# How to Open the Terminal in Windows

> Open Command Prompt, PowerShell, Windows Terminal or WSL on Windows 10 and 11 — including as administrator and directly inside a chosen folder.

- Source: https://zepe.online/guides/open-terminal-windows
- Author: Robert Moca (https://zepe.online/author/robert-moca)
- Topic: Command line
- Published: 2026-08-08T09:00:00+00:00
- Updated: 2026-08-21T09:00:00+00:00
- Author: Zepe editorial team (https://zepe.online/editorial-standards)
- Image: https://zepe.online/img/open-terminal-windows-featured-1907a8f9c5.webp

## The short answer

Press **Win + R**, type `cmd` and press Enter, or **Win + X** then **I** for Windows Terminal on Windows 11. For admin rights use **Win + X** then **A**. Typing `cmd` in File Explorer's address bar opens a prompt in that folder.

## Key takeaways

- Command Prompt, PowerShell, Windows Terminal and WSL are four different things: two shells, one window that hosts them, and a Linux environment.
- Win + X is the fastest route to an administrator prompt, and the letter after it differs between Windows 10 and 11.
- Typing cmd or powershell into File Explorer's address bar opens a shell already in that directory, which saves a lot of cd typing.
- You do not need administrator rights for most things, and running elevated by default removes a useful safety net.

"Open the terminal" is one of those instructions that quietly assumes you already know which terminal is meant. On macOS and Linux there is essentially one, so nobody has to say. On Windows there are four different things people mean by it, and following an instruction with the wrong one produces errors that make no sense at all, which is how you end up convinced you have broken something.

## The four things people mean

**Command Prompt, PowerShell, Windows Terminal and WSL compared**

|  | What it is | Use it when |
| --- | --- | --- |
| **Command Prompt** (`cmd`) | The old shell, inherited from DOS | Following older instructions, or running a tool that parses its output |
| **PowerShell** | A modern object-based shell | Anything new: it is more capable and accepts most familiar commands |
| **Windows Terminal** | A window that hosts any of the others in tabs | You want tabs, panes and a decent font |
| **WSL** | A real Linux environment running alongside Windows | You need genuine Linux tools — bash, grep, ssh, package managers |

The distinction that matters most: Windows Terminal is not a shell. It is a window. Inside it you choose which shell to run, and by default that is PowerShell. If an instruction says "open Windows Terminal and run this", check whether the command is a PowerShell command or a Command Prompt one: they are not interchangeable.

**Figure: Which one to open, by what you are trying to do**

PowerShell is the better default. Command Prompt still matters for older instructions and for tools whose output format is being parsed.

| | Command Prompt | PowerShell |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Runs classic commands (dir, ipconfig, ping) | yes | yes |
| Pipes structured objects, not just text | no | yes |
| Built-in scripting language | batch | full |
| Tab completion for parameters | no | yes |
| Can run Linux binaries directly | no | no |
| Default in Windows Terminal | no | yes |

## Every way to open one

### The routes worth remembering

1. **Win + R**, then `cmd` or `powershell`, then Enter.
   Works identically on every version of Windows since XP. Press **Ctrl + Shift + Enter** instead of Enter to open it elevated.
2. **Win + X**, then a letter.
   On Windows 11: **I** for Terminal, **A** for Terminal (Admin). On Windows 10: **C** for Command Prompt, **A** for Command Prompt (Admin). The menu also has Device Manager, Disk Management and Event Viewer.
3. Start menu search.
   Press the Windows key, type `terminal`, `cmd` or `powershell`, then **Ctrl + Shift + Enter** to launch the highlighted result as administrator.
4. From File Explorer's address bar.
   Open the folder you want, click the address bar, type `cmd` and press Enter. The shell opens with that folder as its working directory.
5. Right-click inside a folder.
   On Windows 11, **Open in Terminal**. On Windows 10, hold **Shift** while right-clicking for **Open PowerShell window here**.

> **Shortcut — The address-bar trick is the best one**
>
> Navigating to a deep folder in Explorer and typing `cmd` in the address bar is far quicker than opening a shell and typing a long `cd` command, and it handles spaces and unusual characters in the path correctly without any quoting.

## Running as administrator, and when you actually need to

An elevated prompt is simply one running with administrator privileges. The reliable way to check is the title bar: it says **Administrator:** at the front. If it does not, you are not elevated, whatever you clicked to get there.

You need it for changes affecting the whole system: starting or stopping services, writing to `C:\Windows` or `C:\Program Files`, ending processes belonging to another user, and most `netsh`, `sfc`, `chkdsk` and `dism` operations. You do not need it for looking at things — `ipconfig`, `ping`, `tasklist`, `dir` and navigating your own files all work fine unelevated.

> **Careful — Do not make elevated the default**
>
> It is tempting to pin an always-elevated shortcut and stop thinking about it. The prompt exists so that a command capable of damaging the system requires a deliberate action. It is a cheap safety net, and it costs you two keystrokes.

## WSL, when you need real Linux

The Windows Subsystem for Linux runs a genuine Linux distribution alongside Windows, and it is far better than it has any right to be. WSL 2 uses a real Linux kernel in a lightweight managed virtual machine: it starts in about a second, it shares your filesystem, and it needs no separate window.

### Install and open WSL

1. Open an **administrator** terminal and run `wsl --install`.
   This enables the required Windows features and installs Ubuntu by default. `wsl --list --online` shows the other distributions available.
2. Restart when prompted.
   The virtual machine platform feature needs a reboot before it becomes available.
3. Set a Linux username and password when the distribution first starts.
   These are unrelated to your Windows account, and the password is what `sudo` will ask for.
4. Afterwards, open it by typing `wsl` in any shell, or pick the distribution from Windows Terminal's tab dropdown.

WSL is what you want if you are trying to run a shell script written for Linux. The guide on [running a .sh file on Windows](https://zepe.online/guides/run-shell-script-windows) compares WSL with Git Bash and Cygwin, and covers the line-ending problem that breaks scripts edited in Windows text editors.

## The commands worth knowing on day one

**Basic commands and their PowerShell equivalents**

| Task | Command Prompt | PowerShell |
| --- | --- | --- |
| List files | `dir` | `Get-ChildItem` (alias `dir`, `ls`) |
| Change folder | `cd foldername` | same |
| Up one level | `cd ..` | same |
| Clear the screen | `cls` | `Clear-Host` (alias `cls`) |
| Show IP configuration | `ipconfig /all` | `Get-NetIPConfiguration` |
| List processes | `tasklist` | `Get-Process` |
| End a process | `taskkill /F /PID 123` | `Stop-Process -Id 123 -Force` |
| Copy a file | `copy a.txt b.txt` | `Copy-Item a.txt b.txt` |

PowerShell keeps aliases for most of the familiar names, so `dir`, `cls` and `cd` all work. That is why instructions written for Command Prompt often run unchanged in PowerShell — until they hit something like output redirection or a batch-file construct, which behave differently.

## Two things people actually come here to do

The two things that most often send people looking for a shell in the first place are killing something that will not close, and finding what is squatting on a port. Both have their own guides: [force quitting an app](https://zepe.online/guides/force-quit-app-windows) covers `taskkill` and the cases where it does not work, and [killing a process using a port](https://zepe.online/guides/kill-process-using-port-windows) covers tracing a listener back to the program holding it.

> **Editor's note — On Windows Terminal's defaults**
>
> Windows Terminal is the default on Windows 11 and well worth installing on Windows 10 from the Microsoft Store. Two settings make it much nicer, both under the dropdown → Settings: change the default profile so new windows open in the shell you actually use, and set the startup directory so every new tab begins somewhere sensible instead of dumping you in `C:\Windows\System32`.

## Common questions

### What is the difference between Command Prompt and PowerShell?

Command Prompt is the older shell and passes plain text between commands. PowerShell passes structured objects, has a full scripting language, and offers tab completion for command parameters. PowerShell keeps aliases like `dir` and `cd`, so most familiar commands still work. Use PowerShell unless you are following instructions written specifically for Command Prompt.

### How do I open a command prompt as administrator?

Press **Win + X** then **A**. Alternatively, press **Win + R**, type `cmd`, and press **Ctrl + Shift + Enter** rather than Enter. You can confirm it worked by checking that the window title begins with **Administrator:**.

### How do I open a terminal in a specific folder?

Open the folder in File Explorer, click the address bar, type `cmd` or `powershell`, and press Enter — the shell opens with that folder as its working directory. On Windows 11 you can also right-click inside the folder and choose **Open in Terminal**; on Windows 10, Shift + right-click gives **Open PowerShell window here**.

### Is Windows Terminal the same as Command Prompt?

No. Windows Terminal is a window that hosts shells in tabs; Command Prompt is one of the shells it can host. Opening Windows Terminal gives you PowerShell by default, not Command Prompt, which matters when you are following instructions that assume one or the other.

## Sources

- [What is Windows Terminal?](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/terminal/) — Microsoft Learn. Supports: That Windows Terminal is a host application for multiple shells rather than a shell itself, and that it defaults to PowerShell.
- [What is PowerShell?](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/scripting/overview) — Microsoft Learn. Supports: That PowerShell passes objects rather than text and includes a full scripting language, and the cmdlet names given in the comparison table.
- [Install WSL](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wsl/install) — Microsoft Learn. Supports: The `wsl --install` command, the requirement for an administrator prompt and a restart, and that Ubuntu is the default distribution.

## Related guides

- https://zepe.online/guides/run-shell-script-windows
- https://zepe.online/guides/kill-process-using-port-windows
- https://zepe.online/guides/force-quit-app-windows

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