Is it possible to list all environment variables from a Windows' command prompt?
Something equivalent to PowerShell's gci env: (or ls env: or dir env:).
asked Mar 16, 2011 at 15:22
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3For a description of each, see ss64.com/nt/syntax-variables.htmlSamuel Harmer– Samuel Harmer2018-06-14 11:14:08 +00:00Commented Jun 14, 2018 at 11:14
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8 Answers
Just do:
SET
You can also do SET prefix to see all variables with names starting with prefix.
For example, if you want to read only derbydb from the environment variables, do the following:
set derby
...and you will get the following:
DERBY_HOME=c:\Users\amro-a\Desktop\db-derby-10.10.1.1-bin\db-derby-10.10.1.1-bin
8 Comments
CMCDragonkai
This prompts me for a name?
Jon
@KevinMeredith: All commands in the Windows shell are case insensitive.
arrowd
This doesn't seem to work with
cmd /c. /e:on flag also doesn't help.John Lord
This is not guaranteed to work. This requires command extensions to be enabled. They are enabled by default on newer windows, but not older ones, and they can be turned off.
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Jon has the right answer, but to elaborate a little more with some syntactic sugar..
SET | more
enables you to see the variables one page at a time, rather than the whole lot, or
SET > output.txt
sends the output to a file output.txt which you can open in Notepad or whatever...
answered Jul 10, 2013 at 15:26
1 Comment
John Lord
it's actually built in to some functions as well. Dir for example will page with a /p.
To list all environment variables in PowerShell:
Get-ChildItem Env:
Or as suggested by user797717 to avoid output truncation:
Get-ChildItem Env: | Format-Table -Wrap -AutoSize
Source: Creating and Modifying Environment Variables (Windows PowerShell Tip of the Week)
answered Feb 17, 2015 at 8:03
5 Comments
ROMANIA_engineer
Even if I don't use PowerShell because it doesn't work for every cmd command, this is the only solution for a pretty printing (on 2 columns) without big efforts. To achieve the same behavior in cmd, you need something like this
for /f "tokens=1,2 delims==" ... which becomes very complicated ...
user797717
To avoid output being truncated, I would use the following:
Get-ChildItem Env: | Format-Table -Wrap -AutoSize
mati kepa
gci env: instead Get-ChildItem Env:, easier to remember
baddy
dir env: I find even easier to remember
Nathan Griffiths
Question specifically asks for a solution using command prompt, not powershell
Simply run set from cmd.
Displays, sets, or removes environment variables. Used without parameters, set displays the current environment settings.
answered Mar 16, 2011 at 15:27
3 Comments
Jay Killeen
Doesn't seem to work these days (in 2021) ` $ set $ cmdlet Set-Variable at command pipeline position 1 $ Supply values for the following parameters: $ Name[0]: $ Set-Variable: Cannot bind argument to parameter 'Name' because it is an empty array. `
Alistair Knock
set is run in cmd, not Powershell @JayKilleen
do loop
So VERY very true @Grant! +1 But I think the MORE command option was to paginate. :D @JayKilleen and any other people: ---> Command Prompt CMD Answer:
set | more (or in shortcut: set | more & pause) ---> PowerShell PS Answer: gci env: | Format-Table -Wrap -AutoSize -OR- Get-ChildItem Env: | Format-Table -Wrap -AutoSizeNon expanded variables -
User variables -
reg query HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Environment
System variables -
reg query "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Environment"
Expanded variables -
In CMD -
SET
In Powershell -
dir env:
answered Jul 16, 2021 at 17:13
3 Comments
Nick
set by itself doesn't work with Github Actions, but the reg query does!do loop
Sorry @HrishikeshKadam - it doesn't work. Command:
PS C:\Users\User> dir env Error Message: dir : Cannot find path 'C:\Users\User\env' because it does not exist... FullyQualifiedErrorId : PathNotFound,Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.GetChildItemCommand
Kevin SHI
@doloop The colon after "env" is required, so
dir env: works, but not dir env.You can use SET in cmd
To show the current variable, just SET is enough
To show certain variable such as 'PATH', use SET PATH.
For help, type set /?.
1 Comment
Peter Mortensen
How is this different from existing answers?
Don't lose time. Search for it in the registry:
reg query "HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Environment"
returns less than the SET command.
2 Comments
mpag
although that might be true, one difference is that the registry query returns unexpanded
REG_EXPAND_SZ keys. For example reg query "HKCU\Environment" shows me that my %TEMP% variable depends on the value of %USERPROFILE%, so if that value changes, so would the value for %TEMP%. In contrast, SET just returns "C:\Users\mpag\AppData\Local\Temp"
Alexandre Huat
Why do you say "don’t lose time"? Isn’t writing "set" in the command prompt faster than "reg query ..."?
If you want to see the environment variable you just set, you need to open a new command window.
Variables set with setx variables are available in future command windows only, not in the current command window. (Setx, Examples)
