How to Replace PowerShell with Command Prompt in Windows

This article tells you how to Replace PowerShell with Command Prompt in Windows. Microsoft is adding some really nice features to Windows 11/10 with the Creators Update that is coming soon. With the Creators Update, the company is making a lot of changes to both Bash and the Linux subsystem on Windows 11/10.

But Microsoft is changing Windows’ default command line tool in a pretty big way. With the next update for Windows 11/10, Microsoft is putting a lot of emphasis on PowerShell, which is supposed to be better than CMD.

With the Creators Update, you can no longer use the Shift+Right-Click menu in File Explorer to get to CMD. Microsoft took it away and replaced it with PowerShell, which is a little annoying if you liked CMD. You can also go to the official Microsoft support site to know more information.

Ways to Replace PowerShell with Command Prompt in Windows

Replace PowerShell with CMD in File Explorer

If you want to open Command Prompt instead of PowerShell in a folder or File Explorer, you’ll need to change PowerShell to CMD in the right-click Context Menu on your Windows 11 or 10 computer. We can do this by making some changes to the Registry Editor. Let’s begin.

• Press the Windows Logo key on your keyboard, look for the Notepad++ app in the Start menu and open it.
• Now, copy the following code and paste it into the empty Notepad file.
• Click File and choose the Save As… option.
• When you click the Save As… option, you’ll be prompted to assign a file name and type. Click the File name section and type ‘cmdfix.reg‘ as the file name. Then click the drop-down icon in front of the Save as type box and select All Files. Finally, Save the file to your preferred location.
• Once you have saved the file, navigate to cmdfix.reg and double-click it. When prompted, choose Yes.
• Next, you’ll see a pop-up window asking if you want to add the new configuration to the registry. Choose Yes.
• The newly created cmdfix.reg will be added to the registry.

Replace PowerShell with CMD in Power User Menu

Only Windows 10 users can use this tip to replace PowerShell with the Command Prompt in the Power User Menu. Follow the easy steps below to get the Command Prompt back on your Windows PC’s Power User Menu.

• Click Start (Windows logo icon in the bottom-left corner of the screen) and choose Settings.
• Next, click Personalization. You can directly access the personalization menu by doing a right-click on the desktop screen and selecting the Personalize option.
• Now click Taskbar on the left panel in the Settings window.
• After that, click the toggle button below ‘Replace Command Prompt with Windows PowerShell in the menu when I right-click the start button or press Windows Logo Key + X‘ on the right panel.
• Once you have done that the 2 options to open Powershell in the Power User Menu will be replaced by Command Prompt and Command Prompt (Admin) respectively.

Edit Registry Entries to Replace PowerShell with CMD

You should be able to replace PowerShell with Command Prompt in Windows 10 and 11 by using the trick we just talked about. For this method, you have to edit the registry entries by hand.

• Click the Search icon and type “registry” in the text box and click Registry Editor.
• Alternatively, you can open the Run window by pressing Windows Logo Key + R, and type “regedit” to open Registry Editor.
• Now, navigate to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\shell\cmd.
• Right-click on the cmd folder and choose Permissions from the context menu.
• When a small window entitled Permissions for cmd pops up, click the Advanced button.
• The Advanced Security Settings window will appear. Click the Change option to change the permission settings for the Owner.
• In the Select User or Group window, click the Advanced button.
• In the window that pops up next, click the Find Now button. Then select your user group from the search results and click OK.
• When you return back to the Advanced Security Settings for cmd window, check the Replace owner on subcontainers and objects option. Then click Apply and OK respectively.
• Finally, you’ll return to the Permissions for cmd window from where you initially started. Now, select Administrators under Group or user names, and check the Allow box next to Full Control under Permissions for Administrators. Click the Apply button followed by OK.
• When you come back to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\shell\cmd path in the Registry Editor, right-click on the HideBasedOnVelocityId entry. Choose the Rename option.
• Rename the entry to ShowBasedOnVelocityId.
• As soon as the name of the DWORD entry is changed, PowerShell will be replaced by CMD in the right-click menu in Windows 10 or 11.