Top 7 Fixes For ‘Not Recognized as an Internal or External Command’ Error in Windows 10 or 11

Windows offers quite a friendly interface when you’ve to tinker around most settings. But god forbid if you have to perform menial tasks like flushing the DNS cache. You’ll have to use the Terminal app for command-line tools. However, some users face the ‘Not Recognized as an Internal or External Command’ error on their Windows 11 or 10 PC while running a command.

The primary reasons for this issue include missing administrator privileges, missing apps, incorrect path and command formatting, and missing environment variables. We will list seven methods to resolve the issue.

1. Run the Command Prompt in Admin Mode

Some commands require an elevated Command Prompt window to run properly. So, close and launch Command Prompt in administrator mode and then run the command. Here’s how:

Step 1: Press the Windows key to open the Start menu. Type cmd in the search box and press the Control + Shift + Enter keyboard shortcut to open a Command Prompt window with administrative privileges.

Step 2: The User Account Control window will open. Click on the Yes button to open Command Prompt with administrator rights.

Step 3: Type the command correctly and hit Enter to execute it.

2. Check if the App Is Installed or Not

Often, the ‘not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file’ error can also arise because the command you are trying to run belongs to an app that isn’t installed on your PC.

On Windows, you can take a peek at System32 folder if the tool is present or not. Here’s how to do it:

Step 1: Press the Windows + E keyboard shortcut to open the File Explorer app.

Step 2: Go to the address bar at the top and click on it. Now, paste the following path and press Enter to navigate to the System32 folder.

C:\Windows\System32

Step 3: Click on the search bar in the top-right area. Type the name of the tool you were trying to access from the command line. If it doesn’t pop up in the search result, is missing from, or unavailable for your PC.

For other third-party tools, you need to check the Program Files folder or other locations where you have installed or extracted the app to confirm it.

3. Switch to the Correct Drive and Directory

The Command Prompt may not recognize commands if you are trying to access the program from the wrong directory. Command Prompt lets you access any system tool from any directory. But, if you are trying to access a third-party tool, you will need to switch to the directory where the tool is present and then run commands related to it. Here’s how:

Step 1: Press the Windows key to open the Start menu. Type cmd in the search box and press Enter to open the Command Prompt.

Step 2: You need to switch to the drive where the tool is present. Let’s say you are trying to access the Vivetool present in a folder in the D drive. So, first, switch to the D drive using this command:

D:

Step 3: After you are in the correct drive, you need to navigate to the correct folder location. The command structure for that is:

Folder name\folder name\toolname.exe

So, the command to access the tool which is present inside a sub-folder is:

Vivetool\vive\vivetool.exe

Step 4: Close the Command Prompt window.

4. Enclose the Command in Quotes

If the command you are trying to run has a path that has spaces in it, you can get a command not recognized error. The simple reason is that the Command Prompt doesn’t understand that you intentionally left a space and if that is the actual folder or file name.

To eliminate this problem, you can encapsulate the complete path and the command inside double quotes. So the command format becomes:

“Full path\tool.exe”

For example, if we want to access the Vivetool located inside a subfolder called ‘vive efr’ in the D drive, our command will become:

“D:\Vivetool\vive efr\vivetool.exe”

5. Add the Environment Variable

If the path of the program you are trying to access is missing from the Environment Variables, then you have to manually add it. Otherwise, you will keep encountering the ‘not recognized as an internal or external command’ error. Here’s how:

Step 1: Press the Windows + R keyboard shortcut to open the Run dialog box. Type the following path and press Enter to open the Advanced System Properties:

%windir%\System32\SystemPropertiesAdvanced.exe

Step 2: Click on the Environment Variables option.

Step 3: Go to the System variables section. Find the Path value and double-click on it.

Step 4: Click on the New button.

Step 5: A new environment variable entry will be created. Click on the Browse button.

Step 6: Navigate to the directory where the program you want to add is present. Select it and click on the OK button.

Step 7: Click on the OK button.

Step 8: Click on OK to close the Environment Variables window.

Step 9: Now, open the Command Prompt and try running the program or any command associated with it.

If you face an issue while accessing the system tools, you need to modify the Path. Firstly, retrace the first four steps of this method, mentioned above, and create a new environment variable entry.

Step 1: Paste the following text into the new entry:

%SystemRoot%\system32

Step 2: Click on the OK button to apply the changes.

Step 3: Close the Environment Variables window.

6. Run an SFC and DISM Scan

Windows comes with System File Checker (SFC) and Deployment Image Servicing and Management (DISM) command-line tools that can help you repair and restore missing system files and repair the Windows component store. You must run these scans one after another. Here’s how:

Step 1: Press the Windows key to open the Start menu. Type cmd in the search bar and press the Control + Shift + Enter simultaneously to open the Command Prompt with administrative privileges.

Step 2: When the User Account Control window appears, click on the Yes button to launch Command Prompt with administrative rights.

Step 3: Type the following command and press Enter to execute it:

SFC /scannow

Step 4: Type cls and press Enter to clear the Command Prompt window.

Step 5: Type the following commands and execute them one after another:

DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /CheckHealth
DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /ScanHealth
DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth

Step 6: The scans will take a lot of time to complete. Restart your PC afterward.

7. Perform a System Restore

System Restore can be a lifesaver when your PC isn’t working like before. If you weren’t facing any issues while running the internal commands, you can use System Restore to revert to an earlier state. Here’s how:

Step 1: Press the Windows key to open the Start menu. Type rstrui in the search bar and press Enter to launch System Restore.

Step 2: Click on the Next button.

Step 3: Pick a restore point from the list. Follow the on-screen instructions to apply the restore point on your PC.

Your PC will restart to apply the restore point, and it will take a while to do so.

Run Commands Without Issues

These were the seven methods to fix the ‘Not Recognized as an Internal or External Command’ error in Windows 11 and 10. Firstly, check the command for any errors and run the Command Prompt in administrator mode. After that, switch to the correct directory and enclose the command in double quotes. Lastly, modify the environment variables, and use SFC and DISM tools to fix the issue.