When working on my Windows laptop, I often find myself needing to launch a new command prompt. The need usually arises in the active folder in Windows Explorer, or in Total Commander (my favorite file manager on Windows).

This happens pretty often, so I decided to create a keyboard shortcut to automate the process. To do this, I used AutoHotKey – the awesome Windows automation tool.

Properties and features of the AHK script I came up with:

• Invoked with a keyboard shortcut Ctrl+Alt+T (so it’s consistent with launching the terminal in Linux).
• If in Windows Explorer – start the command prompt in the current directory.
• If in Total Commander – start the command prompt in the current directory of the active pane.
• Otherwise, use a default directory (e.g., the home directory).

The code: