Along with PowerShell and Group Policy, I am in and out of the command prompt all day! Unlike those previous tools, I tend to use CMD in spurts. I might open it real quick on a test machine or use it to troubleshoot a client. To make life easier, I regularly use these 4 tricks to get to the administrative command prompt!

Trick 1: CTRL + SHIFT

I hate opening a command prompt and then changing directories or entering a huge path in quotes. The next time you are working in a folder and need to open a command prompt directly to that location, press CTRL + SHIFT. Then right click and select Open command window here.

It is pretty cool when things just appear like that! But you’ll notice, this is only a regular command prompt – not an administrative one. So how can we get to an administrative command prompt by right clicking?

Trick 2: Registry Hacks

Simple! Create a new right click context shortcut that launches your administrative command prompt. You’ll need to create a handful of registry keys (all of which can be deployed by Group Policy Preferences).

To download the Registry export, click here: Administrative CMD Prompt. Either apply the .reg export or create a GPO to deploy these registry settings. After a reboot, you will have this new shortcut when you right click:

 Trick 3: The Explorer Ribbon

Say what you will about the Start Screen/Modern Interface. Windows 8 did bring some very nice changes. For the most part, the Explorer Ribbon is one of those nice changes. It standardizes on an older interface and even added in some new features. In the ribbon, select the File tab. From here, you can launch a standard or administrative command prompt.

You can also launch PowerShell or an administrative PowerShell.

Trick 4: PowerShell in Command Prompt

Ok, so this last one is directly related to the command prompt. It is still cool to know. If you are in a command prompt, you can jump to PowerShell easily. Just type PowerShell and press enter. PowerShell will even keep your command prompt’s current working directory!

If you want to launch PowerShell ISE, you can just type ISE from this window. ISE will even remember the working directory of PowerShell (which remembered the working directly of Command Prompt)! How cool is that!!

Bonus Tips

These are three command prompt hotkeys that everyone probably knew but me:

• In a line of text, press HOME to jump to the beginning. I can’t tell you how many commands I erased just to correct a misspelling at the beginning
• In a line of text, press END to jump to the end.
• To clear a line of text, press CTRL + HOME if your cursor is at the end. CTRL + END if your cursor is at the beginning.

Now that I’ve shared my tips, what tricks do you have? How do you make your command line world easier?