Windows: Environment Variables Editor – Quick Shortcut

The most convenient way to create and modify environment variables in Windows is to use the default environment variables editor.

Unfortunately it is not easy to find where to launch this tool from that is quite annoying if you have to edit environment variables in Windows often.

In this article i will show how to access the editor of environment variables in Windows and how to create a shortcut for quick access.

Cool Tip: Set environment variables in Windows! Read More →

Environment Variables Editor

Start CMD as an administrator: press ⊞ Win keybutton to open the start menu, type in cmd to search for the command prompt and press Ctrl + Shift + Enter to launch it as administrator (or just Enter to launch it as a current users, but in this case you won’t be able to edit the system environment variables).

Run the following command from the command-line prompt (CMD) to start the graphical editor of environment variables in Windows:

C:\> rundll32 sysdm.cpl,EditEnvironmentVariables

Using this editor you can set current user and system environment variables (for example, add new locations to %PATH%).

Environment Variables Shortcut

To have a quick access you can create a shortcut to the environment variables editor.

Right click on the empty space of your desktop and select New -> Shortcut from the context menu.

Copy-paste the following command in the shortcut target box and click on Next:

rundll32 sysdm.cpl,EditEnvironmentVariables

Set “Environment Variables” as the name of the shortcut and click on Finish.

Now if you launch the “Environment Variables” shortcut it will open the environment variables editor as the current user.

If you need to edit system environment variables, right click on the shortcut and select “Run as administrator” from the context menu.

Cool Tip: Add a directory to Windows %PATH% environment variable! Read More →

Quick Access to Environment Variables

Alternative way to have a quick access to environment variables editor is to press ⊞ Win keybutton to open the start menu and type in envi to search for “Edit the system environment variables” or “Edit environment variables for your account” links.

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One Reply to “Windows: Environment Variables Editor – Quick Shortcut”

  1. Thanks for this post. Do you have an alternative to this using scripting?

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