How To Open Multiple Folders At Once in Windows 11 & 10

Did you know that you can open multiple folders at once on your system using a simple batch file? Here’s how to create and use it in simple steps.

When you have multiple folders to open, you can create a simple batch script (.bat file) to open them all at once. Once created, all you have to do is double-click the batch file and it does the magic for you.

For example, I open the same three folders every day as part of my workflow. So, to make things easier, I used the batch file shared below to open those folders with a double-click. It not only eliminated the tedious task of manually navigating to different drives/directories to open the folders I wanted but also simplified my workflow.

In this quick and straightforward tutorial, let me show you how to create the batch script to open multiple folders at once in Windows 11 and Windows 10. Let’s get started.

Good to know: How to pin folders to the taskbar

Open Multiple Folder At Once Using Batch File

1. Right-click on the desktop.
2. Select the “New” > “Text Document“.
3. Type “OpenFolders.bat” as the file name. Make sure you replace the .txt extension with .bat.
4. Right-click the file and select “Edit“.
5. Paste the below code while replacing the dummy paths with the actual folder paths.
   @echo off
start %SystemRoot%\explorer.exe "E:\dummy\path\to\folder1"
start %SystemRoot%\explorer.exe "E:\dummy\path\to\folder2"
start %SystemRoot%\explorer.exe "E:\dummy\path\to\folder3"
6. To add more folders, duplicate the start line and add the folder path.
7. Press “Ctrl + S” to save the file.
8. Close the Notepad window.
9. Double-click the batch file to execute it.
10. Running the batch file opens all the folders at once.

Detailed Steps (With Screenshots)

First, we must create a batch file. To do that, go to the desktop (press Windows key + D), right-click, and select “New” and then “Text document“.

Once the text file is created, rename it to “OpenFolders.bat“. It is important to replace the default .txt extension with .bat. If you don’t see the .txt extension, you must enable file extensions in File Explorer (on Windows 10).

After renaming, right-click the newly created file and select “Edit“. This opens the file in Notepad.

Paste the following script in the Notepad. Don’t forget to replace the dummy paths with the actual paths of the folders you want to open. If you have more than three folders to open, simply duplicate the line that starts with “start”.

@echo off
start %SystemRoot%\explorer.exe "E:\dummy\path\to\folder1"
start %SystemRoot%\explorer.exe "E:\dummy\path\to\folder2"
start %SystemRoot%\explorer.exe "E:\dummy\path\to\folder3"

After adding the script, press “Ctrl + S” to save the script file. Next, close the Notepad window and double-click the script file to run it. As soon as you do that, all the folders mentioned in the script file open automatically.

It’s that simple to create a batch file to open multiple folders at once.

Add Keyboard Shortcut to Run Batch File

This step is optional but for those who want to make it even simpler, you can assign a keyboard shortcut to run the batch file we just created. That way, pressing a keyboard shortcut opens multiple folders at once. We can do it using AutoHotKey, a free and open-source Windows automation software. Here’s how:

1. First, download and install AutoHotKey.
2. Right-click on the desktop and select “New” > “Text Document“.
3. Rename it to “OpenFolders.ahk“.Make sure you replace the .txt extension with .ahk.
4. Right-click the file and select “Edit” or “Edit in Notepad“.
5. Paste the following code in Notepad. Replace the dummy path with the actual path to the batch file.
   ;Press Alt + R
!r:: { ; Alt + r
Run("C:\Users\Username\Desktop\OpenFolders.bat")
}
6. Press “Ctrl + S” to save the file.
7. Close the Notepad.
8. Double-click on the .ahk file you just created.

From now on, whenever you want to open the folders, simply press the “Alt + R” keyboard shortcut. It automatically runs the batch script which in turn opens the folders. If you want to, you can customize the keyboard shortcut. Take a look at the AutoHotKey documentation to know how to set the key combinations. Also, add the AutoHotKey script to startup so that you don’t have to manually launch the script to use the keyboard shortcut.

Wrapping Up — Opening Multiple Folders At Once in Windows

As you can see, using a simple batch file, you can open all your favorite folders at once with a single double-click. The best thing is that you can customize the script to add as many folders as you want. If you followed the optional steps of assigning a keyboard shortcut, pressing it will automatically open the folders for you.

That is all. It is that simple. If you have any questions or need help, comment below. I’ll be happy to assist.