }
    { priority over .EXE, has priority over .BAT                             }

    Check_for(paramstr(1) + '.com');     { won't return if file is found }
    Check_for(paramstr(1) + '.exe');
    Check_for(paramstr(1) + '.bat');

    { Not in current directory, search through path ... }

    search_dir := Get_next_dir;

    while (search_dir <> '') do
    begin
       Check_for(search_dir + '\' + paramstr(1) + '.com');
       Check_for(search_dir + '\' + paramstr(1) + '.exe');
       Check_for(search_dir + '\' + paramstr(1) + '.bat');
       search_dir := Get_next_dir;
    end;

    WriteLn('DOS command not found: ', paramstr(1));
  end;
end.

Answer 13

If you have PowerShell installed (which I recommend), you can use the following command as a rough equivalent (substitute programName for your executable's name):

($Env:Path).Split(";") | Get-ChildItem -filter programName*

More is here: My Manwich! PowerShell Which

Answer 14

I have used the which module from npm for quite a while, and it works very well: https://www.npmjs.com/package/which It is a great multi platform alternative.

Now I switched to the which that comes with Git. Just add to your path the /usr/bin path from Git, which is usually at C:\Program Files\Git\usr\bin\which.exe. The which binary will be at C:\Program Files\Git\usr\bin\which.exe. It is faster and also works as expected.

Answer 15

TCC and TCC/LE from JPSoft are CMD.EXE replacements that add significant functionality. Relevant to the OP's question, which is a builtin command for TCC family command processors.

Answer 16

This batch file uses CMD variable handling to find the command that would be executed in the path. Note: that the current directory is always done before the path) and depending on which API call is used other locations are searched before/after the path.

@echo off
echo. 
echo PathFind - Finds the first file in in a path
echo ======== = ===== === ===== ==== == == = ====
echo. 
echo Searching for %1 in %path%
echo. 
set a=%~$PATH:1
If "%a%"=="" (Echo %1 not found) else (echo %1 found at %a%)

See set /? for help.

Answer 17

In Windows CMD which calls where:

$ where php
C:\Program Files\PHP\php.exe

Answer 18

In PowerShell, it is gcm, which gives formatted information about other commands. If you want to retrieve only path to executable, use .Source.

For instance: gcm git or (gcm git).Source

Tidbits:

• Available for Windows XP.
• Available since PowerShell 1.0.
• gcm is an alias of Get-Command cmdlet.
• Without any parameters, it lists down all the available commands offered by the host shell.
• You can create a custom alias with Set-Alias which gcm and use it like: (which git).Source.
• Official docs: https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee176842.aspx

Answer 19

I have a function in my PowerShell profile named 'which'

function which {
    get-command $args[0]| format-list
}

Here's what the output looks like:

PS C:\Users\fez> which python


Name            : python.exe
CommandType     : Application
Definition      : C:\Python27\python.exe
Extension       : .exe
Path            : C:\Python27\python.exe
FileVersionInfo : File:             C:\Python27\python.exe
                  InternalName:
                  OriginalFilename:
                  FileVersion:
                  FileDescription:
                  Product:
                  ProductVersion:
                  Debug:            False
                  Patched:          False
                  PreRelease:       False
                  PrivateBuild:     False
                  SpecialBuild:     False
                  Language:

Answer 20

None of the Win32 ports of Unix which that I could find on the Internet are satistactory, because they all have one or more of these shortcomings:

• No support for Windows PATHEXT variable. (Which defines the list of extensions implicitely added to each command before scanning the path, and in which order.) (I use a lot of tcl scripts, and no publicly available which tool could find them.)
• No support for cmd.exe code pages, which makes them display paths with non-ascii characters incorrectly. (I'm very sensitive to that, with the ç in my first name :-))
• No support for the distinct search rules in cmd.exe and the PowerShell command line. (No publicly available tool will find .ps1 scripts in a PowerShell window, but not in a cmd window!)

So I eventually wrote my own which, that suports all the above correctly.

Available there: http://jf.larvoire.free.fr/progs/which.exe

Answer 21

While later versions of Windows have a where command, you can also do this with Windows XP by using the environment variable modifiers, as follows:

c:\> for %i in (cmd.exe) do @echo.   %~$PATH:i
   C:\WINDOWS\system32\cmd.exe

c:\> for %i in (python.exe) do @echo.   %~$PATH:i
   C:\Python25\python.exe

You don't need any extra tools and it's not limited to PATH since you can substitute any environment variable (in the path format, of course) that you wish to use.

---

And, if you want one that can handle all the extensions in PATHEXT (as Windows itself does), this one does the trick:

@echo off
setlocal enableextensions enabledelayedexpansion

:: Needs an argument.

if "x%1"=="x" (
    echo Usage: which ^<progName^>
    goto :end
)

:: First try the unadorned filenmame.

set fullspec=
call :find_it %1

:: Then try all adorned filenames in order.

set mypathext=!pathext!
:loop1
    :: Stop if found or out of extensions.

    if "x!mypathext!"=="x" goto :loop1end

    :: Get the next extension and try it.

    for /f "delims=;" %%j in ("!mypathext!") do set myext=%%j
    call :find_it %1!myext!

:: Remove the extension (not overly efficient but it works).

:loop2
    if not "x!myext!"=="x" (
        set myext=!myext:~1!
        set mypathext=!mypathext:~1!
        goto :loop2
    )
    if not "x!mypathext!"=="x" set mypathext=!mypathext:~1!

    goto :loop1
:loop1end

:end
endlocal
goto :eof

:: Function to find and print a file in the path.

:find_it
    for %%i in (%1) do set fullspec=%%~$PATH:i
    if not "x!fullspec!"=="x" @echo.   !fullspec!
    goto :eof

It actually returns all possibilities but you can tweak it quite easily for specific search rules.

Answer 22

Go get unxutils from here: http://sourceforge.net/projects/unxutils/

gold on windows platforms, puts all the nice unix utilities on a standard windows DOS. Been using it for years.

It has a 'which' included. Note that it's case sensitive though.

NB: to install it explode the zip somewhere and add ...\UnxUtils\usr\local\wbin\ to your system path env variable.

Answer 23

I have created tool similar to Ned Batchelder:

Searching .dll and .exe files in PATH

While my tool is primarly for searching of various dll versions it shows more info (date, size, version) but it do not use PATHEXT (I hope to update my tool soon).

Answer 24

The GnuWin32 tools have which, along with a whole slew of other Unix tools.

Answer 25

The best version of this I've found on Windows is Joseph Newcomer's "whereis" utility, which is available (with source) from his site.

The article about the development of "whereis" is worth reading.

Answer 26

Not in stock Windows but it is provided by Services for Unix and there are several simple batch scripts floating around that accomplish the same thing such this this one.