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up vote 23 down vote favorite
4

In Linux, we can go to the user home by entering the tilde (~) character after cd:

cd ~

How to do the same in Windows?

Each time, I need to type:

cd C:\Document and Settings\freewind

That's too boring.

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Consider using cygwin ? – Paul R Sep 7 '11 at 12:29
4  
actually, '~' is the default for 'cd' under most Linux shells, so just 'cd' would suffice to go to your homedir – Arnout Engelen Sep 7 '11 at 12:44
@Arnout: See stackoverflow.com/questions/998626/… – abatishchev Sep 7 '11 at 13:11
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The answer is simply "cd ~".. means, you can use the same command in Windows too. But, you shouldn't try this command in CMD because its out-dated now & its development is discontinued by Microsoft. Use "Windows PowerShell" and the same command will work smoothly. – Sachin Shekhar Sep 14 '11 at 4:03
1  
PowerShell ships with Win7+ – Isaac Dontje Lindell Jan 16 at 21:11
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migrated from stackoverflow.com Sep 7 '11 at 13:13

5 Answers

up vote 24 down vote accepted

cd /d "%HOMEDRIVE%%HOMEPATH%" would do it -- but I 'm not sure if you consider it an improvement.

You can also define an alias for the above command:

doskey cdhome=cd /d "%HOMEDRIVE%%HOMEPATH%"

After this, it's simply cdhome.

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2  
@Freewind: You gotta love the default Windows shell. – Jon Sep 7 '11 at 12:33
3  
@abatishchev: Good question. This question on SF seems to indicate that %USERPROFILE% is preferable. – Jon Sep 7 '11 at 12:50
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You can also use cd~ as the macro name, instead if cdhome. – jftuga Sep 7 '11 at 14:16
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@abatishchev: Windows NT accounts can have a "home directory" path attached which is separate from the "profile directory". The profile keeps your settings (Registry), application data, and such. The home directory, on the other hand, is for your own files -- when a program displays the "Open/Save" dialog for the first time, it will start at the home directory. (Windows 95/98 used it somewhat differently; can't remember the specifics.) This is useful in Active Directory environments, for storing files on a network share but keeping the profile local. – grawity Sep 7 '11 at 14:41
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@jftuga: Or even ~. – grawity Sep 7 '11 at 14:43
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up vote 29 down vote

You can use cd /d %USERPROFILE% if you use the normal command shell

or you can use cd ~ if you use PowerShell.

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3  
+1 But add the /d – xanatos Sep 7 '11 at 12:36
1  
+1 but also add quotes around the variable (maybe it's c:\documents and settings\..., the spaces will break it unless it's quoted) – Jon Sep 7 '11 at 12:47
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@Jon: cd is an exception. Since it always takes a single argument, quoting is not necessary. (On Windows, programs and built-ins must parse their command line themselves, the shell does not do it.) Always quoting paths is a good practice, however. – grawity Sep 7 '11 at 14:45
+1, not sure how the other answer got accepted as this is much easier to type. I use it all the time – TheLQ Sep 12 '11 at 13:37
@grawity what do you think they tend to use for parsing it? – barlop Nov 7 '11 at 15:28
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up vote 3 down vote

You can do this:

cd %homepath%
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2  
This will break if you're on a different drive - e.g. you're on E: and your homedir is on C: – Piskvor Sep 7 '11 at 13:40
up vote 9 down vote

One possibility is to use the subst command from a command prompt:

subst z: C:\Document and Settings\freewind

Any time you navigate to drive Z:, you'll be looking at your user folder.

The downside is that you need to run it every time you log in. I used a batch file and just put it in my startup folder, but there are probably more elegant solutions to this.

The benefit is that unlike a doskey alias, it works universally (windows explorer, browse dialog, etc.), not just when changing directories at the command prompt. It's especially helpful for old programs with old browse dialogs that have drive letters at the topmost level, rather than "desktop".

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+1 for creative solution - I had no idea it was so easy to mount folders as drives in windows! – Caspar Sep 13 '11 at 0:53
up vote 1 down vote

You can create a batch file called ~.bat containing

@echo off
cd /d %USERPROFILE%

And add it to your PATH variable (Start->[right-click on "Computer"]->Properties->"Advanced System Settings"[in left column]->"Environment Variables"

From there, just edit your PATH variable to include the folder containing your ~.bat file. (This allows you to invoke your script from anywhere using just the filename--not the absolute path to the file)

Also, make sure your PATHEXT environment variable contains .BAT somewhere (this allows you to type ~ instead of ~.bat).

When you need to use it, simply enter ~ at the command prompt. This solution is persistent--you won't have to set it up every time you launch a shell, and you won't need to hack your registry.

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1  
This still will fail if the prompt is on a different drive – TheLQ Jan 17 at 2:33
You're right. I entered the wrong one by mistake. I made an edit; it should work now. – weberc2 Jan 17 at 14:26
I think @TheLQ is referring to /d missing: cd /d %userprofile%. This changes not only the folder, but the drive if you're on a different drive from your user folder when you execute the command. – eisb Jan 17 at 15:32
@eisb Gotcha, I wasn't aware (after a decade and a half of daily Windows use, I still haven't become as proficient with Windows as I have with Linux in only two years). I'll fix. Thanks for the tips! :) – weberc2 Jan 17 at 16:06

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