Opening a file in a Metro app from command line

Question

I need a way to open a file in a Metro app from command line.

So far I've figured out how to start the app from command line without any third-party scripts

explorer shell:AppsFolder\Microsoft.Reader_8wekyb3d8bbwe!Microsoft.Reader

but I haven't been able to figure out how to include a file name yet.

Launching

explorer shell:AppsFolder\Microsoft.Reader_8wekyb3d8bbwe!Microsoft.Reader example.pdf

just opens up a default explorer window.

Any idea from Windows 8 experts on how to accomplish this without any third-party tools/cmdlets/etc.?

Note: In fact I'm using Windows 10 but I guess if there's a Windows 8 / 8.1 way to do it, it'll work for 10, too.

Answer 1

The best way I've found to pass command-line arguments to the executable targeted by the shell command is via the Windows start command.

Using your example, you would end up with this:

start "" shell:AppsFolder\Microsoft.Reader_8wekyb3d8bbwe!Microsoft.Reader example.pdf

I don't have Microsoft.Reader installed, so I can't test that. However, I can verify that this pattern works with Windows Terminal. In this case, I pass it a command-line argument to tell it which profile I want to open.

start "" shell:AppsFolder\Microsoft.WindowsTerminal_8wekyb3d8bbwe!App new-tab -p "GitBash"

The first argument to the start command here — the empty string — is just the title of the window.

You can also pair this with cmd /c, which I've found is necessary for some launcher applications, such as my personal favorite, SlickRun:

cmd /c start "" shell:AppsFolder\Microsoft.WindowsTerminal_8wekyb3d8bbwe!App new-tab -p "GitBash"

I have a blog post with more info on running Modern apps from the command line, which you might find helpful in constructing these ridiculously obtuse commands.