You can run a program or an exe file from Command Prompt. Check how to do it in this tutorial. MiniTool software, not only provides many useful computer solutions, but also provides users many useful computer software like data recovery program, disk partition manager, system backup and restore software, video editor, etc.

If you want to run program from CMD (Command Prompt) on Windows 10, you can check the detailed steps below.

How to Run a Program from CMD in Windows 10

You can only run the applications that are installed in Windows-created folders like Explorer in Command Prompt.

Step 1. Open Command Prompt in Windows 10

At first, you should open Command Prompt application on your Windows 10 computer. You can press Windows + R, type cmd, and press Enter to open normal Command Prompt or press Ctrl + Shift + Enter to open elevated Command Prompt on Windows 10.

Step 2. Run Program from CMD on Windows 10

Next you can type start <program name> command in Command Prompt window, and press Enter to open the target application in CMD. Replace the “program name” with the exact file’s system name of the program but not its shortcut name. For instance: start explorer.

how to run a program in Command Prompt

The file’s system name of some common programs in Windows are as follows:

  • Command Prompt: cmd
  • File Explorer: explorer
  • Task Manager: taskmgr
  • Calculator: calc
  • Notepad: notepad
  • Paint: mspaint
  • Windows Media Player: wmplayer
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How to Run EXE in CMD on Windows 10

You can follow the instructions below to run an exe file in Command Prompt.

Step 1. Access Command Prompt window

You can follow the same operation above to open Command Prompt in Windows 10.

Step 2. Navigate to the folder of the target program

Next you can type cd <file path> command in Command Prompt window, and press Enter to navigate to the folder that contains the target exe application. Replace “file path” with the exact file path of the exe file.

You can find the target program folder and click the address bar at the top of File Explorer window to copy the path of the program folder and paste it after cd command. For example, cd C:\Program Files\Windows Media Player.

Step 3. Run exe from CMD

After you are in the target program folder path, then you can type start <filename.exe> after the selected file path in CMD, and press Enter to run the exe file in Command Prompt. Replace “filename.exe” with the target program name, e.g. start wmplayer.exe.

how to run exe file in Command Prompt

Bottom Line

This post introduces how to run a program or exe file from CMD on Windows 10. Hope it helps.

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