how to open a folder within Powershell

Question

How to open a folder in PowerShell? I am not talking on how to start PowerShell in a specific folder.

What I mean is that in the command line of powershell i would like to open a folder e.g: " open document"

possible duplicate of [Is it possible to open an explorer window from powershell](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/320509/is-it-possible-to-open-an-explorer-window-from-powershell) — manojlds, Dec 12 '11 at 07:35

Shay Levy · Answer 1 · 2011-12-12T11:55:09.410

92

Use the Invoke-Item cmdlet, or its alias: ii.

PS> ii c:\windows # open the windows directory in windows explorer
PS> ii c:\book.xls # open book.xls in Excel
PS> ii . # open the current directory in windows explorer

edited Dec 12 '11 at 11:55

answered Dec 12 '11 at 07:28

Shay Levy

114,369
30
175
198

score 33 · Answer 2 · answered Dec 12 '11 at 07:39

33

For Powershell and cmd compatible way ( and I think the most common way):

start .
start c:\

answered Dec 12 '11 at 07:39

manojlds

275,671
58
453
409

2

dunno if that should be the most common - invoke-item / ii is much more powershelly :) – x0n Dec 13 '11 at 15:34
I like this, works similar to `open .` for macOS `zsh` shell. – Kris Stern Aug 28 '21 at 06:51

score 10 · Answer 3 · answered Nov 10 '13 at 15:22

10

To open the current folder within the powershell type:

PS>> explorer.exe $(pwd)

answered Nov 10 '13 at 15:22

rmbd

101
1
2

score 9 · Answer 4 · answered Dec 12 '11 at 07:29

9

Use Invoke-Item, alias ii:

ii d:\temp\

answered Dec 12 '11 at 07:29

stej

27,607
11
68
102

score 6 · Answer 5 · answered Dec 12 '11 at 07:26

6

you can use the explorer.exe to open the folder:

explorer.exe c:\temp\
explorer.exe <YourFolderPathHere>

answered Dec 12 '11 at 07:26

oberfreak

1,781
13
20

score 3 · Answer 6 · answered Jan 15 '20 at 08:10

Just to add as well to the mix:

PS C:\> ii -path c:\directory\directory\directory

If your file name has two words with a separation consider single quotation marks:

PS C:\> ii -path 'c:\directory\directory\directory directory\'

The following work [note -path is optional]

   1. ii or invoke-item
   2. explorer.exe
   3. start

score 2 · Answer 7 · answered Oct 11 '18 at 17:32

I realize the question is old but folks finding this via google may find this useful even now:

I created a cmd script with:

@REM Open directory
@REM Version 1.0
@echo off
if [%1]==[] (powershell ii .
    ) Else (
        powershell ii %1
        cd %1
    )

This will also open a document such as a text file or a MS Word document, as well as opening a folder.

score 0 · Answer 8 · answered Jul 19 '21 at 07:42

0

Putting a dot after explorer.exe will open the current directory:

explorer.exe .

answered Jul 19 '21 at 07:42

Zuhair Abid

80
1
7

score 0 · Answer 9 · answered Sep 02 '21 at 13:23

0

As 'open .' in mac will open the current directory, 'start .' in window PowerShell will do the same.

answered Sep 02 '21 at 13:23

GBroll

1

score 0 · Answer 10 · answered Dec 12 '11 at 07:27

0

I don't exactly understand what you want, but I have two possible solutions:

explorer .\Documents

or

cd .\Documents

answered Dec 12 '11 at 07:27

Ocaso Protal

18,151
8
74
79

score -1 · Answer 11 · answered Dec 12 '11 at 13:36

-1

another variant

 hh c:\

 hh http://stackoverflow.com/questions/8471106

 hh $env:windir\help\WindowsPowerShellHelp.chm

answered Dec 12 '11 at 13:36

walid2mi

2,566
14
13

how to open a folder within Powershell

11 Answers11