How to Run an EXE File at the Windows Command Prompt

Co-authored by wikiHow Staff

Last Updated: December 14, 2022 Tested

Do you need to open a program on Windows without clicking its icon or menu item? Running programs from the Windows Command Prompt, or CMD, is easy, thanks to the "start" command. This wikiHow article will teach you how to launch executable (exe) files in Windows from the command line using Command Prompt.

Steps

1
Find the file path of the folder containing your exe program. Open the folder containing your program in a File Explorer window, and copy or note the file path from the address bar at the top of the window.
2
Open your computer's Start menu. Click the Start button in the lower-left corner of your desktop to open your Start menu.

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3
Type and search cmd on the Start menu. Command Prompt should show up at the top of the search results.
4
Click Command Prompt on the Start menu. This will open a new Command Prompt window.
- For example, if you're trying to run Mozilla Firefox, the exe file you want to run may be located in a folder called Mozilla Firefox in Program Files on your C drive.
- In this case, your file path is C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox.
5
Type cd [filepath] in the command with your program's file path. Replace [filepath] with the actual path to folder that contains the EXE program you want to run.
- For example, if you're trying to run Mozilla Firefox, your command here may look like cd C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox.
6
Hit ↵ Enter or ⏎ Return on your keyboard. This will navigate you into the selected file path in Command Prompt.
7
Type start [filename.exe] into Command Prompt. Replace [filename.exe] with your program's name. This should exactly match your exe program's file name in the folder.
- For example, if you're running Mozilla Firefox, the program file should be named firefox.exe by default.
- In this case, your command will look like start firefox.exe.
8
Hit ↵ Enter or ⏎ Return on your keyboard. This will run the selected program on your computer.

Expert Q&A

Question

How can I make a exe file safe?

Luigi Oppido
Computer & Tech Specialist
Luigi Oppido is the Owner and Operator of Pleasure Point Computers in Santa Cruz, California. Luigi has over 25 years of experience in general computer repair, data recovery, virus removal, and upgrades. He is also the host of the Computer Man Show! broadcasted on KSQD covering central California for over two years.

Luigi Oppido

Computer & Tech Specialist

Expert Answer

Be sure to scan the exe file with your antivirus program first—sometimes, the program can open up that package and see malicious things that are inside. Still, you should only ever open an exe file when you know exactly what it is, as these files can be very dangerous.
Question

How can I run the exe as an executable if I know the file extension is not exe? For example, if the file is compiled on Linux and transferred to Windows, how would I run the file without an extension?

Community Answer

Edit the file's name (press F2 or right click and rename), then add an .exe to run the file as executable in Windows.
Question

How can you open an exe file on raspbian using a command prompt?

Community Answer

Raspbian is a version of Linux, not Windows. Only Windows can run exe files, you'll need to get a Linux version of the program you're trying to use.