Can I launch URLs from command line in Windows?

Question

Can I launch URLs directly from the command line in Windows?

I always thought iexplore www.google.com would work i'm sure i've done it in the past loads of times, but it didn't. So, stick c:\program files\internet explorer, in the path and it will. Personally I make another environment variable for long boring stuff like MOREPATH="c:\program files\internet explorer". Then path=.......;%MOREPATH% That's in control panel..system..environment variables. now iexplore www.google.com will damn well work! — barlop, May 22 '11 at 17:38
You can create a local .URL file (just drag and drop the address from your browser to your desktop). Then run that URL file from your command line (with "call" or "start") — IceCold, Jan 11 '24 at 08:04

Botz3000 · Answer 1 · 2020-02-18T11:01:50.157

89

Yes, with the start command. Example:

start http://www.google.com

That will use the user's default browser.
As stated by Joey, you should use a different format for URLs with special chars:

start "" "http://www.google.com"

edited Feb 18 '20 at 11:01

answered Sep 06 '09 at 05:05

Botz3000

1,047

51

Remember to use start "" "some://url?with=special&chars=:->" otherwise things will break. – Joey Sep 06 '09 at 07:22
Nice, another nice feature for this solution is that you can also do start www.google.com but I admit it will not always work. – рüффп Jun 02 '15 at 07:00
3

I need to remove the quotes, otherwise it opens a new CMD. – David Gras May 26 '17 at 08:53
2

@daVe you need an empty quote pair like Joey said if the url is quoted – phuclv Jun 04 '18 at 15:00
1

@Joey When the comment is more useful than the answer... – jpmc26 Nov 09 '18 at 21:28
@Joey I submitted an edit to this answer to save the next guy a few clicks. Pretty lame that surrounding a parameter in quotes changes the program's behavior. – vinnyjames Feb 12 '20 at 02:23
2

When the FIRST parameter has quotes, it is taken as the title of the CMD window. That's why start "" thingie run thingie, but start "thingie" runs CMD. – Jesse Chisholm Sep 02 '21 at 03:12

score 10 · Answer 2 · answered Sep 06 '09 at 05:23

10

you can use

start http://www.google.com

Interestingly only following combination are working for above url :

start www.google.com
start http://google.com
start http://blog.google.com

But following is not working :

start google.com
start asp.net
start blog.google.com

I think it is because in the later example google.com and asp.net are treated as files and it tries to find google.com file and gives error on not finding it.

I think it is hardcoded for www. Any better guesses ?

answered Sep 06 '09 at 05:23

MRG

313

1

It's probably because start works for several applications (not only websites). providing at least www or http:// the start command links your URI to the HTTP protocol, while it could probably run other protocols. – Jeff Noel Aug 07 '14 at 18:22

score 6 · Answer 3 · edited Nov 24 '14 at 18:18

6

You could use explorer <url> which will use your default browser.

edited Nov 24 '14 at 18:18

Ƭᴇcʜιᴇ007

112,807

answered Nov 24 '14 at 15:38

tim

159

@ekaj Your right :/ First time i tried it it didn't work - for some reason it now worked ... comment deleted – DavidPostill Nov 24 '14 at 20:04
Windows Server 2016: First time it displays a prompt asking you to choose a default browser, with a checkbox asking "Always use this app". – mozey Nov 18 '20 at 11:22

score 5 · Answer 4 · answered Sep 06 '09 at 05:07

5

What's "launch" in this context? You can start http://www.foo.bar/ or the like, your default browser will come up and visit that URL -- is that what you mean?

answered Sep 06 '09 at 05:07

Alex Martelli

1,466

score 3 · Answer 5 · answered Sep 16 '20 at 09:04

3

You can use this in Powershell:

Start-Process "URL"

answered Sep 16 '20 at 09:04

Wasif

8,474

score 1 · Answer 6 · answered Sep 06 '09 at 05:05

1

Here's a cheap approach that will work on XP at least:

"%PROGRAMFILES%\Internet Explorer\IExplore" "http://www.msn.com"

answered Sep 06 '09 at 05:05

David Andres

184

15

Ouch... and msn.com no less. – Sep 06 '09 at 05:09
first thing that came to mind...for no apparent reason whatsoever – David Andres Sep 06 '09 at 06:38
Cheap in what sense? – Kazark Aug 07 '14 at 18:19
1

@Kazark: cheap in that it opens up the URL in Internet Explorer as opposed to whatever the default browser happens to be. – David Andres Aug 11 '14 at 11:44

score 0 · Answer 7 · answered Jul 18 '19 at 05:43

0

you can run this below command and it will redirect to google chrome browser

C:\>start 'http://www.google.com'

answered Jul 18 '19 at 05:43

Lova Chittumuri

101

score 0 · Answer 8 · answered Oct 12 '23 at 01:55

0

Using start works fine, but it leaves the browser open to the web page.

How can you connect to a URL either 1) use the browser method and automatically close the tab, or 2) do it without starting the browser?

Mark.

answered Oct 12 '23 at 01:55

Cool Javelin

167

Ian Boyd · Answer 9 · 2018-06-04T14:18:03.313

-6

From C# code you could just run this (cmd-start equivalent):

Process.Start("http://stackoverflow.com");

You've launched your url from a command-line directly (i.e. without running another program first).

edited Jun 04 '18 at 14:18

answered Jun 06 '12 at 17:40

Ian Boyd

22,187

Is this C#? This does not work for me on Windows 7 using cmd.exe. – iglvzx Jun 06 '12 at 19:06
2

Tried this in PowerShell and it didn't work. Must be C#. Does this really answer the question? – Kazark Aug 07 '14 at 17:56
2

This is not CMD syntax, nor does it seem to be valid Powershell. I could remove my downvote if the poster updated his answer with details. – oligofren Jan 05 '17 at 12:10

Can I launch URLs from command line in Windows?

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