My PowerShell prompt's currently pointed to my C drive (PS C:\>). How do I change directory to a folder on my Q (PS Q:\>) drive?
The folder name on my Q drive is "My Test Folder".
9 Answers
Unlike the CMD.EXE CHDIR or CD command, the PowerShell Set-Location cmdlet will change drive and directory, both. Get-Help Set-Location -Full will get you more detailed information on Set-Location, but the basic usage would be
PS C:\> Set-Location -Path Q:\MyDir
PS Q:\MyDir>
By default in PowerShell, CD and CHDIR are alias for Set-Location.
(Asad reminded me in the comments that if the path contains spaces, it must be enclosed in quotes.)
5 Comments
Asad
You have to enclose the path in "" otherwise it will give you error. Command will look like this Set-Location "Q:\My Test Folder"
Jeff Zeitlin
@Asad - Good point, and one that I should have included originally, though quoting is only necessary if the path contains spaces.
Marco van de Voort
cmd.exe supports "cd /d e:\somedirectory" to also switch drives
Alex Fainshtein
The command works even without including the
-Path parameter. Why? Is it always the case?Jeff Zeitlin
For the
Set-Location cmdlet, since the most common use will be to use it like the old CD command, it makes sense for the "default" interpretation of an omitted parameter name to be to assume that it's the -Path parameter, and that's how the cmdlet was written. Other cmdlets may not default the same way. See the help information (linked in the answer) for a more detailed discussion.To go directly to that folder, you can use the Set-Location cmdlet or cd alias:
Set-Location "Q:\My Test Folder"
Comments
Multiple posted answer here, but probably this can help who is newly using PowerShell
SO if any space is there in your directory path do not forgot to add double inverted commas "".
2 Comments
Jeff Zeitlin
Single quotes will work as well, e.g.,
Set-Location 'C:\Path With Spaces'
OwnageIsMagic
double inverted commas 🤦♂️You can simply type Q: and that should solve your problem.
5 Comments
SoConfused
It doesn't seem to work. Am I doing this correctly? PS C:\> Q:
Cordo van Saviour
Are you sure it's there? I guess if it's Q:/ drive that that is some sort of removable media, it is maybe something as simple as plugging it in.
Jeff Zeitlin
The assumption is that the drive Q does in fact exist. If it does not, PowerShell will throw an error specifying that the drive does not exist.
Cordo van Saviour
Oh, yeah, my bad.
Heike
Love simple solutions :)
Set-Location -Path 'Q:\MyDir'
In PowerShell cd = Set-Location
2 Comments
not2qubit
This must be one of the worlds best reason not to use Powershell.
Jeff Zeitlin
Since aliases can be removed and redefined, I will always use the expanded cmdlet in answers here - I can't assume that just because I haven't removed or changed the
cd alias, neither have you.You can also use the sl command to be able to change directories. It is Set-Location but it is much shorter.
Example:
# Too verbose
Set-Location -Path C:\
# Just the right amount of characters to type
sl C:\
Comments
I don't know why everyone talks about Set-Location and the fact that cd does not change drive and directory, in fact it actually does it (in powershell, not cmd), you just need to put quotes (single or double) around if there are spaces in folder name(s), also you can just type drive letter if you just want to go to its root:
Edit: now I started editing my PowerShell scripts with a "real" IDE I understood why everyone talks about Set-Location, cd is just an alias to it:
Comments
If your Folder inside a Drive contains spaces In Power Shell you can Simply Type the command then drive name and folder name within Single Quotes(''):
Set-Location -Path 'E:\FOLDER NAME'
Comments
- On Powershell use Set-Location instead of cd.
- Put path in quotes. Single quotes works for me.
Set-Location 'C:\Program Files\MongoDB\Server\6.0'
cd -Path Q:/Push-LocationandPop-Location