How to Launch Command Prompt in Windows 10 – 5 Ways

When working on a computer, some users do not understand how to open the command line in Windows 10. The fact is that calling the command line in Windows 10, after updating the Windows 10 Creators Update, has become not entirely obvious to many users.

After updating the operating system, Microsoft has changed some settings in Windows 10, in particular, it concerns the command line call. Now, by default in Windows 10, instead of the command prompt, it opens Windows PowerShell, a more powerful component of the OS than the command prompt.

After opening the Start menu with the right mouse button, instead of the usual command line options, you will see other items: Windows PowerShell and Windows PowerShell (Administrator).

What about those who are used to the fact that the command line in Windows 10 is available, and does not know how to call the command line in Windows 10 now? Where is the command line in Windows 10?

Don’t worry, the command line hasn’t disappeared from the operating system, you can always use this Windows component if necessary.

Command Prompt in Windows 10 can be launched in the following ways:

• from the Start menu using the right mouse button (instead of Windows PowerShell);
• using the “Windows” + “X” keys (instead of Windows PowerShell);
• from the Start menu from the System folder;
• using Windows Search;
• from the system folder “System32”;
• using the Task Manager;

This guide covers only those methods in which the command line is launched, including on behalf of the administrator. The instructions in this article will help you solve the problem of starting the command prompt in Windows 10.

How to Launch Command Prompt on Windows 10 from the Start Menu

The command line can easily be returned to its original place. To do this, you need to change the settings of the Windows 10 operating system.

Do the following:

1. Right click on the start menu.
2. Click on “Options”.
3. In the Settings app window, open the Personalization section.
4. Go to the Taskbar tab.
5. In the Taskbar group, under the “Replace Command Prompt with Windows PowerShell in the menu that appears when you right-click the Start button or press the Windows Key + X” settings, move the switch to the “Disabled” position.

After that, the command line will again appear in the Start menu, which is opened by right-clicking, or by simultaneously pressing the keyboard shortcut “Win” + “X”.

Now you will need to make extra movements to open Windows PowerShell. Therefore, you can leave Windows PowerShell in the right-click Start menu and run Command Prompt in other ways, including another method from the Start menu.

How to Access Command Prompt in Windows 10 from the Start Menu

The command line can be launched from the Start menu, after pressing the left mouse button. You need to enter the list of installed programs, and there find the folder “System Tools – Windows”.

After opening the “System – Windows” folder, you will see the command line there.

After clicking on the application, the command line will open in normal mode. To run CMD as an administrator, right-click on the application, in the menu that opens, select “Advanced”, and then “Run as administrator”.

How to enable command prompt in Windows 10 help “Windows Search”

One of the easiest ways to launch the command line is to use Windows Search.

To find the command line using the search, enter the expression “cmd” (without quotes), or simply “command line” in Russian, in Windows Search.

The search results will display the Command Prompt desktop app.

Next, launch the command line interpreter with the left mouse button in normal mode, or right-click on the application, and then select “Run as administrator”.

You can use the right search menu with the items “Open” or “Run as administrator”.

Launching the command line from the Windows system folder

The command line can be launched directly from the application’s location, from the Windows system folder.

To do this, open Explorer, go to the Local drive “C:”, go to the “Windows” folder, and then to the “System32” folder.

The command line in Windows 10 x64 can also be launched from the folder along the path: “C:\Windows\SysWOW64”, but the command line interpreter from the “System32” folder will still be opened.

Here you will see the cmd.exe application, which can be launched directly from the “System32” folder with two left mouse clicks. To run as administrator, use the right-click context menu.

Launching Command Prompt with Task Manager

You can open the command prompt using another system tool – Task Manager.

Go through the steps:

1. Open the Task Manager, go to the “File” menu.
2. In the drop-down context menu, click on “Run a new task”.
3. In the “Create Task” window, in the “Open:” field, enter: “cmd” (without quotes), and then click on the “OK” button.

If you need to run the console elevated, check the “Create a task with administrator privileges” checkbox.

After that, a command prompt will open on the desktop of your computer.

Article Conclusions

By default, in Windows 10, after right-clicking on the Start menu, another application is displayed instead of the command prompt – Windows PowerShell. The command line can be launched in Windows 10 in different ways: run from the Start menu in two ways, find and open using Windows Search, go to the command line from the system folder in Explorer, using the Task Manager.