Start (command)

---

title: "Start (command)" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["os/2-commands", "reactos-commands", "windows-administration"] description: "Shell command" topic_path: "technology/operating-systems" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Start_(command)" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Shell command ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox software"]

Field	Value
name	start
screenshot	ReactOS-0.4.13 start command 667x434.png
caption	The ReactOS start command
developer	IBM, Microsoft, ReactOS Contributors
operating system	OS/2, Microsoft Windows, ReactOS
genre	Command
::

| name = start | logo = | screenshot = ReactOS-0.4.13 start command 667x434.png | screenshot size = | caption = The ReactOS start command | developer = IBM, Microsoft, ReactOS Contributors | released = | latest release version = | latest release date = | operating system = OS/2, Microsoft Windows, ReactOS | genre = Command | license = | website = In computing, start is a command of the IBM OS/2, Microsoft Windows and ReactOS command-line interpreter cmd.exe (and some versions of COMMAND.COM) to start programs or batch files or to open files or directories using the default program. is not available as a standalone program. The underlying Win32 API is ****.

The command is also one of the basic commands implemented in the Keyboard Monitor (KMON) of the DEC RT-11 operating system. The TOPS-10 and TOPS-20{{cite web |url=http://www.textfiles.com/bitsavers/pdf/dec/pdp10/TOPS20/V6.1/AA-FP65A-TM_tops20CmdsRef.pdf |title=TOPS-20 Command manual |access-date=2018-07-18 |archive-date=2020-08-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200809103116/http://www.textfiles.com/bitsavers/pdf/dec/pdp10/TOPS20/V6.1/AA-FP65A-TM_tops20CmdsRef.pdf |url-status=dead

Other environments

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c2/RT-11_help.jpg" caption="VT100]]."] ::

• 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-open and run-mailcap.
• On Cygwin, the command is implemented as the executable.
• In PowerShell, the Invoke-Item cmdlet is used to invoke an executable or open a file.
• On Apple macOS and MorphOS, the corresponding command is [open](open-process).
• On Stratus OpenVOS it is start_process.

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

::code[lang=doscon] C:>start notepad file.txt ::

::code[lang=doscon] C:>start "C:\My Music\My Song.mp3" ::

::code[lang=doscon] C:>start www.wikipedia.org ::

References

References

1. "JaTomes Help - OS/2 Commands".
2. "MS-DOS and Windows command line start command".
3. (3 January 2022). "Reactos/Reactos".
4. (2021-11-12). "Start".
5. "Rt-11 Help File".
6. (August 1980). "TOPS-10 Operating System Commands Manual". Digital Equipment Corporation.
7. "XDG-utils".
8. "cygstart man page on Cygwin".
9. "Start - Start a program - Windows CMD - SS64.com".
10. "Shell Commands/Open - MorphOS Library".
11. Stratus Technologies Bermuda, Ltd. (2017). "OpenVOS Commands Reference Manual".

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::