WT command in Windows Explorer does not work anymore

[TechWatching]

Environment

Windows build number: Win32NT 10.0.19041.0 Microsoft Windows NT 10.0.19041.0
Windows Terminal version (if applicable): 1.1.2021.0

Any other software?

Steps to reproduce

Open Windows Explorer in any directory. Enter wt in the "adress bar", and press "Enter".

Expected behavior

The Windows Terminal opens in the current directory.

Actual behavior

An error message appears "Windows cannot access the specified device, path, or file. You may not have the appropriate permissions to access the item".
When looking in the Windows App directory, there is no path corresponding to the error title, instead ther is a folder Microsoft.WindowsTerminalPreview_2020.720.2337.0_neutral_~_8wekyb3d8bbwe.
Maybe there is an error in the directory name.

[snalexp]

I had the same issue using the Win-R run box.

It only occurred for me when both Windows Terminal and Windows Terminal Preview are installed.

Removing the Preview allows wt to work again.

[KalleOlaviNiemitalo]

I can reproduce with Windows Terminal 1.1.2021.0 and Windows Terminal Preview 1.2.2022.0 on Windows 10 version 2004 (OS Build 19041.388):

• If I enable the wt.exe app execution alias of Windows Terminal Preview, then wt in File Explorer starts Windows Terminal Preview. ✔
• If I enable the wt.exe app execution alias of Windows Terminal, then wt in File Explorer shows the access-denied dialog box. ❌
• If I disable both wt.exe app execution aliases, then wt in File Explorer shows the access-denied dialog box. 🙄 In this case though, I shouldn't expect wt to work anyway.

When I install Windows Terminal Preview, AppXSvc creates the following Registry keys:

• HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\App Paths\wt.exe
• HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\App Paths\wt.exe

Those Registry keys stay there when I enable or disable the wt.exe app execution aliases. They seem related to #6748 and #6860. If I rename the Registry keys, then the results change:

• If I enable the wt.exe app execution alias of Windows Terminal Preview, then wt in File Explorer runs Windows Terminal Preview. ✔
• If I enable the wt.exe app execution alias of Windows Terminal, then wt in File Explorer runs Windows Terminal. ✔
• If I disable both wt.exe app execution aliases, then wt in File Explorer opens http://wt/ in my Web browser. 🙄

If I disable the skype.exe app execution alias and type skype.exe in the Windows+R run box or in the File Explorer address bar, then I get a similar access-denied dialog box, so this is not specific to Windows Terminal.

If Windows needs a Registry key in App Paths, then perhaps it should keep the per-user key always synchronized with the app execution aliases, and not create the per-machine key.

[DHowett]

@KalleOlaviNiemitalo, thanks for the investigation. I'm gonna feed this straight into the app deployment team's hands 😄

[DHowett]

Tracking MSFT:28217948

[vadimkantorov]

Same issue with Win+R when running "wt" ("wt" works when typing into cmd.exe) (i also have WT Preview installed):

[long-nguyenxuan]

• If I enable the wt.exe app execution alias of Windows Terminal Preview, then wt in File Explorer starts Windows Terminal Preview. ✔

I only need to quickly start Windows Terminal, Can you show me how to "enable the wt.exe app execution alias of Windows Terminal Preview"?

[PrOF-kk]

I cannot reproduce in 1.1.2233.0, but Windows Terminal always opens in C:\Users\%USERNAME% directory regardless of where explorer is opened
Note: cmd.exe set as default profile

[zadjii-msft]

@long-nguyenxuan

---

@PrOF-kk you'll need to use wt -d . to get wt to start in the current working directory.

[haydenmc]

I do not have Windows Terminal Preview installed, just Windows Terminal, and I started running into this.

FWIW I do not see a wt.exe key under HKCU\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\App Paths, but I do see one under HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\App Paths.

The value is set to C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\Microsoft.WindowsTerminal_1.2.2381.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe\wt.exe which does exist, but I do not have permissions to execute it.

PS C:\Users\Hayden> Get-AppPackage -Name "*terminal*"


Name              : Microsoft.WindowsTerminal
Publisher         : CN=Microsoft Corporation, O=Microsoft Corporation, L=Redmond, S=Washington, C=US
Architecture      : X64
ResourceId        :
Version           : 1.1.2233.0
PackageFullName   : Microsoft.WindowsTerminal_1.1.2233.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe
InstallLocation   : C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\Microsoft.WindowsTerminal_1.1.2233.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe
IsFramework       : False
PackageFamilyName : Microsoft.WindowsTerminal_8wekyb3d8bbwe
PublisherId       : 8wekyb3d8bbwe
IsResourcePackage : False
IsBundle          : False
IsDevelopmentMode : False
NonRemovable      : False
IsPartiallyStaged : False
SignatureKind     : Store
Status            : Ok

[AltitudeApps]

FWIW I do not see a wt.exe key under HKCU\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\App Paths, but I do see one under HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\App Paths.

^^ this was quite a helpful clue, @haydenmc

I have both Windows Terminal Preview and Windows Terminal, both installed via the store.

wt -d . from the address bar in Windows Explorer was broken completely, with the same error dialog from Windows Terminal Preview in the original post. I have the preview installed, but I'm not using it at the moment. I was trying to invoke vanilla Windows Terminal.

The settings in the "App Execution Aliases" panel looked right. The one for Windows Terminal was turned on, and the one for Windows Terminal Preview was turned off.

But when I checked under
HKCU\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\App Paths , and
HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\App Paths,

I saw that Windows Terminal Preview was "hogging the spotlight" by having it configured under HKEY_CURRENT_USER. So, I renamed it from wt.exe to wtp.exe , just so that it wouldn't interfere with my use of wt -d . from the Windows Explorer address bar to invoke vanilla Windows Terminal. (Windows Terminal Preview is still broken in this regard, but I just wanted to be able to get working again).

The existing entry for Windows Terminal under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE was working fine, so I left it where it was. I guess these are supposed to be under HKCU now?

    Hive: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\App Paths
Name                           Property
----                           --------
wtp.exe                        (default) : C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\Microsoft.WindowsTerminalPreview_1.3.2382.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe\wt.exe
^^ was wt.exe                  Path      : C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\Microsoft.WindowsTerminalPreview_1.3.2382.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe

    Hive: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\App Paths
Name                           Property
----                           --------
wt.exe                         (default) : C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\Microsoft.WindowsTerminal_1.2.2381.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe\wt.exe
                               Path      : C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\Microsoft.WindowsTerminal_1.2.2381.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe

Caveat: wt new-tab -d . is broken for me; it simply launches a new copy of Windows Terminal instead of creating a new tab in an existing instance. (Perhaps it requires a single instance for the new-tab functionality to work? Or maybe that is only available in the Preview?)

Edit:
looks like @KalleOlaviNiemitalo had the analysis nailed, back at the beginning of the thread:

If Windows needs a Registry key in App Paths, then perhaps it should keep the per-user key always synchronized with the app execution aliases, and not create the per-machine key.

Maybe we should have three execution aliases: wt.exe, wtp.exe, and wtd.exe, to keep the release, preview, and dev versions from stepping on each other?

[haydenmc]

Received a store update for Windows Terminal today and things seem happy again for my situation.

[stmax82]

When I enter wt in the address bar of Windows Explorer it opens wt, but in the wrong directory (C:\Users<username>). Expected behavior: The Windows Terminal opens in the current directory, like powershell and cmd do.

[AltitudeApps]

@stmax82 You might already know this, but to get the behavior you want, you can do one of:

• wt -d .
• wt --startingDirectory .
• wt new-tab -d .
• wt new-tab --startingDirectory .

These all mean exactly the same thing.

-d is an alias for -startingDirectory, and new-tab is the default argument to wt.exe, when the user does not provide an argument.

[f2l2pe]

Im having this problem but its a different error and nothing in this issue solved it. I don't have preview installed

Any ideas?

When i run from the start menu it works fine, its just when i try to run using wt.exe
It also ran fine before, it started doing that a few days ago

[KyleCrowley]

EDIT: I was able to get Windows Terminal working again via a procedure I found here.

---

As I mentioned here, I'm also running into the same issue, and it seems many others are as well.

I installed Windows Terminal via chocolatey (I can't install via the Windows Store due to organization restrictions) a few months ago and it had been working fine until recently, as it fails to launch with the same error message that @chiniara received.

I've tried reinstalling and resetting permissions on C:\Program Files\WindowsApps, but nothing seems to be working.

[blackrek]

previously I fixed it by uninstalling from store and installing via choco. after installing the preview, the problem appeared again

[DHowett]

I believe that this is, in part, due to #9452. If any of you are still running into this issue, would you mind following the reporting steps over there?

@KalleOlaviNiemitalo - I reported your app paths findings to the app deployment team as mentioned above and have not heard back in some time. Discussions still unfolding I guess.

[junksheng]

when I write wt in win+r or directory, it warning me "the system can't find the wt.exe", but the wt.exe exist. and i can turn on in menu.

[viceice]

I need to disable and enable alias after latest terminal update, because it couldn't find when running wt from explorer path input 😕

[JorgenSmith]

I need to disable and enable alias after latest terminal update, because it couldn't find when running wt from explorer path input 😕

Can confirm; that did the trick for me. (Thanks for posting about App Execution Aliases, Kalle).

I have a bat file running it linked up as Streamdeck shortcut (they're a brilliant macro launcher for dev!) and couldn't figure out why it stopped working; a reboot actually resolved it temporarily last week, then it stopped working again today.

[jogerj]

I need to disable and enable alias after latest terminal update, because it couldn't find when running wt from explorer path input 😕

Also experienced this from a recent update and this solution worked for me.

As explained above by Kalle, the path is defined in the registry keys for "App Paths". There was a discrepancy where the path pointed to a previously installed version of wt C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\Microsoft.WindowsTerminal_1.8.1444.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe> when actually the app was updated so the correct path would be C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\Microsoft.WindowsTerminal_1.8.1521.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe>. Re-enabling wt.exe under 'App execution aliases' settings fixed it.

[viceice]

For me the store updated it in background while an older version was running. Then I found this issue and tried the re-enable which works.

[jogerj]

For me the store updated it in background while an older version was running. Then I found this issue and tried the re-enable which works.

This might've been the cause for me. I've been running some scripts on wt non-stop for a couple of days until i closed wt and suddenly can't open it from run again

[JaiganeshKumaran]

wt works for me but it doesn't seem to launch in the current working directory but the Open in Windows Terminal option opens in the current working directory.

[jnyanez]

Toggling "Windows Terminal" under Application Aliases as @zadjii-msft pointed out fixed my issue of not being able to launch wt.exe.

[liudonghua123]

Maybe you can try and check the steps on #7081 (comment).

[zadjii-msft]

notes from internal bug: This should have been fixed in OS build 21307, which I think should have been released in Windows 11 RTM (alas, build numbers got confusing right around then)

[zadjii-msft]

Anyone who was seeing this before on Windows 10, and has since updated to Windows 11 - are you still seeing this?

[ghost]

This issue has been automatically marked as stale because it has been marked as requiring author feedback but has not had any activity for 4 days. It will be closed if no further activity occurs within 3 days of this comment.

[Welding-Torch]

Typing wt does not work for me in Run (Start+R) or Windows Explorer, but it does work when I type wt in cmd. Disabling and enabling the alias in alias settings had no effect.