How to Open a Folder in Windows Command Prompt (CMD)

Download Article

Quick tricks to open directories in CMD

Co-authored by Stan Kats and Travis Boylls

Last Updated: March 6, 2026 Fact Checked

Download Article

Using CMD Commands

|

Using File Explorer

|

Folder Commands for File Explorer

|

Video

Do you need to access a certain folder at the Windows command prompt? The command prompt may seem archaic, but it's really easy once you learn some basic commands. This wikiHow article will show you how to use the "cd" command to open a folder in the Windows Command Prompt (CMD). We’ll also show how to open a command prompt window from within File Explorer and how to open a File Explorer window from within Command Prompt.

Easily Open a Folder in CMD

Click the Windows Start menu, type “CMD”, and click Command Prompt. Type “cd” followed by the path of the folder you want to open. For example, to open your Documents folder, type something like “cd C:\Users\<yourusername>\Documents” and press Enter.

Method 1

Method 1 of 3:

Using Command Prompt Commands

Download Article

This displays the Command Prompt in the Windows search results.
It has an icon that resembles a black screen with a white text cursor.^{[1]
X
Research source}

Advertisement
3
Type the drive the folder is in and press ↵ Enter. If the folder you want to open is on a different drive other than the drive your Windows operating system is installed on, you need to switch to that drive in Command Prompt. To do so, type the letter of the drive followed by a colon (e.g., "D:") and then press Enter.
- You only need to do this if the folder is not located on the drive that Windows is installed on (which is usually the "C:" drive).
The "cd" command is used to change directories in the Windows Command Prompt. Type "cd" followed by a space, but do not press Enter just yet.^{[2]
X
Research source}
5
Type the address of the folder after the space and press ↵ Enter. You'll need to include every folder and subfolder the folder is located in. Place a backslash ("\") in front of each folder name.^{[3]
X
Research source} For example; "cd \Users\username\Documents."^{[4]
X
Research source}
- If you are not sure what the path of the folder is, you can navigate to the folder in File Explorer. Right-click the address bar at the top and click Copy address as text. You can then press Ctrl + V to paste the path of the folder directly into Command Prompt right after the "cd" command.

Method 2

Method 2 of 3:

Using File Explorer

Download Article

1
Press ⊞ Win+E to open File Explorer
. File Explorer is the default file browser for Windows. To open File Explorer, press the Windows key and "E" at the same time.^{[5]
X
Trustworthy Source

Microsoft Support
Technical support and product information from Microsoft.

Go to source}
- Alternatively, you can click the icon that resembles a manila folder with a blue clip in your Windows Start menu or Taskbar.
Use File Explorer to browse to the folder you want to open. Then click the folder to open it.
3
Type cmd in the address bar and press ↵ Enter. The address bar is the bar that lists the current folder(s) you are in at the top of File Explorer. Entering “CMD” in the address bar opens a new Command Prompt window inside the folder you currently have open in File Explorer.^{[6]
X
Research source}
- Alternatively, on some older versions of Windows, you can right-click a blank space inside a folder and click Open command window here. On newer versions of Windows, the option is Open PowerShell window here instead.
- According to professional technologist Stan Kats, PowerShell is like a more advanced version of Command Prompt. It’s a different language, but it uses a lot of the same commands that are available in Command Prompt. It also allows you to manage Microsoft 365 and interface with Microsoft networks.^{[7]
  X
  Expert Source
  
  Stan Kats
  Professional Technologist
  
  Expert Interview}

Method 3

Method 3 of 3:

Commands to Open Folders in File Explorer

Download Article

This displays the Command Prompt in the search results.
It has an icon that resembles a black screen with a white text cursor.
3
Open your quick access folders in File Explorer. Your Quick Access folders are usually the Desktop, Downloads, Documents, Music, Pictures, and Videos folders. You can quickly open a Quick Access folder by typing start followed by the folder name (i.e., start documents. Then press Enter.
- For this to work, you need to be in the same user folder as your Quick Access folders. For example, if there are multiple users on your computer, CMD should open to “C:\users\[your_user_name]” or something similar. If you are not in that folder, you’ll need to use the “cd” command to open the folder with your Quick Access folders.
4
Open the folder you are currently in in File Explorer. If you have a folder open in Command Prompt, and you want to open it in File Explorer, simply type start . or explorer and press Enter. This will open the folder you are currently in in a File Explorer window.
5
Open a specific folder in File Explorer. To open a specific folder in File Explorer, type start . “path to folder]” or explorer “[path to folder]” and press Enter. Make sure you put the path to the folder in quotation marks. For example, if you want to open your Program Files (x86) folder in File Explorer, you would type something like start . “C:\Program Files (x86)” and press Enter.