I am unable to update my system environment variable PATH. I don't receive any error message when editing PATH, but the change doesn't take. I have Windows 10. I am an admin user. Here are the steps I take to edit PATH.
- I Search for and open "View advanced system settings".
- Click the "Environment Variables" button.
- Locate "Path" under the System variables section. Click to highlight it.
- Click "Edit". The "Edit environment variable" modal window pops up.
- There are lots of paths listed in the listbox. Click New to add a new item.
- A blank space for the new folder is highlighted in the listbox. Click Browse. Select a folder. Click OK. The browsed path is in the listbox.
- Click "OK" on the Edit environment variable modal.
- Close all existing
cmdwindows if any are open. Open a new cmd window. - type echo %PATH%
I expect my added PATH to be shown, but it is not. If I repeat the steps above, my newly added folder is not in the listbox on the "Edit environment variable" model when I click to edit the PATH system environment variable the second time. I also expected Windows to prompt me for elevated admin privileges at some point when editing the environment variable, but this never happens. What am I doing wrong?
Best Answer
Did you try hitting OK to close the main Environment Variables window too? I just tried and when I edit the path and hit OK to close the Edit window, it doesn't show up. When I then hit OK and close the Environment Variables window, it shows up (after closing any existing CMD windows and opening a new one).
FYI, be careful with the steps you listed though. I find that when I hit New, then click browse and select a path, it ends up overwriting the previous path on the list instead of adding a new one. I've been hitting New, then typing something like "x". Then clicking Browse while "x" is highlighted to select the path. This looks like a bug with the new path editor.