Open file from the command line on Windows
On Mac OS X and GNOME on Linux, there are commands that can be used to open files from the command line in their associated GUI editors: open and gnome-open, respectively. Is there any command like this for Windows?
If you are currently in the command prompt and have a file called test.png and , which are located in c:\test you can do the following:
If you are at the directory (so should say c:\test>) just type:
test.png
which would open test in the default png picture editor.
If the files name contains spaces, then simply enclose the file name within " "
"this image.png"
You can alternatively type:
c:\test\test.png
which will open the file no matter where you currently are.
Finally, you can pass the picture to another program. For example, if you have an image editor called imageedit.exe and it supports opening files through command lines (and if the program is pathed/accessible or you are in it's current directory), you can type the following:
imageedit c:\test\test.png
If it is a registered extension, you can use "start" as in
start WordDoc.doc
On Windows command-line explorer "<PATH>" will open the file path with Windows default associated programs. This will also handle all URIs ( http:,https:,ftp: ) and other file protocols defined in Windows Operating System.
If the file or protocol is not associated with any program then an Open With dialog will show up. If file is not present then default My Documents folder will open up. It can also open executable files ( EXE, BAT files) and shell namespace paths.
Examples
explorer "http://www.google.com"- will open http://www.google.com in windows default browser.
explorer "file:///C:\temp\" will open temp directory if present
explorer "file.txt" will open file.txt on the current directory path .i.e. %CD% path
explorer ::{645ff040-5081-101b-9f08-00aa002f954e} will open RecycleBin.
You can refer about explorer's other useful command-line switches here
powershell -c "folder\childfolder\file.txt"
Source: https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee176882.aspx
Simple and versatile.