`PATH` is an environment variable that provides access to commands in the command line for programs you download. The intuition is that if you would need to `cd` into a specific directory (e.g., the `bin` directory within a program directory) to call a command, you can add that directory to your PATH variable and run the command from any directory. To review the directories currently accessible in the PATH variable, in [[Bash]] use ```bash $PATH ``` ## Add to PATH First, get the path to the executable for the command you want to run. You can often find guidance online for the specific program you are using. Using Windows Explorer, locate the executable for the command in the program folder on your system. This will often be a `.exe` file with the same name as the command you need to use. For example, `python.exe` is an executable in Python's directly `C:/Python/`. Including `C:/Python` in the PATH variable allows us to run the command `python` to start a Python interactive session. Note you should not provide the full path to the executable, just the path to its directory. Next, add this path to the PATH variable. 1. In the Control Panel, select **System > About** and click **Advanced system settings** (or search "edit the system environment variables" in the Windows Menu). 2. Click **Environment Variables**. 3. Under *System Variables*, double-click the Variable "Path" (or select and click **Edit**). 4. In the *Edit environment variable* dialog box, click **New**. 5. Paste the path into the dialog box. 6. Click **Ok** and then **Ok** again. You may need to move any other instances of the application you added down the list to ensure yours is the first one found (select the path you just added and click "Move Up"). > [!Tip]- Additional Resources > [Real Python: Add Python to PATH](https://realpython.com/add-python-to-path/)