The subst command

• Posted by Jeremy Bokobza on December 3, 2008
• 15 comments

Here is a quick one I always forget.

There is a possibility to map a folder to a virtual drive using the DOS command subst .

This is quite useful if there is a folder located quite deep in your file system that you use quite often and that you want to be able to open easily.

For my documents folder, I would type something like this:

In Run, type subst s: C:\Users\Jeremy\Documents and then press OK.

Now open Run again (or even any folder window) and type s:

The path you specified (here C:\Users\Jeremy\Documents) in the command is now substituted by s:

Note that when you assign a shortcut like this, the drive letter you chose will not be available in Map Network Drive anymore as it is already assigned.

This will last until you restart your computer or delete the drive with the command subst s: /D