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Command Prompt – Easily Paste Paths and Filenames

Here’s a quick tip I found out about the other day from a fellow co-worker:

You can drag and drop a single file or folder onto the command prompt and it will paste the path automatically. This saves time compared to the old-fashioned way of selecting the address bar, copying, then right-clicking on the command prompt and pasting (I always hit ctrl-v which gives you the wonderful “^V”, which you then have to delete and do the fantastically fun right-click and paste feature).

Works on 2000/XP/2003.

For Vista, this functionality has been removed for the following reason:

This was done to reduce the command window’s dealings with the dragged data object.

This means on Vista, you must shift-right-click the file or folder and choose “Copy as Path” and then right-click on the command window and paste, which brings into play the dreaded “Ctrl+V” issue I mentioned above.

Oh well, what can you do?

(please don’t say “don’t run Vista”)

John

John Rennemeyer is a software engineer that started his own development company MuvEnum, LLC in 2005. Born in Utah, he is a father of six, husband of one, and grandparent of none. His current programming passions include Xamarin, WPF, SharePoint, and their supporting technologies. His current non-programming passions include spending time with his family and hanging out with friends while enjoying food and fun. How's that for specific?