Microsoft is slowly but steadily trying to do away with the ages old Command Prompt in Windows 10 in an attempt to push their PowerShell framework which contains a shell as well support for running scripts. PowerShell is tightly integrated with the .NET framework and allows to run scripts in order to automate various tasks. PowerShell works not only in Windows, but also in Mac OS and Linux.
In the latest version of Windows 10, Microsoft has removed most if the convenient shortcuts to launch the command prompt window – from the administrator menu (Win+X), from the File Explorer menubar and from the File Explorer right-click context-menu. In fact, it has been replaced with PowerShell shortcuts.
Even though PowerShell is a treasure trove of tools and features that system admins love so much, sometimes you want to or have to use the good old command prompt window. And here is the quickest way of opening the command prompt window from any folder in Windows 10 without making any changes to registry or any other settings:
- Open the folder in which you want to open the command prompt window.
- Press the Alt+D hotkey. This will select the location bar in the File Explorer.
- Type cmd in the location bar and press Enter.
- Voila, you have command prompt window opened with that folder as the current directory.
This is similar to using the Open command prompt here option in the File Explorer in the older versions of Windows 10. There is no need to change the registry settings, replace or copy files, or to do away with PowerShell. You can keep using your Windows 10 computer with the new settings of the latest version of Windows 10 and still be able to launch command prompt from any folder you want.