Command Prompt Here in Windows 7

In Windows XP there was a downloadable PowerToy called “Open Command Window Here” which could open a command prompt window from Explorer and set the starting directory in the command prompt to the currently selected directory in Explorer. Windows 7 has this feature built in, and here’s how to use it.

The (short) video below demonstrates how to launch the command prompt, but basically all you need to do is navigate to the required folder in Windows Explorer – in this example I’ve chosen C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 11.0 – and then in the address bar at the top overwrite the path with cmd and press enter. The command prompt window will then open already at this location.