How to start Microsoft Management Console (MMC)

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Microsoft Windows provides many ways to manage and maintain your system. One such interface is the Microsoft Management Console (MMC), which helps you change administrative settings and perform other functions. Using MMC, you can access various Windows utilities such as Device Manager or tools provided by other Windows software vendors.

MMC is not new either, it has been around since Windows 2000. So, here’s everything you need to know about the Microsoft Management Console:

How to start Microsoft Management Console (MMC)

There are several ways to open MMC. Feel free to use whichever method suits you best.

How to start MMC using Run command

To start MMC using the Windows Run command:

  1. Press Win + Rto launch the Run application.
  2. Type mmcin the text box and press Enter.
  3. You will need to be logged in as an administrator to open the MMC.
  4. The Microsoft Management Console window will open.

Launch MMC using command line (CMD)

For the command line:

  1. In the Start menu search bar, type cmd.
  2. In the search results, right click Command Prompt> Run as administrator.
  3. In the CMD console, type mmcand press Enter to launch the Microsoft Management Console.

Related: Windows Command Line Command You Should Know

Launch MMC using Windows PowerShell

Here’s how to start MMC using Powershell:

  1. In the Start menu search bar, type PowerShell.
  2. Right click Windows PowerShell in the search results. Select Run as administrator.
  3. In the PowerShell console, type mmcand press Enter to start the Microsoft Management Console.

Create a desktop shortcut for MMC

Using a one-off process, you can also create a desktop shortcut for the MMC, which will make it easier to start the service.

  1. Right-click an empty area on the desktop. Go to New> Shortcut .
  2. In the Create Shortcut window, enter % windir% system32 mmc.exein the address text box. Click Next .
  3. On the next screen, give the shortcut a name and tap Done.
  4. Launch MMC using the shortcut you just created

How to use and navigate the Microsoft Management Console (MMC)

The MMC interface may seem a little confusing at first. The interface is mostly blank because you need to individually add the Windows tools that you plan to access using the Microsoft Management Console. Each shortcut is called a “snap”. These snap-ins are the actual administration tools that you can use to customize your computer and its software components.

You can also create consoles that contain a specific set of add-ons that are linked to each other. For example, you can create a console to help you manage hardware components. It can contain tools such as Device Manager and Event Viewer, and it can act as another way to open the Disk Management utility .

How to add or remove snap-ins

The first time you run MMC, no snap-ins will be added to the console root in the left navigation pane. Adding or removing a snap is very easy, just follow these steps:

  1. Start the Microsoft Management Console (MMC).
  2. Click Filebelow the title bar.
  3. Click on the Add / Remove snap-in or use the keyboard shortcut CTRL + M.
  4. In the next window, select a snap-in from the list of available snap-ins.
  5. Click
  6. In the next window, choose whether you want the snap-in to control this computer or another computer.
  7. Make sure to check the box: Allow the selected computer to change when starting from the command line.
  8. Click Finish.
  9. Click OK.

To remove snap-ins:

  1. Go to File> Add / Remove Snap-in …or press CTRL + M.
  2. In the window that opens, click the snap-in that you want to remove. You can find your added snap-ins under ” Selected snap-ins:“.
  3. Now click “Delete” next to the section.
  4. The snap-in will be removed.

How to edit snap extensions

Most snap-ins will contain various extensions to help you manage different aspects of a snap. For example, the Computer Management snap-in contains various extensions such as Performance Monitor, Disk Management, Event Viewer, and many others. However, you may not want to use all of them.

In this case, you can edit or remove these extensions:

  1. Go to File> Add / Remove Snap-in.
  2. Under Selected Snap-ins, select the snap-in that you want to modify.
  3. Click on Edit Extensions.
  4. In the new window, select the Include only selected extensionsoption .
  5. Select or deselect extensions from the list, and then click OK.
  6. Click OKagain on the Add / Remove Snap-ins window.

Sometimes the extensions themselves can have additional extensions. To enable or disable these additional extensions, select an extension from the list and click Change Extensions at the bottom of the window.

Using snap-ins to manage your computer

Once added, snap-ins are fairly easy to use to control various aspects of your computer. Everything happens in the MMC window itself, so you don’t have to deal with new windows when switching to other snap-ins.

Related: Basic tips for managing and organizing files on your computer.

To use the snap, just do the following:

  1. Just click any snap-in in the root folder of the console in the navigation bar.
  2. You can either expand the snap-in by clicking the drop-down arrow or select additional options by double-clicking them in the window to the right.
  3. The selected snap-ins will open in the Microsoft Management Console itself.
  4. You can also use the navigation buttons above the console root folder to show or hide the console tree, go up one level, etc.
  5. In addition, the Actions tab on the right replaces the Options Bar if you open the snap-in separately.

Basically, all snap-ins work the same as if you were accessing them independently.

A single interface to control your computer

As you can see in this article, the Microsoft Management Console (MMC) helps you access most Windows settings in a single interface. More importantly, MMC allows you to create custom management consoles that contain similar add-ins. In addition, you can also create custom consoles for other computers or users on your local network.

Despite the fact that MMC is so useful, the average Windows user does not use it. This is truly one of the most underrated features in Windows 10.

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