Open CMD in the Visual Studio Code terminal

Question

Whenever I open the terminal in Visual Studio Code, I get a bash shell. I want to add CMD as a second shell. To do that, I went through the VS Code documentation and found this command:

CTRL+SHIFT+`

But it only opens a second bash shell. Is there a shortcut for opening CMD in the integrated terminal, rather than opening it in an external console?

Screengrab showing console window in VSCode

Perhaps [this](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/49034689) will help — Victor S., Apr 23 '18 at 14:17

score 25 · Answer 1 · edited Oct 03 '21 at 11:29

25

Press Ctrl + Shift + P to open the command palette.
Type 'profile' in the searcher.
Select 'Terminal: Select Default Profile'.
Select 'Command Prompt'
The next time you try to open the terminal you should see 'CMD' instead of 'PowerShell'.

edited Oct 03 '21 at 11:29

Toothbrush

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answered Mar 13 '20 at 16:43

Khapi

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5

This option no longer exists in vs code 1.59 – Andy N Aug 18 '21 at 05:15

score 15 · Answer 2 · edited Dec 23 '20 at 11:07

If you want to always open cmd, you can use the settings to configure that.

From the docs:

Correctly configuring your shell on Windows is a matter of locating the right executable and updating the setting. Below are a list of common shell executables and their default locations:

// Command Prompt
"terminal.integrated.shell.windows": "C:\\Windows\\System32\\cmd.exe"
// PowerShell
"terminal.integrated.shell.windows": "C:\\Windows\\System32\\WindowsPowerShell\\v1.0\\powershell.exe"
// Git Bash
"terminal.integrated.shell.windows": "C:\\Program Files\\Git\\git-cmd.exe",
"terminal.integrated.shellArgs.windows": [
  "--command=usr/bin/bash.exe",
  "-l",
  "-i"
]
// Bash on Ubuntu (on Windows)
"terminal.integrated.shell.windows": "C:\\Windows\\System32\\bash.exe"

If you want to only sometimes open cmd, you may be able to simply open a new bash terminal and then run cmd in it.

If you use both frequently, you may want to use an extension like this or this which allow you to pick your terminal when you launch it.

Keybindings:

  [{
    "key": "ctrl+shift+t",
    "command": "shellLauncher.launch"
  }]

Settings:

  {
    "shellLauncher.shells.windows": [
      {
        "shell": "bash",
        "args": [],
        "label": "bash"
      }, {
        "shell": "cmd",
        "args": [],
        "label": "cmd"
      }
    ]
  }

when I put this code in setting JSON file, a message show me `unknown configuration setting` — Eng_Farghly, May 20 '23 at 14:30

score 8 · Answer 3 · answered Jan 26 '19 at 04:47

8

Add this on user setting Note: paste at top

{

   "terminal.integrated.shell.windows": "cmd.exe"
    // other settings...

}

answered Jan 26 '19 at 04:47

Suyash · Answer 4 · 2021-08-11T13:53:28.883

7

I don't know why anyone else hasn't mentioned it yet, but here's the simplest way to open CMD in VSCode.

Just type CMD in the terminal and hit enter.

edited Aug 11 '21 at 13:53

answered Jun 07 '21 at 06:10

Suyash

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score 4 · Answer 5 · answered Oct 04 '21 at 14:23

4

You can change your current terminal to whatever you need (or have).

Or you can use Ctrl + Shift + P to open the Command Palette and type Terminal Profile, then change the default profile.

This will change your startup terminal. If you start a new one, the default terminal will always open.

answered Oct 04 '21 at 14:23

scwol111

98
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This answer is consistent with differentiating hard drive letter – vintprox Dec 16 '21 at 08:13

score 3 · Answer 6 · answered Jan 11 '19 at 05:09

3

Just open the terminal and enter the link to your cmd application e.g C:\Windows\system32\cmd.exe

answered Jan 11 '19 at 05:09

Ochan Charles Taylor

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score 2 · Answer 7 · answered Mar 23 '22 at 10:15

2

Opening the cmd terminal from VSCode

Ctrl + Shift + C

answered Mar 23 '22 at 10:15

liv jeez

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score 0 · Answer 8 · edited Oct 04 '21 at 14:08

0

If you want to open another CMD terminal, from the VS Code terminal or any other terminal, use

@start run cmd .

or when you want to go on dir above and open cmd there:

cd .. & @start cmd .

edited Oct 04 '21 at 14:08

Bill Tür stands with Ukraine

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answered Oct 04 '21 at 13:02

Maxenn

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To open the VS Code terminal, ~ + SHIFT + CTRL – Maxenn Oct 04 '21 at 13:11

Open CMD in the Visual Studio Code terminal

8 Answers8

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