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What is Cmder?

Cmder -- pronounced “Commander” -- is a pre-configured software package that provides you with an awesome terminal emulator, and best shell you'll ever have on Windows.

With the help of the best

Cmder builds on the powerful ConEmu terminal emulator by excellent work of @Maximus5 to provide the best terminal experience on Windows, it uses the amazing Clink to provide a bash-like prompt using GNU's readline, and adds a bit of batch sugar (mostly developed by our outstanding developers, e.g. @daxgames) to add things like alias support, and also comes with Git on the full edition.

Cmder was originally created by Samuel Vasko.

Currently, @Stanzilla and @MartiUK are maintaining Cmder. You can also help by sharing your contribution to the source code, reporting bugs and help write this wiki.

In this Wiki, you'll find resources to better use Cmder, and configure it to your needs.

⚡ Did you know that...

• You can change the color and symbol in your prompt? Click here!
• You can launch Cmder's shell from any terminal? Click here!
• Cmder can run in VS Code and Hyper? Click here!

Cmder on other media

• You may check out the unofficial Cmder subreddit on Reddit.
• Cmder is also featured on a rant on devRant!
• …add more?

Cmder unofficial improvements

• Here's an unofficial way to install 🍫 Cmder from Chocolatey:

  choco install cmder

  You may ask @dtgm over Chocolatey to provide recent updates.

• There is now an Windows Installer for Cmder created by @mikecentola here:

  https://github.com/mikecentola/cmder_inst
  

  (We haven't tested it out yet, but it seems to be promising!)

• Another alternative installed is based on Quail: Learn more!

• Moreover, you can check our great unofficial forks such as Shark (kenjio/shark) which is a bit outdated but adds more functionality such as an Installer and Cygwin/Babun support right out the box.

• Powerline prompt for Cmder is available here: https://github.com/AmrEldib/cmder-powerline-prompt
  Here's a demo of the cool shell prompt: 📷 Screenshot

• 🦉 Owl Cmder Tools here: https://github.com/tadashi-aikawa/owl-cmder-tools

Cmder installation

The official way to install Cmder as explained in the README is:

1. Download the latest release

2. Extract the archive to your desired folder, e.g.:

   C:\apps\Cmder
   

   ⚠ CAUTION:
   ^{This path should not be C:\Program Files or anywhere else that would require Administrator access for modifying configuration files.
   Furthermore, please do not place Cmder in a folder that will contain spaces in the path, e.g. NOT in C:\Users\etc\Google Drive.}

3. Set up the %CMDER_ROOT% environment variable using the instructions here: Setting up Environment Variables

4. Run Cmder.exe

Cmder integration

While Cmder comes with ConEmu as the default console emulator, it can in fact work with many of the other terminals, such as ⚡ Hyper, VS Code, and even ConsoleZ.

Currently @DRSDavidSoft maintains Cmder integration with external software (you may open a new issue if you have any question).

Integration with Bash

Cmder can also work best with bash on Windows. Bash is the default shell found on *NIX systems such as Linux and macOS.

• Cygwin – Guide, Info
• Babun – Guide, Info

Integrate Cmder with other terminal/IDEs

For the best experience, we suggest that you integrate your favorite IDEs with Cmder -- it makes your editor terminal work as productive as Cmder shell itself.

• Cmd – Manual, AutoRun
• Hyper – Guide, Info
• Terminus – Guide, Info
• FluentTerminal – Guide, Info
• Windows Terminal – Guide, Info
• Sublime Text – Guide, Info
• VS Code – Guide, Info
• IntelliJ-based IDEs – Guide, e.g. Android Studio and PHPStorm

Have a look at Hyper Cmder, it's a nice alternative to Cmder with ConEmu.

Wiki contribution

We're looking for active volunteers to maintain the Wiki. If you'd like to help, please refer to the Wiki contribution guidelines.