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Command Line switches for Windows Explorer
explorer [/n] [/e][,/root,object][[,/select],subobject]
None Explorer rooted at the Desktop
/n Opens a new window.
/e Explorer View (default if nothing else is on the command line.)
/root,object Starts Explorer with object the top item (normally Desktop is the top
item). Eg: explorer /e,/root,c:\Starts Explorer with the C drive as the only drive
available.
/select,subobject Selects the specified subobject.
Replaceable parameters are %1 (one) which is the short file or folder name and %l
(L) which is the long file name.
/IDLIST
This is an additional parameter that means a Windows internal structure is being
passed. eg:
[Link] /e,/idlist,%I
The %I is a replacable parameter representing an IDLIST.
Rooted Views
To open an explorer item that starts with a special folder as the top folder use
the following syntax.
Where the special folder is a sub folder of the desktop
explorer /e,root,::{CLSID of special folder}
Where the special folder is a sub folder of another special folder (usually, if
not always My Computer)
explorer /e,root,::{CLSID of parent}/::{CLSID of special folder}
Where the special folder is part of the file system
explorer /e,root,path to folder
See Namespaces on the Icons Page for a list of CLSIDs for special folders.
Examples
Note that /select is inconsistent. Sometime the / is required, sometimes it should
be left out, and sometimes it doesn't matter.
Starts explorer with the Windows folder opened and selected.
explorer /e,select,c:\windows
Starts explorer with Windows the top level folder and command opened and selected.
explorer /e,/root,c:\windows,select,c:\windows\command
Starts explorer with Windows the top level folder and [Link] showing instead of
the file listing.
explorer /e,/root,c:\windows,select,c:\windows\[Link]
Starts explorer with My Computer the top level folder and all branches except for
drives collapsed.
explorer /e,/root,::{20d04fe0-3aea-1069-a2d8-08002b30309d}
Starts explorer with C:\ the top level folder.
explorer /e,/root,c:\
Starts the Dial Up Networking folder in folder view.
[Link] ::{20d04fe0-3aea-1069-a2d8-08002b30309d}\::{992cffa0-f557-101a-88ec-
00dd010ccc48}
