PowerShell Windows 10 – 8 Ways to Open PowerShell App

What Is PowerShell?

What is PowerShell used for in Windows 10?

PowerShell is a task automation and configuration management framework from Microsoft. It is built in newer versions of Windows 10. It consists of a set of commands and scripting language. IT professionals and advanced users can use PowerShell in Windows 10 to automate the administration of Windows 10 OS and programs running in Windows 10.

How to Open PowerShell in Windows 10 – 8 Ways

How to open PowerShell on Windows 10? Below we introduce 8 ways to let you easily open Windows PowerShell or run PowerShell as administrator.

Way 1. Run PowerShell with Windows + X Shortcut

You can press Windows + X keyboard shortcut to open the Power Users menu, and select Windows PowerShell to open it. To run Windows PowerShell as administrator, you can select Windows PowerShell (Admin).

Way 2. Start Windows 10 PowerShell from Start Menu

You can click Start menu at the bottom-left of taskbar. Scroll down in Start menu list to find Windows PowerShell program, click it to open it. To run it as administrator, you can right-click Windows PowerShell program and select Run as administrator.

Way 3. Open PowerShell in Windows 10 with Start Menu Search

Alternatively, you can also click Start menu, and type powershell, then you should see Windows PowerShell app at the top. Click it to open it or right-click it to choose Run as administrator.

Way 4. Via Cortana

You can click Cortana icon next to Start menu, type powershell in the search box. Then you can click Open or Run as Administrator to start PowerShell command-line tool in Windows 10.

Way 5. Open Windows 10 PowerShell via Run Dialog

You can press Windows + R to start Windows Run dialog. Type powershell in Run dialog, and press Enter to get into PowerShell in Windows 10, or you can press Ctrl + Shift + Enter to run PowerShell as administrator.

Way 6. Launch PowerShell in Windows 10 with CMD

You can press Windows + R, type cmd, and press Enter to open Command Prompt on Windows 10. Next you can type powershell in Command Prompt, and press Enter to open PowerShell program.

Way 7. Start PowerShell in Task Manager

You can press Ctrl + Shift + ESC to open Task Manager on Windows 10. Next click File -> Run new task. Then type powershell in the Open box and click OK to open PowerShell. If you want to run PowerShell with administrator privileges, you should check the “Create this task with administrative privileges” option.

Way 8. Open Windows 10 PowerShell from File Explorer

You can click as the following path to access PowerShell location in Windows 10: This PC/Local Disk (C:)/Windows/System32/WindowsPowerShell/v1.0. This is where PowerShell is located in Windows 10. Then you can double-click powershell application to open PowerShell in Windows 10. Alternatively, you can also right-click powershell application and choose Run as administrator.

Create a Desktop Shortcut for PowerShell App

To quickly access PowerShell Window, you can create a desktop shortcut for it. Check how to create a PowerShell shortcut below.

Right-click the blank area on desktop and click New -> Shortcut. Next type powershell in Create Shortcut window, and click Next to give a name for the shortcut like Windows PowerShell. Click Finish to create a PowerShell shortcut.

Popular Windows 10 PowerShell Commands

For basic PowerShell commands, you can check: Windows PowerShell Commands Cheat Sheet.

Is Windows PowerShell the same as Command Prompt?

If you are wondering the differences between PowerShell and Command Prompt, you can check: PowerShell vs CMD.

Conclusion

This post lists 8 ways to let you open PowerShell in Windows 10 and teaches you how to create a PowerShell shortcut in Windows 10. Hope it helps. For free data recovery solutions, you can turn to MiniTool Power Data Recovery.