Starting with Windows 10 build 14971, Microsoft enabled PowerShell by default in the Win+X menu. Some news sites immediately reported that Microsoft is killing the command prompt. While nobody knows yet what Microsoft's plan is regarding cmd.exe's possible removal, it is not gone in Windows 10 build 14971. You can get the command prompt back in the Win+X menu with just a few clicks.
Here is how the Win+X menu looks like in Windows 10 build 14971:
The two PowerShell commands are added instead of the command prompt.
If you are not happy with this change, do the following.
Add Command Prompt back to Win+X Menu in Windows 10 Creators Update
- Right click the taskbar and select "Settings" in the context menu:
- The Settings app will be opened directly at the "Taskbar" page:
There, find the option "Replace Command Prompt with Windows PowerShell in the menu when I right-click the Start button or press Windows key+X". - Turn off the mentioned option:
Voila, command prompt will return to the Win+X menu in Windows 10 Creators Update.
It is possible that some day Microsoft will merge Windows PowerShell with Command Prompt and remove the older console. PowerShell is already able to execute classic DOS commands and console apps. But for now, you can use both tools and switch between them.
Tip: you can restore classic Control Panel applets in Windows 10 build 14971. See the article How to restore Control Panel items in Win+X menu in Windows 10 Creators Update.
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>and remove the older console
The console and the Command Prompt (CMD) are not the same thing. PowerShell uses the same console subsystem as the CMD shell. The legacy console subsystem will likely stay for a while but removing CMD itself makes sense.
By the way, do you know if there’s a way to bypass the activation blocks for the Settings app on Windows 10? I want to change some settings without activating but they’re locked.
No, I have not digged this issue yet.
Sign in using a MS account in which you have preferred Windows settings already synced/saved. Window will use synced settings, but you will not be able to change it.
I lost my Windows 10 license after deleting a virtual machine with activated copy of Windows and when I created new VM it will not activate, but when I signed in using MS account, I found that Windows was using synced settings for personalisation even though it was not possible for me to manually modify any settings under personalisation.