Although there are faster ways to open File Explorer, how to use a keyboard shortcut, you can use command prompt to open file manager in current directory (or any other directory) in Windows 10. Here's how to do it.
Open File Explorer via command prompt
First, open the command prompt on your PC by opening the menu “Beginning”, writing “cmd” in the Windows search bar, then select “Symbol of the system” in search results.
The command prompt will open. Here, run the following command to open File Explorer:
start .
the . in command represents current directory at command prompt. This command will open the folder in File Explorer that mirrors that directory.
To open the main folder of the current directory, run this command instead:
start ..
The parent folder of the current directory will now open in File Explorer.
You can keep going back to the directory by adding a backslash and a colon. As an example, at this moment we are in the folder “25_September 2020” at the command prompt. In a hurry start .... will open the folder “Documents” in File Explorer, a folder two levels above the current directory at the command prompt.
Open a specific folder in File Explorer using command prompt
You can change directory at the command prompt using the cd command and running the start . command once in the desired directory to open that folder in File Explorer. Despite this, you can also open any folder in File Explorer by running the start command, followed by the path of the folder you want to open.
RELATED: How to Find and Open Files Using the Command Prompt
As an example, in our current directory, C:Usersmarsh, we want to open the Documents folder in File Explorer, which is only one level below. To do it, we would execute the following command:
start Documents
In the same directory, let's say we want to open our Invoices file, that is inside the Documents file. We would execute this command:
start DocumentsInvoices
Folder “Bills” it will now open in File Explorer.
