Windows OS

How to List all Environment Variables in Windows

The Windows environment variables are dynamic objects used to help software install and store programs. These variables are the type of “User Variable” and “System Variable” that store data based on variable names and values. It also maintains the complete detail of the programs and related paths.

This write-up will provide different methods for listing all Windows environment variables. So, let’s get started!

How to List all Environment Variables in Windows?

To list all Windows environment variables, you can use:

We will now discuss each of the mentioned methods one by one.

Method 1: List all Environment Variables in Windows Using Command Prompt

The “set” command can be used in Command Prompt to list all Windows environment variables. To list all environment variables using Command Prompt, follow the below-given examples.

Step 1: Open Command Prompt

First, press “Window+R”, type “cmd” in the “Open” drop-down menu, and press the “OK” button to open Command Prompt:

Step 2: Use “set” Command to List Environment Variables

Utilize the “set” command on Command Prompt to list down all of the environment variables:

>set

You can also redirect “>” and save the list of environment variables in a text file:

>set > env_Output.txt

The below-given output indicates that we have successfully stored all environment variables in the “env_Output.txt” file:

Let’s check out how to list all environment variables on Windows using PowerShell.

Method 2: List all Environment Variables in Windows Using PowerShell

To list all Windows environment variables, you can use the “Get-ChildItem” or “dir” command on PowerShell. Follow the procedure to check out how to use these commands on Windows PowerShell.

Step 1: Open PowerShell

First, search for the “Windows PowerShell” in the “Startup” menu and open PowerShell as an administrator:

Step 2: Use “Get-ChildItem” to List Environment Variables

To list down all the environment variables on Windows PowerShell, utilize the “Get-ChildItem” with “Env:” for environment variables as mentioned in below-provided command:

> Get-ChildItem Env:

Step 3: Use “dir” to List Environment Variables

To display all environment variables in the form of a list, utilize the “dir” command on Windows PowerShell with “Env:”:

>dir Env:

Let’s check out the method to view all environment variables using the Registry Editor.

Method 3: List all Environment Variables in Windows Using Registry Editor

To list all environment variables in Windows using Registry Editor, follow up on the below-provided procedure.

Step 1: Windows Registry

Press “Window+R”, type “regedit” in the “Open” drop-down menu, and click on the “OK” button to open Registry Editor:

Step 2: List Environment Variables

Expand the “HKEY_CURRENT_USER” registry folder as it contains the Environment variables of the current user:

Double click on the “Environment” to list all environment variables of the current user in Windows:

To view the System environment variables in Registry, copy the given path and paste it into the “Address” bar:

Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Environment

We have demonstrated the techniques to list all environment variables in Windows.

Conclusion

To list all Windows environment variables, you can use Command Prompt, PowerShell, or Registry Editor. In Windows, utilize the “set” command to list Windows environment variables. In PowerShell, run the “Get-ChildItem” or “dir” command. In the Registry Editor, the “User Variables” are stored in the “HKEY_CURRENT_USER” key, while “System Variables” are stored in the “HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE” key. We have compiled the different solutions to list all environment variables on Windows.

About the author

Rafia Zafar

I am graduated in computer science. I am a junior technical author here and passionate about Programming and learning new technologies. I have worked in JAVA, HTML 5, CSS3, Bootstrap, and PHP.