How to Make Custom Run Commands on Windows 10

Do you want to run your programs faster, using custom Run commands?

Creating your own run commands can be fun and useful, we usually use the start menu to search and run our programs but this may take more time especially when you haven’t yet migrated to an SSD drive.

You can also use Search/Cortana if you want to find almost anything (on the internet also) but this also requires some time for it to load.

Using commands on “Run” (Win+R) is the fastest way to launch any program or task you want in Windows, and it’s been and will always help to create your own custom commands to do certain tasks or launch some programs.

For example you can’t run the browser Google Chrome by typing “Google Chrome” in the Run command prompt, instead, we use chrome, commands are usually shorter to make easier for us to type them.

1. Use Existing Run Commands

As you know every system program and most of the desktop programs got their Run commands, so why create them if you already got them?

To find out the correct command all you have to do is find the shortcut to the application and right-click on it, go to “Properties“.

Click on the “Shortcut” tab, then look for “Target“. There you will find the complete path to the program, look for the name before .exe and you will get the Run command to use.

You can also find any program’ location by right-clicking on the shortcut then choose “Open File Location“.

In this case the command for “Task Manager” is simply taskmgr, bingo!

Once you type “taskmgr” in the Run (Win+R) command prompt and hit enter you will get the “Task Manager“.

This tip works only with system programs (e.g Task Manager , System, System Configuration, Registry Editor, …) or desktop applications as I said.

If you wish to create your own custom Run commands then it’s explained in the next part of this tutorial.

2. Use Shortcuts to Create Custom Run Commands

Shortcuts are powerful, you can do a lot of tricks with them but in this tutorial we will only show to create a customized Run command.

First of all create a shortcut for your desired program by hitting “Create shortcut” after you right-click on the file Program.exe.

In this case I will create a Run command for the program Voicemeeter.

Once you have created your shortcut rename it to the name you want your Run command to be. I will use the name voice as a command to run Voicemeeter.

Then move your newly created shortcut to the folder C:\Windows.

If the operating system (in this case Windows 10) requires your administrator permission, provide it by clicking “Continue“.

Now all I have to do is use the command voice to launch my favorite screenshot program, Voicemeeter.

You can also create a shortcut by right-clicking at any area on your PC and choose “New” > “Create Shortcut“. Choose “Browse” to find the executable program’s path and select it to create your shortcut. Then move the shortcut to the C:\Windows path.

3. Create a Custom Run Command Using Registry

This is the not-so-easy-way-to-create-a-run-command but can be useful if you don’t want to use shortcuts to get your custom Run commands working.

Open the Run command prompt and launch the “Registry Editor” using the command regedit.

Then follow this path:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\App Paths

Select the key “App Paths” and right-click anywhere in the Registry Editor and choose “New” > “Key“, name it with the name of the Run command and file type (e.g “Voicemeeter.exe”).

Then change the value of the “(Default)” to the full path of the application.

Create a new “String Value” and put only the path this time without the name of the program.

Exit the Registry Editor and launch your program using the new command you created! It works without the need for a restart, if it doesn’t work make sure you didn’t forget “.exe” in the name of the key on the left side of Registry Editor.

Bonus: List of Default Run Commands

Here is a list of all commands available by default in Windows:

And there you have it, you are now able to create your Run commands in 3 ways.

If you have any questions feel free to write them in the comments’ section below, thanks for your time and have a nice day.