Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised May 27, 2026

Start (command)

In computing, start is a command of the IBM OS/2, Microsoft Windows and ReactOS command-line interpreter cmd.exe to start programs or batch files or to open files or directories using the default program. start is not available as a standalone program. The underlying Win32 API is ShellExecute.

Last revised
May 27, 2026
Read time
≈ 2 min
Length
436 w
Citations
12
Source
Wikipedia ↗
start
DevelopersIBM, Microsoft, ReactOS Contributors
Operating systemOS/2, Microsoft Windows, ReactOS
TypeCommand

In computing, start is a command of the IBM OS/2,1 Microsoft Windows2 and ReactOS3 command-line interpreter cmd.exe4 (and some versions of COMMAND.COM) to start programs or batch files or to open files or directories using the default program. start is not available as a standalone program. The underlying Win32 API is ShellExecute.

The command is also one of the basic commands implemented in the Keyboard Monitor (KMON) of the DEC RT-11 operating system.5 The TOPS-106 and TOPS-207 operating systems also provide a start command. It is used to start a program in memory at a specified address.

Other environments

Description of the START command of RT-11SJ displayed on a VT100. source ↗
  • Typical Unix shells (bash, etc.) have no built-in registry of file types and associated default applications. Linux command-line tools with similar functions include xdg-open8 and run-mailcap.
  • On Cygwin, the command is implemented as the cygstart executable.9
  • In PowerShell, the Invoke-Item cmdlet is used to invoke an executable or open a file.10
  • On Apple macOS and MorphOS, the corresponding command is open.11
  • On Stratus OpenVOS it is start_process.12

Syntax

Windows, ReactOS

start ["title"] [/D path] [/I][/B][/MIN][/MAX][/WAIT] [command/program] [parameters]

"title" Title of the window.

Path Specifies the startup directory.

I Use the original environment given to cmd.exe, instead of the current environment.

B Starts the command or program without creating any window.

MIN Starts with a minimized window.

MAX Starts with a maximized window.

WAIT Starts the command or program and waits for its termination.

command Specifies the parameters to be given to the command or program.

Examples

Windows, ReactOS

C:\>start notepad file.txt

C:\>start "C:\My Music\My Song.mp3"

C:\>start www.wikipedia.org
See also

See also

References

References

  1. "JaTomes Help - OS/2 Commands". Archived from the original on 2019-04-14. Retrieved 2019-07-06.
  2. "MS-DOS and Windows command line start command".
  3. "Reactos/Reactos". GitHub. 3 January 2022.
  4. "Start". Microsoft Learn. 2021-11-12. Retrieved 2023-11-22.
  5. "Rt-11 Help File". Archived from the original on 2018-07-17. Retrieved 2018-07-16.
  6. TOPS-10 Operating System Commands Manual (PDF). Digital Equipment Corporation. August 1980. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2020-08-09. Retrieved 2019-02-17.
  7. "TOPS-20 Command manual" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2020-08-09. Retrieved 2018-07-18.
  8. "XDG-utils".
  9. "cygstart man page on Cygwin". www.polarhome.com.
  10. "Start - Start a program - Windows CMD - SS64.com". ss64.com.
  11. "Shell Commands/Open - MorphOS Library". library.morph.zone. Retrieved 2024-07-11.
  12. Stratus Technologies Bermuda, Ltd (2017). "OpenVOS Commands Reference Manual" (PDF).
Further reading

Further reading

External links