Are you currently experiencing “The system cannot find the path specified” error on your Windows computer? You may see this message for a number of reasons, such as entering the wrong path at the command prompt or a simple error such as installing a program.
However, it could also mean that there is a registry problem in the system, such as an invalid key or worse, a virus attack. So if you see this error, don’t take it lightly! Here are 11 fixes you can take to fix this problem in no time.
1. Run Command Prompt with admin rights
Windows utilities cannot access all files and folders available on your device. Access to certain system files requires administrator privileges. So, if you try to access a file or directory path that Command Prompt does not have permission to, you may get this error. To rule out this possibility, you must grant Command Prompt exclusive access to restricted files.
2. Make sure the file is not password protected
If the file you are trying to access through Command Prompt is password protected, it may not be accessible. This may result in an error message stating that the system cannot find the path specified.
Therefore, you should check for files or directories whose paths cannot be found by the system. If the file is password protected, removing the password should solve the problem. If you are sure the file is not password protected, skip this section and continue to the next.
3. Check the system for viruses
A virus attack is probably not the most common reason you see the “The system cannot find the path specified” error. However, it’s a good idea to check your system for viruses before proceeding with other repairs. This ensures that your computer is safe and free from threats before you start tweaking system settings.
If you have a third-party antivirus program installed on your computer, you can run it to check for threats. However, if you don’t have one, you can use the system’s built-in antivirus software, called Windows Defender.
The scan may take a while if you have a lot of files stored on your computer. If complete with no threats found, proceed to the next fix. If some threats are found, quarantine the file and check if that resolves the issue.
4. Verify the path of the file
If you get this error message at the command prompt, check that you entered the path correctly. In most cases, this is human error – the user could have entered a wrong path or name on the command line. So execute your command again and make sure the path is entered correctly.
If you get this error when trying to download a file to your system, check to see if your default download directory has changed and make sure the download location exists on your system.
5. Remove special characters from path
Special characters in paths may not be interpreted correctly by the command prompt; they could be interpreted as operators or something. Therefore, the translated paths will be different from the ones you originally wrote. Therefore, you may see an error message stating that the specified path cannot be found because it has been modified.
Check the pathname you specified in the command prompt. If the filename contains special characters, the best solution is to rename the file and remove any special characters in the file. If the problem is not resolved after applying this fix, proceed to the next fix.
6. Make sure the code is correct
Although obviously running the code incorrectly can also result in “The system cannot find the path specified” error. Again, double check your running code to see if there are any mistakes in the paths you added. If there are errors in syntax or command lines, fix them and you won’t see them again.
7. Remove any invalid paths in environment variables
Environment variables contain data that can affect how processes running on the system behave. Therefore, if you run programs on your computer from the command line, the PATH environment variable plays an integral role by holding searchable directory paths.
To see how this works, imagine a computer with two different folders. If you try to run the current program in a different directory, your system will look for the directory written in the PATH variable. If the program is available in any folder, your system can run it without any problem.
However, if you set an invalid path variable, the process will be interrupted, resulting in a “The system cannot find the path specified” error. So the best way to fix this is to remove the invalid path from the environment variables.
Follow the instructions below to delete the path:
- On your computer, open File Explorer.
- Then, find the This PC path in the left navigation, right click on it and select Properties.
- In the new window, click the Advanced system settings link on the right.
- On the Advanced tab of the System Properties window, click the Environment Variables button.
- In the User variables section, check the Path variable by clicking and pressing the Edit button. This will display all user variables.
- Next, check that the path is correct and valid. To do this, just copy the path and paste it into the address bar of File Explorer. This will allow you to see if File Explorer can find the path. If not found, the path is incorrect and it must be deleted or edited. Do this on all paths provided on the path variable. When done, press OK.
- Then in the System Variables section, click on the Path variable and press the Edit button.
- Repeat step 6 to check if all paths are normal.
You can view all path variables in command prompt. Just type echo %PATH% and press Enter. However, it won’t tell you if the path is invalid.
8. Check for incomplete downloads
Make sure the file or folder you are trying to access is properly installed or downloaded. Sometimes, the download is interrupted while downloading a file or folder, resulting in an incomplete download. Hence, accessing such corrupted files using File Explorer or Windows Command Prompt may result in errors.
Therefore, go to the location of the inaccessible Command Prompt file and see if it was downloaded correctly. If the file installed or downloaded incorrectly, try installing or downloading again. This might solve the problem. If that doesn’t work, try the next fix.
9. Check the system registry
If you edited the AutoRun key in Registry Editor, this may be why you are getting the “The system cannot find the path specified” error. The autorun key works by automatically executing a command when opened. Errors may occur if the information specified in the key is incorrect. Follow the instructions below to resolve this issue.
- Press and hold Win + R keys to open Run. Then type Regedit and press Enter.
- In Registry Editor, copy and paste the following path into the address bar:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Command Processor - Next, check for an autorun key. If yes, delete or modify the data.
- Finally, check if you still have the same problem.
10. Run an SFC scan
If none of the above methods work, you can run a System File Checker (SFC) scan to find corrupted files in your system and fix them automatically.
11. Update the operating system
The last thing you need to do to fix this error is to update your Windows system. You should not run an outdated system, doing so can cause various problems with your system, including “The system cannot find the path specified” errors.
Usually, “The system cannot find the path specified” errors are usually caused by invalid paths or corrupted files in the system. After completing the above fixes, your system should run smoothly without any issues. If you’re trying to run a program and encounter this error, finding the exact location where the software was installed can help resolve the issue.