Get started

Let’s create your first Quick Shell shortcut and learn the basics.

Launch Quick Shell

Press Win + Alt + Space to open PowerToys Command Palette, search for Quick Shell, and press Enter.

In Quick Shell, select Create shortcut (or press Ctrl+N)
Enter a name (e.g., “My Project”) and the folder path you want to save
(Optional) Set:
- A command to run when opening (e.g., npm start)
- Your preferred terminal profile (Windows Terminal, PowerShell, WSL, etc.)
- Run as administrator (if needed)
Save

That’s it! Next time you open Command Palette, search “My Project” and press Enter to jump there.

Use these shortcuts inside Quick Shell to work faster:

Action	Keyboard
Create new shortcut	Ctrl+N
Edit selected shortcut	Ctrl+E
Favorite/unfavorite	Ctrl+F
Open context menu	Ctrl+K or click ⋯
Run as administrator	Ctrl+Enter
Undo / Redo	Ctrl+Z / Ctrl+Y
Open settings	Click the gear icon or use ⋯ menu

Click the gear icon or find “Quick Shell settings” in the list to:

Set your default terminal and terminal profile
Backup shortcuts (export them to a file)
Restore shortcuts (import from a backup or another PC)
- Choose Merge to add new ones to your existing list
- Choose Replace all to overwrite everything
Refresh terminal list after installing a new terminal app

Make your most-used shortcuts even faster by setting a home keyword:

Edit a shortcut
Set a home keyword (e.g., api, web, docs)
Now press Win + Alt + Space, then type your keyword on the home screen to jump there directly — no searching needed

Quick Shell saves everything locally on your PC (no cloud sync):

You can back these up or move them to another PC using the Export/Import feature.

Run startup commands: Set a command like npm start or docker-compose up to run automatically when the folder opens
Multiple profiles: Create multiple shortcuts for the same folder with different terminals or commands
WSL support: Save WSL project paths and open them in Windows Terminal’s WSL profile
Admin mode: Use Ctrl+Enter or check “Run as administrator” for elevated commands