Shell command list Archives

Shell commands in Windows 8.1

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.

New Shell Commands and Shell Locations in Windows 8.1 (aka ‘Blue’)

Just for note: Windows 8.1 (aka 'Blue') features new shell commands and shell locations:

shell:::{A8CDFF1C-4878-43be-B5FD-F8091C1C60D0} - Documents folder pinned in the Computer folder.
shell:::{1CF1260C-4DD0-4ebb-811F-33C572699FDE} - Music folder pinned in the Computer folder.
shell:::{3ADD1653-EB32-4cb0-BBD7-DFA0ABB5ACCA} - Pictures folder pinned in the Computer folder.
shell:::{A0953C92-50DC-43bf-BE83-3742FED03C9C} - Videos folder pinned in the Computer folder.

shell:Camera Roll - A new folder to store pictures taken by the Camera pp
shell:SkyDrive - The SkyDrive shell folder which is synchronized online with SkyDrive
shell:SkyDriveDocuments - The Documents folder inside the SkyDrive shell folder
shell:SkyDrivePictures - The Pictures folder inside the SkyDrive shell folder

Stay tuned for more tips.

The full list of shell commands in Windows 8

Earlier, we have covered the most comprehensive list of shell locations by their Class ID which you can use to create a shortcut to the specific shell location for quick access. Today I am going to share the list of shell commands using their friendly name. Although these are implemented by the same ActiveX objects, you will notice that not every shell location with a CLSID has a user friendly alias. For example, 'Devices and Printers', the one with the shell:::{A8A91A66-3A7D-4424-8D24-04E180695C7A} CLSID has no friendly-name equivalent.

In the general case, a shell command looks like this:

shell:Friendly Folder Name

For example,

shell:SendTo - the folder with items that you see in the "Send to" menu
shell:Desktop - the Desktop folder, and so on.

Read the the full list below of such commands in Windows 8.