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This tip is about the how to Change Directories in Command Prompt in Windows 11/10. So read this free guide, How to Change Directories in Command Prompt in Windows 11/10 step by step. If you have query related to same article you may contact us.
How to Change Directories in Command Prompt in Windows 11/10 – Guide
The command prompt, commonly known as cmd.exe, is a command line interpreter in the Windows operating system that has been in use since the DOS days of Microsoft operating systems. The command prompt, which is available as an alternative to the Windows GUI, provides significantly more flexibility and functionality to the average Windows user than the regular GUI ever could. However, before you can do anything with the command prompt, you must first understand how to change the folders in it. We discussed some of the simplest ways to update your command prompt directory in Windows 10/11 in this post.
Change command prompt directory with cd command
The cd command, short for Change Directory, allows you to jump from one directory (folder) to another without any problems.
Just type ‘cd’ at the command prompt and press Enter. From there, you will be taken to the top of the command prompt directory instantly. As you will see on the command prompt screen, you will be taken to the root directory on the Windows “C:” drive.
To go to a specific directory, just type cd followed by the directory name. For example, we moved to the Downloads directory located inside the root directory of our Windows 10 here.
For multi-word directories you may have to enclose the name in quotes, e.g. cd “onenote notebooks” – a tip here, you can start typing a directory name and then press the tab key, and Windows will fill in the name for you. If you have multiple directories with similar names (say files 1, files 2, files 3, etc.), keep pressing the tab key and Windows will cycle through the possible matches.
Alternatively, instead of going straight to the root directory, you can also go back to the previous folder by adding .. after the cd command. So, go to the command prompt, type cd .. and press Enter, as we did in our Windows 11.
Changing the drive in command prompt
If, on the other hand, you want to change your directory completely, you will need to type the name of the drive, followed by :. So if you are on the “C:” drive right now, and you want to go to the “D:” drive, just type “D:” in the command prompt and press Enter.
Another thing to keep in mind is that the command prompt is not case sensitive, which means it treats uppercase and lowercase letters the same. So it doesn’t matter whether you type “D:” or “d:”—the command prompt will interpret both as the same.
Another command that deserves a special mention is the dir command. Enter the directory at the command prompt and you will see a list of files and folders inside the parent directory.
Now, if you want to go into a specific directory from here, just use the cd command above, along with the directory name, as we did above.
Change directories in CMD by dragging the folder
You can also use the GUI along with the command prompt here. Type cd at the command prompt, drag the folder you want to move to Terminal and press Enter.
The command prompt will change directly to the desired folder.
Final note
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