How to open the current directory on Bash on Windows?

Question

I know that in MacOS, people use the open . command to open the current directory in a file manager.

Does anybody know the appropriate command to do the same task in Bash on Windows?

What do you even mean by your question? Imagine, you're looking to some Word document. Then you want to open a Ubuntu app, immediately going to the directory of the Word document, the MS-Word application, ...? — Dominique, Jan 08 '19 at 15:20

score 88 · Answer 1 · edited Jul 26 '22 at 20:43

88

On Windows with Git Bash, just type:

start .

it will open the current directory in the file explorer.

edited Jul 26 '22 at 20:43

pitamer

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answered Jan 28 '18 at 08:32

Jakegarbo

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`/mnt/c/Windows/System32/start: line 1: $'AcrSch2Svc\r': command not found` What do I do in that case ? – Soleil May 20 '18 at 17:24
7

Worked for me on Windows w/ Git Bash. – Jul 29 '18 at 06:29
1

Thank you kind sir, I'm looking for this command each few months and always end up with solutions that includes some path configurations and stuff, so you made my day today – Християн Христов Jan 24 '22 at 22:10

score 34 · Answer 2 · edited May 21 '17 at 13:09

34

You can now call explorer.exe from the bash subsystem. I've set up an alias to use it. I've added the copy to clipboard alias as well for good measure.

Alias:

alias open="explorer.exe"
alias pbcopy="clip.exe"

Example:

cat ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub | pbcopy
open .
open "D:\\Dir"

The open alias plays well with ., but you'll need to pass it the Windows path if you want to specify a directory.

edited May 21 '17 at 13:09

Nathan Tuggy

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answered May 21 '17 at 12:51

Pieter-Uys Fourie

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Regarding the windows path restriction, you can use the command `cygpath --windows ` to convert. [Read more here.](https://cygwin.com/faq.html#faq.using.converting-paths) – Maxim Nov 08 '18 at 19:57
```wslpath``` is the subsystem version – Pieter-Uys Fourie Nov 11 '18 at 11:18

score 8 · Answer 3 · answered Nov 30 '16 at 15:26

8

Right now Microsoft don't recommend to mix Windows explorer with the bash shell. In latest win10 Insider builds you could use from bash something like this

cmd.exe /c start .

If you are using Win10 Anniversary Edition you could try installing a Desktop Environment. Start reading this https://github.com/microsoft/bashonwindows/issues/637 After that you could open a window with the present folder content with

gnome-open .

answered Nov 30 '16 at 15:26

onoma

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it seems that cmd.exe (or any other windows .exe file) cannot be executed from WSL bash, did you actually test this, or are you guessing? When I enter "cmd.exe /c start ." I get "Exec format error". – philwalk Dec 01 '16 at 21:46
I just tested on latest insider build 14971 and it works but it always opens C:\Windows\System32 folder. – onoma Dec 07 '16 at 14:33

nikoskip · Answer 4 · 2019-07-14T01:31:44.120

6

I'm using this function:

open()
{
    explorer.exe  `wslpath -w "$1"`
}

So if you are in /mnt/c/Users/ and would like to open that folder, just type open .

wslpath will resolve only paths from the Windows system, be aware. If you are looking to do something like open ~ it will not work, and you will get:

wslpath: /home/my-user: Result not representable

Command usage

wslpath usage:
  -a    force result to absolute path format
  -u    translate from a Windows path to a WSL path (default)
  -w    translate from a WSL path to a Windows path
  -m    translate from a WSL path to a Windows path, with ‘/’ instead of ‘\\’

  EX: wslpath ‘c:\users’

A proof that this works:

edited Jul 14 '19 at 01:31

answered Dec 15 '18 at 16:23

nikoskip

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Not answering the question sorry – Sweet Chilly Philly Jan 28 '19 at 02:29
For Ubuntu Bash on Windows I get `wslpath: .: Invalid argument` . – dotnetCarpenter May 09 '19 at 18:15
You have to setup the alias first @dotnetCarpenter – nikoskip Jul 14 '19 at 01:27
1

I'm up voting this since it works but the explanation is terrible. First `open` is not an alias but a function. Your can put in your `.profile`, `.bashrc`, `bash_aliases` etc. whatever is `source` when you open your terminal. Second, `wslpath` now translate paths from within `lxfs` and `tmpfs` to Windows path correctly. E.i. paths within your Linux subsystem. – dotnetCarpenter Aug 23 '19 at 15:32
@dotnetCarpenter feel free to modify my answer if it's so "terrible" – nikoskip Aug 23 '19 at 15:34
Works great for me on Ubuntu Bash (WSL), this is the best answer. – jpmartineau Jun 29 '20 at 12:15

kuroyza · Answer 5 · 2019-11-10T10:15:07.393

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You Can Use the following command: explorer .

edited Nov 10 '19 at 10:15

answered Nov 09 '19 at 12:03

kuroyza

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score 3 · Answer 6 · answered Jan 08 '19 at 14:55

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I have added

alias open='explorer.exe  `wslpath -w "$1"`'

to the .bashrc file

opens current folder when typed open

I'm using windows ubuntu subsystem.

answered Jan 08 '19 at 14:55

Martynas Martin

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score 2 · Answer 7 · edited Sep 17 '19 at 18:06

2

This command should do it:

$ explorer

edited Sep 17 '19 at 18:06

Adam Starrh

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answered Sep 17 '19 at 17:09

rrmikhail

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score 2 · Answer 8 · answered May 10 '21 at 08:36

2

try this

$ explorer .

This will work on bash command in windows. I was using R studio and was able to open the directory.

answered May 10 '21 at 08:36

Aman Bagrecha

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score 1 · Answer 9 · answered Jul 01 '19 at 02:59

If start . doesn't work for you, it's essentially the same as running explorer.exe . so you can create an alias for it which is what I did.

alias start="explorer.exe"

Side note: Another useful one to have is BROWSER. explorer.exe is capable of starting your default web browser. This comes in handy when you run scripts that open a web browser like starting a React.js development server.

export BROWSER="explorer.exe"

score 1 · Answer 10 · answered Aug 08 '19 at 22:16

1

start . - this is the equivalent of open . in bash

answered Aug 08 '19 at 22:16

roy

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αғsнιη · Answer 11 · 2018-04-21T12:37:49.463

To work in all type of paths (Windows-Style and Linux-Style), do as following (the answer of mine to my own question on SU):

(Here my challenge was how I could open Explorer in current working directory with Linux-Style path for view purposes, if you are going into modification or do something else other than just viewing, this is at your own risk, please also read Do not change Linux files using Windows apps and tools):

explorer.exe "C:\Users\userNmae\AppData\Local\Lxss$(sed 's:/:\\:g' <<<"$PWD")"

this will open the Explorer exactly in your working directory. The only thing you need is now define a function to get it to work. You can add this into your .bashrc and source it or re-open Bash.

xplor(){ 
    explorer.exe "C:\Users\userName\AppData\Local\Lxss$(sed 's:/:\\:g' <<<"$PWD")";
 }

Note: Replace userName with your Windows User account name there.

score 0 · Answer 12 · answered Apr 11 '20 at 20:33

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In WSL2 it looks like the open command is now doing what start does in Windows command. I just put an alias in my .bashrc

start="open"

Now you can do either start . or open . depending on your preferences.

answered Apr 11 '20 at 20:33

Richard Edwards

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score 0 · Answer 13 · edited Oct 23 '20 at 16:36

Using the MINGW64 shell that comes with Git for Windows, I created these functions in my .profile:

function towinpath {
    { cd "$1" && pwd -W; } | sed 's|/|\\|g'
}

function open {
    path_to_open=""

    if [ -f "$1" ]; then
        filename=$(basename "$1")
        win_dirname=$(towinpath "$(dirname "$1")")
        path_to_open="$win_dirname\\$filename"
    elif [ -d "$1" ]; then
        path_to_open=$(towinpath "$1")
    else
        # Take our chances with windows explorer ...
        path_to_open="$1"
    fi

    if [ -z "$path_to_open" ]; then
        echo "Failed to open $1"
    else
        explorer "$path_to_open"
    fi
}

This seems to work with just about everything you can throw at Windows File Explorer:

open .                         # Opens the current directory
open ../                       # Opens the directory above this one
open /c/Windows                # Opens C:\Windows
open ~/AppData                 # Opens my AppData folder
open ~/*.csv                   # Opens the first CSV file in my home directory in Excel
open https://stackoverflow.com # Opens StackOverflow in my browser!

# Opens paths with spaces in them too:
open /c/Program\ Files/Sublime\ Text\ 3/sublime_text.exe
open '/c/Program Files/Sublime Text 3/sublime_text.exe'

score 0 · Answer 14 · answered Jul 22 '21 at 14:51

0

To open the current directory via windows subsystem for linux (WSL) use :

 $ explorer.exe .

answered Jul 22 '21 at 14:51

Paddymac

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Prayson W. Daniel · Answer 15 · 2021-08-17T08:37:35.050

0

The easiest way is to edit .bash_aliases

nano ~/.bash_aliases
# add
alias open='explorer.exe $1'
# save and close: cltr-s, cltr-x
source ~/.bash_aliases

Now, we can use: open . or open documents

edited Aug 17 '21 at 08:37

answered Aug 17 '21 at 07:29

Prayson W. Daniel

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score 0 · Answer 16 · answered Mar 11 '22 at 19:17

0

Opening Windows Terminal in a directory and typing start bash will open a bash terminal in that directory.

answered Mar 11 '22 at 19:17

RXRider

1

How to open the current directory on Bash on Windows?

16 Answers16