How to change the default shell in Windows 10 The Command Prompt has been the default shell that was used in previous versions of Windows, but with the latest update of Windows 10, Microsoft has decided to change it to PowerShell. If you prefer to use PowerShell over Command Prompt, this guide will show you how to change the default shell in the Microsoft Windows 10 April 2022 update and after. However, if you don’t want to switch to PowerShell and prefer using Command Prompt, this guide will show you how to keep using it instead of switching back to the original shell that came with Windows 10 (Explorer).

Part 1: Open Settings and Choose Apps

In Settings, choose Apps. In the left column, scroll down and tap Default apps. Choose a new default for all apps or individual apps. For example, if you want every file type to open with Notepad, tap Open with and then Choose another app. Tap Notepad in the list of available apps. Repeat this process for each file type until you are satisfied with your choices.

Tap Save changes when finished. You can now close Settings and return to your desktop. The new default is reflected on any opened windows; just click on one, and it will show No Defaults Assigned under where you should select an app to open it with. Right-click any window that opens in the old default window style and select Properties from the pop-up menu. On the General tab, select Open with: PowerShell as desired instead of Windows Command Processor. Close that window after saving the settings to apply them back at any time in future windows that pop up using the same application type.

Part 2: Select Default Apps by App Provider

To change the Command Prompt default to PowerShell, you can do so by opening up Settings and clicking Apps. From there, scroll down and click Default apps by app provider. This will open a drop-down menu where you can select your preferred defaults for a variety of categories. You’ll be able to find a category called Desktop app launchers, where you’ll have an option for changing the command prompt from cmd.exe to powershell.exe. Select that option and hit Save changes if you’re done making changes. After restarting your computer, it should now launch with the new defaults when it comes to desktop app launchers. If not, go back into settings and make sure that the checkmark is set next to Command Prompt under Desktop app launcher options.

Part 3: Open Command Prompt settings

Save changes by selecting Yes from the dialog box. Power users will be able to make these changes using a command prompt with the following steps:

1. Open an elevated command prompt (see Elevated Command Prompt below).
2. Type Set-ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned -Force.
3. Press Y on your keyboard when prompted. 4. Close the elevated command prompt window.
4. Reopen Command Prompt and type PowerShell to open it with PowerShell, or search for PowerShell in Start menu search bar.
5. From now on, every time you want to open Command Prompt, type PowerShell instead of just Command.
6. You can also right click on the taskbar icon, select Switch between apps, then select either Command Prompt or PowerShell from the list.
7. If you are still not seeing any difference in functionality between the two types of consoles, refer to Troubleshooting tips at bottom of this post for additional steps.

Part 4: Change Default to Windows PowerShell

1. Search for PowerShell from the Start Menu’s search box and click on it when it appears.
2. In the search bar, type default app settings and press Enter.
3. Click on Associate a file type or protocol with a program.
4. Scroll down to .PNG files, click on them, and select Use other.
5. Choose PowerShell from the list of programs that pops up and click OK to save your changes. That’s all you need to do! From now on, whenever you double-click any PNG file it will open in Windows PowerShell instead of the Command Prompt by default. You can also go back and associate more file types to use with another program if you want. Remember that this is just an association; the actual file itself doesn’t change at all. If you want to see how these associations work without making any changes, then use your imagination – pretend I told you how to associate images with Paint instead of using my directions above. Now close this blog post window, go find a PNG image somewhere on your computer (it could be in Documents or Downloads), right-click on it and choose Properties. Go over to the General tab and click Open With… – here you’ll see two options: one for Paint (if we had done our imaginary association) and one for Windows PowerShell (since we just did our real association).

Part 5: Save Changes

1. Type regedit and then click/tap on OK.
2. If prompted by UAC, then click/tap on Yes.
3. In regedit, navigate to the following key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Console
4. Create a new Dword 32-bit value
5. Name it Default Console
6. Double-click/tap on the Default Console key and set its value data to PowerShell.

7 . Close regedit, restart computer (if applicable), and verify that PowerShell is now running as your default command prompt from now on.

8. To revert changes and make Command Prompt default again, follow instructions below:
9. Delete the Default Console registry value created earlier under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Console

Replace Command Prompt with Windows PowerShell Replace PowerShell with cmd Shift + right-click Set PowerShell as default shell Windows 10

Danielle Steel