How to Extract a CAB File in PowerShell in Windows 10

Last Updated on July 29, 2017

Do you want to extract some CAB files in Windows with PowerShell? Well, here’s your solution.

Extract CAB Files in PowerShell in the Same Folder

  • Press Windows + R to open the Run box. Type Powershell and press Enter.
  • Go to the directory where your CAB files are present. For that, you can use the Set-Location command. For e.g., if you want to switch from the default %userprofile% folder to the D:\MyFiles folder, you can type the following:
    Set-Location -Path D:\MyFiles

Note: If you want to extract the CAB files somewhere in the C:\ drive, you’ll need to run the PowerShell as an administrator to make it work. For that, simply look for it in the Start menu search and right-click > Run as Administrator. After that, follow the usual process.

  • Once you are in the folder with your CAB files, you can use the expand.exe program to extract your CAB files.
    cmd.exe /c "C:\Windows\System32\expand.exe -F: <filename.cab>

Note: Don’t actually put ‘<‘ and ‘>’ in the command because that will cause an error to show up.

Extract CAB Files in PowerShell in a Different Folder

Now, if you don’t want to extract the files in the same folder as the CAB files, you can modify the command to put to the folder location of your choice.

cmd.exe /c "C:\Windows\System32\expand.exe -F: <filename.cab> <full folder location>

You will need to enter the full location of the folder you want to extract your CAB files in. For e.g., you’ll write C:\tempFiles in the place of the full folder location. Again, remember to not use the ‘<‘ and ‘>’ signs in the actual commands.

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Written by Utkarsh

Utkarsh Bhatt is a certified tech expert and software engineer for a Fortune 500 Company. He was born in 1995, making him one of the oldest members of the team at EFX. Utkarsh loves solving technical issues and is always the first to jump on any problem that needs solving. When he’s not coding or debugging, he enjoys playing video games (especially Super Smash Bros.) and watching cartoons.

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1 thought on “How to Extract a CAB File in PowerShell in Windows 10”

  1. That answer is incorrect. You should test things before you post to make sure it is accurate.

    The -F switch is not the name of the cab file; it refers to the files that you want to extract, and wildcards are acceptable. The destination can consist of a drive letter and colon, a directory name, a file name, or a combination of these; it does not have to be the full folder location.

    Here is what the command should be:

    cmd.exe /c “C:\Windows\System32\expand.exe f:*.*

    Reply

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