There are lots of shell commands in Windows, that you can access by typing shell:<SomeFriendlyName> into the "Run" dialog or the Start menu/screen's search box. In most cases, these shell commands open some system folder or Control panel applet. For example, you can access the Startup folder quickly, if you type the following in the Run dialog:
shell:Startup
These commands can also show some hidden secret features like the two so called "God Mode" folders - All Tasks and All Settings. Today I would like to share with you the exclusive list of the shell commands in Windows 8.1 RTM. It is the most complete list and includes every single command that exists in Microsoft's latest OS.
| Shell Command | What will open |
| shell:AccountPictures | Account Pictures |
| shell:AddNewProgramsFolder | Add New Programs folder |
| shell:Administrative Tools | Administrative Tools |
| shell:AppData | C:\Users\user\AppData\Roaming |
| shell:Application Shortcuts | C:\Users\user\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Application Shortcuts |
| shell:AppsFolder | The virtual folder which stores all installed Modern apps |
| shell:AppUpdatesFolder | The "Installed Updates" Control panel item |
| shell:Cache | IE's cache folder (Temporary Internet Files) |
| shell:Camera Roll | Camera Roll |
| shell:CD Burning | Temporary Burn Folder |
| shell:ChangeRemoveProgramsFolder | The "Uninstall a program" Control panel item |
| shell:Common Administrative Tools | The Administrative Tools folder for all users |
| shell:Common AppData | The C:\ProgramData folder (%ProgramData%) |
| shell:Common Desktop | Public Desktop |
| shell:Common Documents | Public Documents |
| shell:Common Programs | All Users Programs, which are part of Start menu. Still used by the Start screen |
| shell:Common Start Menu | All Users Start Menu folder, same as above |
| shell:Common Startup | The Startup folder, used for all users |
| shell:Common Templates | Same as above, but used for new documents templates, e.g. by Microsoft Office |
| shell:CommonDownloads | Public Downloads |
| shell:CommonMusic | Public Music |
| shell:CommonPictures | Public Pictures |
| shell:CommonRingtones | CommonRingtones |
| shell:CommonVideo | Public Videos |
| shell:ConflictFolder | The Control Panel\All Control Panel Items\Sync Center\Conflicts item |
| shell:ConnectionsFolder | The Control Panel\All Control Panel Items\Network Connections item |
| shell:Contacts | Contacts folder (Address book) |
| shell:ControlPanelFolder | Control Panel |
| shell:Cookies | The folder with IE's cookies |
| shell:CredentialManager | C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Credentials |
| shell:CryptoKeys | C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Crypto |
| shell:CSCFolder | This folder is broken in Windows 8/7, provides access to the Offline files item |
| shell:Desktop | Desktop |
| shell:Device Metadata Store | C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\DeviceMetadataStore |
| shell:DocumentsLibrary | Documents library |
| shell:Downloads | Downloads folder |
| shell:DpapiKeys | C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Protect |
| shell:Favorites | Favorites |
| shell:Fonts | C:\Windows\Fonts |
| shell:Games | The Games Explorer item |
| shell:GameTasks | C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\GameExplorer |
| shell:History | C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\History, IE's browsing history |
| shell:HomeGroupCurrentUserFolder | The Home Group folder for the current user |
| shell:HomeGroupFolder | The Home Group root folder |
| shell:ImplicitAppShortcuts | C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch\User Pinned\ImplicitAppShortcuts |
| shell:InternetFolder | This shell command will start Internet Explorer |
| shell:Libraries | Libraries |
| shell:Links | The "Favorites" folder from the Explorer navigation pane. |
| shell:Local AppData | C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local |
| shell:LocalAppDataLow | C:\Users\<username>\AppData\LocalLow |
| shell:LocalizedResourcesDir | This shell folder is broken since Windows 8 RTM |
| shell:MAPIFolder | Represents the Microsoft Outlook folder |
| shell:MusicLibrary | Music Library |
| shell:My Music | The "My Music" folder (not the Library) |
| shell:My Pictures | The "My Pictures" folder (not the Library) |
| shell:My Video | The "My Videos" folder (not the Library) |
| shell:MyComputerFolder | Computer/Drives view |
| shell:NetHood | C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Network Shortcuts |
| shell:NetworkPlacesFolder | The Network Places folder which shows computers and devices on your network |
| shell:OEM Links | This shell command does nothing on my Windows 8.1 RTM |
| shell:Original Images | Same as above |
| shell:Personal | The "My Documents" folder (not the Library) |
| shell:PhotoAlbums | Saved slideshows, seems to have not been implemented yet |
| shell:PicturesLibrary | Pictures Library |
| shell:Playlists | Stores WMP Playlists |
| shell:PrintersFolder | The classic "Printers" folder (not 'Devices and Printers') |
| shell:PrintHood | C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Printer Shortcuts |
| shell:Profile | The User profile folder |
| shell:ProgramFiles | Program Files |
| shell:ProgramFilesCommon | C:\Program Files\Common Files |
| shell:ProgramFilesCommonX64 | C:\Program Files\Common Files - for Windows x64 |
| shell:ProgramFilesCommonX86 | C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files - for Windows x64 |
| shell:ProgramFilesX64 | C:\Program Files - for Windows x64 |
| shell:ProgramFilesX86 | C:\Program Files (x86) - for Windows x64 |
| shell:Programs | C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs (Per-user Start Menu Programs folder) |
| shell:Public | C:\Users\Public |
| shell:PublicAccountPictures | C:\Users\Public\AccountPictures |
| shell:PublicGameTasks | C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\GameExplorer |
| shell:PublicLibraries | C:\Users\Public\Libraries |
| shell:Quick Launch | C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch |
| shell:Recent | The "Recent Items" folder (Recent Documents) |
| shell:RecordedTVLibrary | The "Recorded TV" Library |
| shell:RecycleBinFolder | The Recycle Bin folder |
| shell:ResourceDir | C:\Windows\Resources where visual styles are stored |
| shell:Ringtones | C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Ringtones |
| shell:Roamed Tile Images | Does not work. Probably reserved for future. |
| shell:Roaming Tiles | C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\RoamingTiles |
| shell:SavedGames | Saved Games |
| shell:Screenshots | The folder for Win+Print Screen screenshots |
| shell:Searches | Saved Searches |
| shell:SearchHistoryFolder | C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\ConnectedSearch\History |
| shell:SearchHomeFolder | Windows Search UI |
| shell:SearchTemplatesFolder | C:\Users\winaero\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\ConnectedSearch\Templates |
| shell:SendTo | The folder with items that you can see in the "Send to" menu |
| shell:SkyDrive | The SkyDrive folder |
| shell:SkyDriveCameraRoll | The Camera Roll images folder inside the SkyDrive folder |
| shell:SkyDriveDocuments | The Documents folder inside the SkyDrive folder |
| shell:SkyDrivePictures | The Pictures folder inside the SkyDrive folder |
| shell:Start Menu | C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu (Per-user Start Menu folder) |
| shell:Startup | Per-user Startup folder |
| shell:SyncCenterFolder | Control Panel\All Control Panel Items\Sync Center |
| shell:SyncResultsFolder | Control Panel\All Control Panel Items\Sync Center\Sync Results |
| shell:SyncSetupFolder | Control Panel\All Control Panel Items\Sync Center\Sync Setup |
| shell:System | C:\Windows\System32 |
| shell:SystemCertificates | C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\SystemCertificates |
| shell:SystemX86 | C:\Windows\SysWOW64 -Windows x64 only |
| shell:Templates | C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Templates |
| shell:ThisPCDesktopFolder | The Desktop folder |
| shell:User Pinned | Pinned items for Taskbar and Start screen, C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch\User Pinned |
| shell:UserProfiles | C:\Users, the users folder where the user profiles are stored |
| shell:UserProgramFiles | C:\Users\winaero\AppData\Local\Programs |
| shell:UserProgramFilesCommon | C:\Users\winaero\AppData\Local\Programs\Common |
| shell:UsersFilesFolder | The current user profile |
| shell:UsersLibrariesFolder | Libraries |
| shell:VideosLibrary | Videos library |
| shell:Windows | C:\Windows |
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