How to Enable Automatic Complete for the Command Prompt (Cmd.exe) (244407)

IMPORTANT: This article contains information about modifying the registry. Before you modify the registry, make sure to back it up and make sure that you understand how to restore the registry if a problem occurs. For information about how to back up, restore, and edit the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

256986 Description of the Microsoft Windows Registry

SUMMARY

File name completion and folder name completion are quick-search features of the Windows NT command processor, Cmd.exe. When you type a path or a file name and then press TAB, Cmd.exe searches for all files whose path and file name match your entry.

NOTE: Automatic complete for CMD.exe is not enabled by default in Windows 2000 and later.

When you type a path and then press the TAB key, the command processor searches for all files whose path (but not necessarily the file name) matches your entry. The command processor displays one of the matching file names each time you press TAB. To go backward through the list of file names, press SHIFT+TAB. This article describes how to enable automatic complete for Cmd.exe.

MORE INFORMATION

WARNING: If you use Registry Editor incorrectly, you may cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that you can solve problems that result from using Registry Editor incorrectly. Use Registry Editor at your own risk.
To enable automatic complete for Cmd.exe, use Registry Editor (Regedt32.exe) to view the following registry key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/Microsoft/Command Processor

Edit the CompletionChar value, and set the value of REG_DWORD to 9. Note that you do not need to restart your computer.