How to determine if a specific Windows shell folder is open via Batch commands

Question

I have a batch program that opens up programs and files in specific order so I can have everything open up without even a single click when I sign in to the computer. This script will run automatically for both cold boots and by adapting the answer it will be possible to run the script to simply open windows not already opened without creating duplicates.

This bit of code works perfectly for almost everything I need by determining if a program is already running or not:

SETLOCAL EnableExtensions
set EXE=notepad++.exe
FOR /F %%x IN ('tasklist /NH /FI "IMAGENAME eq %EXE%"') DO IF %%x == %EXE% goto FOUND
start C:\MEDIA\OFFICE\Notepad++\notepad++.exe
goto FIN
:FOUND
echo Notepad++ is already running.
:FIN

However I am not sure how to use this method (or what alternative methods exist) that will tell me if the following specific shell folder is open or not.

The desired/working path (My Documents) is:

start %windir%\explorer.exe shell:UsersFilesFolder\JAB Creations

The absolute path (My Computer) is:

D:\My Documents\JAB Creations

Important Clarifications

• The directory is a symbolic link, that command if you are curious is Mklink /J "C:\Users\John\JAB Creations" "D:\My Documents\JAB Creations".
• I do not want to use the absolute path, I want the directory opened under My Documents, not My Computer.
• I have removed the garbage entries in Windows Explorer such as Libraries and Quick Access and I use My Documents (which is now called User Files). This command opens the directory via My Documents instead of having it listed under My Computer in example.
• If you are testing you will need to enable Expand to open folder and Show all folders options in the Folder Options window under the View tab otherwise useful directories are hidden by default.

---

Important Prerequisites

First fix the folder options otherwise an attempt is pointless:

Secondly this is what should visually occur:

Answer 1

In Windows 10 explorer.exe feeds a window title of N/A by default, but there is a work-around if you are launching these explorer instances.

Opening explorer regularely (by running explorer.exe or opening the icon) will result in the following title query:

C:\Users\***>tasklist /fi "imagename eq explorer.exe" /fo list /v
Image Name:   explorer.exe
PID:          5320
Session Name: Console
Session#:     1
Mem Usage:    141,516 K
Status:       Running
User Name:    ***\***
CPU Time:     0:31:41
Window Title: N/A

While launching explorer.exe with the title flag (don't even need to specify a string) will force explorer to keep its title value accurate. So in your code above, call explorer.exe like so:

C:\Users\***>explorer.exe /Title

This will result in our title query returning the actual title (and therefore current open folder):

Image Name:   explorer.exe
PID:          13888
Session Name: Console
Session#:     1
Mem Usage:    45,964 K
Status:       Running
User Name:    ***\***
CPU Time:     0:00:00
Window Title: Documents

So now all you need to do is query all instances of explorer with tasklist /fi "imagename eq explorer.exe" /fo list /v and parse the returned data for the folder name you wish to identify, like below (I check for "Documents" in the title):

C:\Users\***>tasklist /fi "imagename eq explorer.exe" /fo list /v | find "Documents"
Window Title: Documents

C:\Users\***>

The above query will return 0 code or 1 code for found/not found. You can work with this to have your code check if a specific folder is open in windows explorer(.exe). I hope this has given you a good grasp on Windows 10's quirky explorer usage!