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I am using Windows 10 (well, the version is irrelevant I believe) and I would like to execute my programs through 'Run' just for convenience.

My problem is, where do I look for each software's Run keyword ? For example, to open paint, you can run 'mspaint', to open Notepad++ I luckily figured out you can run notepad++ but what about other processes ? For example, I have no clue how to open Sublime text 3 with Run or paint.net and many other software.

If you are willing to help, please also provide a way to FIND the run keyword for any software. Maybe there is a way to see it through task manager ? Through cmd maybe ? There should be a way ! Ideally, I would love to have a solution that doesn't need the installation of any extra software for this.

Thanks in advance, George

George Dimitriadis
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3 Answers3

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  1. Right-click on the program icon.

  2. Choose Properties from the menu

  3. On the Shortcut tab, you will see the exact command used to run the application in the Target field

Depending on where the program is stored, you might need to enter the whole path, or just the executable file name.

techraf
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The Run "keyword" is the executable name. You can find the executable name/path using the answer posted by user @techraf.

As long as the folder which contains the .exe is defined in the PATH, or the executable is registered in App Paths registry key, Run can launch it even if you don't mention the full path.

For example, if App Paths registry value is registered for firefox.exe, running firefox.exe would launch the executable which may be located here:

C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe

See also

How does the Run dialog know where applications are? - Super User

Community
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w32sh
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You need the name of the executable, the .exe file.

Usually you need the full path. You can find it out like this:

  • Start the program.
  • Open Task Manager (via Ctrl+Shift+Esc for example) and find your program in the Processes view.
  • Right-click it and select 'Open file location'.
  • You can now see the full path and the executable name.

For all built-in Windows software such as notepad, mspaint, winword, you only need to type the executable name and you can omit the .exe as the full path for those is usually part of the environment variable PATH.

For Windows 8/10 apps there is no way to start them from command-line I believe.

marczellm
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