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I do not understand why Windows 7 is still adopting this stuffy dialog box? I feel uncomfortable when editing and looking-up a path in this narrow text box.

enter image description here

Is there a convenient way to edit PATH in Windows 7? One item per row for example.

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I think it's stored in the registry like that. Would be pretty trivial to write an app that can break it up if you know how to program. – Ciaran Jun 16 '11 at 8:37
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@Ciaran obviously if he knew how to program it then he would know that and wouldn't need to be told. – barlop Jun 16 '11 at 10:13
This is true. I was half nudging myself to do it :) but then the answers started rolling in so I knew it'd been done. – Ciaran Jun 17 '11 at 8:25
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4 Answers

up vote 14 down vote accepted

There appears to be a program called the Path Editor that seems to be exactly what you are after.

Path Editor is a GUI that allows for easy editing of the path environment variable. The facilities provided with Windows are, let us say, minimal. It displays all entires in the path and allows you to easily manage them.

enter image description here

Given that it was updated just last year I would hope that it is compatible with Windows 7.

If not then there is always the Rapid Environment Editor which is a bit more full featured, and claims full support for all major OS versions, including 64-bit.

Editable tree

Show environment variables and values as an editable tree.

Portable mode

RapidEE doesn't require installation and could be run as a "portable application". View details.

enter image description here

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+1 for this good answer. – xport Jun 16 '11 at 8:39
@xport I found another alternative that is useful for more than just the PATH variable – Mokubai Jun 16 '11 at 8:43
@ I have installed the latter, REE. It is less painful. – xport Jun 16 '11 at 9:02
I have to admit that Path Editor did look somewhat basic. Glad I could help. – Mokubai Jun 16 '11 at 9:05
@Makubai: Thank you for your help :-) – xport Jun 16 '11 at 9:10
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up vote 3 down vote

For quick and dirty, copy and paste into Notepad then edit and copy and paste back.

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+1: Good idea, but it is still painful to scroll horizontally. – xport Jun 16 '11 at 16:52
I agree. Depending on your editor of choice you could swap ";" for a return and do your editing then swap them back. Notepad will not do that substitution though. :-( – Chris Nava Jun 16 '11 at 17:41
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up vote 2 down vote

Environment variables editor (Eveditor) is also worth mentioning. It is easy to use and completely free.

Eveditor

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up vote 0 down vote

Another option is to create a small console application in C# using methods discussed here.

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