Как отредактировать PATH в Windows 7, 8 и Windows 10?

Как запустить программу из командной строки не переходя каждый раз в папку с программой?! Как запускать сторонние программы так, как, например, программу IPCONFIG, которая не требует перехода в папку?

Что такое PATH система Windows?

Если вы скачали программу командной строки, например ADB (Android Debuggin Bridge), то вы не сможете запустить ее просто вписав adb в командной строке, как вы всегда поступали с системными командами Windows (IPCONFIG, NETSTAT и т.п.). Вместо этого вы должны будете указать командную строку содержащую полный путь к exe-файлу.

Это достаточно сложно писать в командной строке без ошибок, тем более, если вам приходится делать это достаточно часто.

PATH система Windows сообщает вашей операционной системе каталоги, в которых следует искать исполняемые файлы. Например ранее упоминаемая программа ipconfig.exe расположена в каталоге C:\Windows\System32, который в свою очередь уже добавлен в PATH Windows. При вводе команды ipconfig система обыщет все папки из PATH на наличие файла ipconfig.exe и запустит его выполнение.

Если вы хотите то же удобство с программой (в нашем примере это ADB), то приложение ADB необходимо добавить в PATH Windows и после этого для запуска достаточно будет вписать в командную строку:

Больше ничего впечатывать не придется.

Как добавить папку в PATH?

В Windows 7, 8 и Windows 10 попасть в настройки PATH можно так: Панель управления / Система / Дополнительные переменные среды.

Далее перейти в «Переменные среды».

В окне «Переменные среды» обратите внимание на переменную с именем Path. Выберите ее и нажмите «Изменить..»

Дальнейшие действия одинаковы в Windows 7 и 8, но иные, облегченные, в Windows 10.

Path в операционной системе Windows 7 и Windows 8

В этих системах переменная Path является не более, чем длинной строкой текста с адресами каталогов системы. В этот текст мы добавим каталог и с нашей программой ADB.

Для того, чтобы добавить запись с путем к исполняемому файлу в Windows 7 и 8 к тексту нужно добавить путь, которому предшествует точка с запятой, разделяющая различные записи. Например так:

Добавлять такой путь в текст path нужно только в конец строки.

После ввода нажмите ОК. Все, мы добавили каталог в patch Windows 7 и 8.

Path в операционной системе Windows 10

В операционной системе Windows 10 этот процесс проще и менее запутанный. После нажатия кнопки «Изменить…» откроется новое диалоговое окно с расположенными в отдельных строках путях path.

Это улучшение позволяет проще и нагляднее видеть имеющиеся пути path и облегчает добавить новые пути.

Для добавления нового пути в переменную path Windows 10 нужно нажать «Новый», добавить путь C:\Android\platform-tools и нажать ОК.

Новая запись появится в низу списка.

Теперь запуск Android Debug Bridge доступен из любого раздела командной строкой без ввода полного пути к исполняемому файлу.

How to set the path and environment variables in Windows

Setting the path and environment variables will differ depending on the version of Windows you have on your computer. Choose a link below for your version of Windows.

Administrator privileges are usually required to modify the path and environment variables.

Setting the path and variables in Windows 10

1. From the desktop, right-click the very bottom-left corner of the screen to get the Power User Task Menu.
2. From the Power User Task Menu, click System.
3. In the Settings window, scroll down to the Related settings section and click the System info link.
4. In the System window, click the Advanced system settings link in the left navigation pane.
5. In the System Properties window, click the Advanced tab, then click the Environment Variablesbutton near the bottom of that tab.
6. In the Environment Variables window (pictured below), highlight the Path variable in the System variables section and click the Edit button. Add or modify the path lines with the paths you want the computer to access. Each different directory is separated with a semicolon, as shown below.

You can edit other environment variables by highlighting the variable in the System variables section and clicking Edit. If you need to create a new environment variable, click New and enter the variable name and variable value.

To view and set the path in the Windows command line, use the path command.

Setting the path and variables in Windows 8

1. From the desktop, right-click the very bottom-left corner of the screen to get the Power User Task Menu.
2. From the Power User Task Menu, click System.
3. Click the Advanced System Settings link in the left column.
4. In the System Properties window, click the Advanced tab, then click the Environment Variablesbutton near the bottom of that tab.
5. In the Environment Variables window (pictured below), highlight the Path variable in the System variables section and click the Edit button. Add or modify the path lines with the paths you want the computer to access. Each different directory is separated with a semicolon, as shown below.

You can edit other environment variables by highlighting the variable in the System variables section and clicking Edit. If you need to create a new environment variable, click New and enter the variable name and variable value.

To view and set the path in the Windows command line, use the path command.

Setting the path and variables in Windows Vista and Windows 7

1. From the desktop, right-click the Computer icon and select Properties. If you don’t have a Computer icon on your desktop, click Start, right-click the Computer option in the Start menu, and select Properties.
2. Click the Advanced System Settings link in the left column.
3. In the System Properties window, click the Advanced tab, then click the Environment Variablesbutton near the bottom of that tab.
4. In the Environment Variables window (pictured below), highlight the Path variable in the System variables section and click the Edit button. Add or modify the path lines with the paths you want the computer to access. Each different directory is separated with a semicolon, as shown below.

You can edit other environment variables by highlighting the variable in the System variables section and clicking Edit. If you need to create a new environment variable, click New and enter the Variable name and Variable value.

To view and set the path in the Windows command line, use the path command.

Setting the path and variables in Windows 2000 and Windows XP

The path is now managed by Windows 2000 and Windows XP and not the autoexec.bat or autoexec.nt files, as was done with earlier versions of Windows. To change the system environment variables, follow the steps below.

1. From the desktop, right-click My Computer and click Properties. If you don’t have a My Computer icon on your desktop, click Start, right-click the My Computer option in the Start menu, and select Properties.
2. In the System Propertieswindow, click the Advancedtab.
3. In the Advanced section, click the Environment Variablesbutton.
4. In the Environment Variables window (as shown below), highlight the Path variable in the System Variable section and click the Edit button. Add or modify the path lines with the paths you want the computer to access. Each different directory is separated with a semicolon, as shown below.

You can edit other environment variables by highlighting the variable in the System variables section and clicking Edit. If you need to create a new environment variable, click New and enter the Variable name and Variable value.

To view and set the path in the Windows command line, use the path command.

What is the default Windows %PATH%?

The path is based on programs installed on the computer, so there is no «default path.» However, the Windows minimum path is often the path below.

Keep in mind that as you install programs, the path is updated with the paths for the newly installed programs. So, if you have erased your path after installing other programs, those programs may be affected.

Setting path in the MS-DOS and Windows command line

To view and set the path in MS-DOS and in the Windows command line, use the path command.

Change the default location of %USERPROFILE%. Move user profile folders to d:\users

Hi, we would like a way to change the default location of the user profile folder in windows 7. Is there any way to do it after the OS is installed? We would really like to avoid using sysprep for this.

We tried changing the following registry keys without success:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Explorer \ User Shell Folders

Any help is appreciated.

Hi, we would like a way to change the default location of the user profile folder in windows 7. Is there any way to do it after the OS is installed? We would really like to avoid using sysprep for this.

We tried changing the following registry keys without success:

Any help is appreciated.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Explorer \ User Shell Folders

There is no supported way to accomplish this after the system is already installed. The only supported scenario is to use the WAIK and Sysprep to create an image for deployment.

If you attempt to move an entire users profile folder to another partition or drive, this will introduce problems that will result in a less than acceptable user experience.

If your focus is on reducing the disk space used by the users folders, since the bulk (usually over 90%) of any User profile is contained in the common data folders, such as My Documents, My Music, My Pictures, and My Videos, all of these folders have a Location Tab in the folders Properties that make it very easy to move all of this data to a remote drive or partition.

Other disk space hogs, such as Email Client programs and other programs that create a huge amount of data will usually have an option available that allow the user to easily store all of this data on a remote drive.

Here are a few links to other threads discussing this issue.

How to Add to Windows PATH Environment Variable

Works for Windows 10 or 7

If you’re a coder or programmer, you probably spend a decent amount of time using the command prompt to execute programs or compile code. In order to complete those tasks, you most likely have to use a command from a library or software package installed (like Python) on your system.

By default, most of these programs will add their own custom shortcuts to the Windows environment variables. The most used environment variable in Windows is probably the PATH variable. It basically allows you to run any executables that are located inside the paths specified in the variable at the command prompt without having to give the full path to the executable.

In this article, I’ll show you how you can add more paths to the Windows PATH variable in case you want to run executables from your own custom directories. It’s worth noting that the procedure below is for Windows 10, but it’s almost exactly the same for Windows 7 also.

Add Directories to PATH Variable

To get started, right-click on the Computer or This PC icon on the desktop and select Properties. If you don’t have that icon on your desktop already, you can add any missing desktop icons easily.

On the System dialog page, you’ll see an Advanced system settings link on the left-hand side.

This will bring up the System Properties dialog, which should already be open to the Advanced tab. Go ahead and click on the Environment Variables button at the very bottom.

On the Environment Variables dialog, you’ll see two sets of variables: one for user variables and the other for system variables. Both lists have the PATH variable, so you have to decide which one to edit.

If you only need the commands for your own user account, then edit the user variable. If you need it to work across the computer system regardless of which user is logged in, then edit the system variable. Click on Path and then click on Edit.

On the Edit environment variable dialog, you’ll see a list of all the paths that are currently in the PATH variable. As you can see, Node.js and Git already added their paths so that I can run Git commands and Node.js commands from anywhere while in the command prompt.

To add a new path, simply click on New and it’ll add a new line to the bottom of the list. If you know the path, simply type it in or copy and paste it. If you prefer, you can also click Browse and then navigate to the desired path.

To edit any path, simply select it and then click on the Edit button. You can also delete paths using the Delete button. Note that you can also move items up and down on the list. When you type a command at the command prompt, Windows has to search through each directory stored in the PATH variable to see if that executable exists or not. If you want your executable to be found faster, just move that path up to the top of the list.

This can also come in handy if you have multiple versions of the same command in different paths and need to have one run instead of the other. The one that shows up higher in the list will be run when you type in the command.

Lastly, if you click on Edit text, it will load a dialog where you can edit the Path variable using the old interface where all the paths are listed in one text box.

That’s all there is to it! If you want to learn more about environment variables, make sure to check out my post on how to create your own custom environment variables. Enjoy!

Founder of Help Desk Geek and managing editor. He began blogging in 2007 and quit his job in 2010 to blog full-time. He has over 15 years of industry experience in IT and holds several technical certifications. Read Aseem’s Full Bio