.bashrc equivalent for windows cmd shell?

Question

Is there a .bashrc like file that Windows cmd shell reads on start-up?

I'd like to set a shorter prompt, the default prompt shows the full path to the current directory and it gets messy when I descend down several levels of sub-directories. Currently, I'm manually calling the PROMPT command whenever the displayed path gets too long. It'll be nice to set it automatically.

Duplicate ? http://stackoverflow.com/questions/4895966/changing-default-startup-directory-for-command-prompt-in-windows-7 — Superdrac, Apr 23 '14 at 16:53
@Superdrac: I don't think so. I'm looking for a solution where in I can set the PROMPT in a startup file (similar to an `export PS1=...` statement in .bashrc). — DigitalEye, Apr 23 '14 at 18:38
Newer answers have been posted that affect cmd.exe directly, meaning you can launch cmd.exe and get desired results instead of launching it through a separate file. SETX especially is a quick and easy way and it should be accepted so that other people looking for an answer find it first and can solve their problem. — Xbox One, Apr 02 '21 at 15:57

score 6 · Answer 1 · answered Oct 18 '16 at 03:34

6

As an alternative to SETX, you can create a batch file that will effectively act as .bashrc. Then create a registry key called AutoRun under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Command Processor and set the path to that file as a value.

answered Oct 18 '16 at 03:34

David Airapetyan

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score 5 · Answer 2 · answered Apr 25 '14 at 20:38

You can control the command line prompt either with the command PROMPT or with the variable PROMPT. For an example, the following two commands have the same effect:

```
PROMPT $G
```
```
SET PROMPT=$G
```

Ultimately, however, it is the variable that determines the prompt's formatting, and when you are using the command, it merely sets the variable for you.

With that in mind, you could just assign a default value to the PROMPT variable using the SETX command:

SETX PROMPT "$G"

From now on, even after you reboot the system, every new¹ CMD session's prompt will be formatted as $G by default, until you change the variable again or reset it (globally). You can globally reset a variable by assigning it an empty value like this:

SETX PROMPT ""

_{¹The CMD session that issues the SETX is not affected.}

foxidrive · Accepted Answer · 2014-04-24T13:30:00.313

4

You can use a batch file to launch a cmd prompt:

@echo off
cmd /k prompt $g

edited Apr 24 '14 at 13:30

answered Apr 24 '14 at 13:16

foxidrive

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.bashrc equivalent for windows cmd shell?

3 Answers3