Powershell Replaces Command Prompt In The File Explorer Menu

Microsoft has been making some radical changes to Windows 10 recently. The company has replaced Windows 10’s default command-line tool, Command Prompt, with PowerShell in the Win + X menu.

Starting from build 14971 for Windows 10 Preview, when you right-click the Win + X menu, you’ll notice that PowerShell is now the default command-line tool. As PowerShell is completely Command Prompt-compatible, which means you can perform the same commands in both tools, the company thinks it’s a better idea to give PowerShell advantage over Command Prompt.

But don’t get confused, Command Prompt is still present in Windows 10, and nothing has changed within the tool. The fastest way to access Command Prompt is to simply type ‘cmd.exe‘ in the Search menu. And in case you don’t want PowerShell to be your default command-line tool, you can change this by going to Settings > Personalization > Taskbar, and turning “Replace Command Prompt with Windows PowerShell in the menu when I right-click the Start button or press Windows key+X” to “Off”.

Microsoft also points out that it’s PowerShell’s 10th anniversary, which could be one of the reasons for this decision.

This is not the first change of Windows 10’s Win + X menu, we remind you Microsoft also removed Control Panel from the menu some time ago. You probably shouldn’t worry about Microsoft completely discontinuing Command Prompt from Windows 10, because it’s one of the cult features of the system, and many users are accustomed to using it.

Windows 10 build brought a lot of confusion to some Insiders who installed it. While replacing Command Prompt with PowerShell is the announced change, people are far more worried about what will Microsoft do with Paint and Paint 3D in the future.

What do you think about replacing Command Prompt with PowerShell? And which tool do you prefer using? Let us know in the comments below.