Emacs: How to locate the current buffer in Windows Explorer?

You can use the following function to open the Windows Explorer in the directory of the current buffer:

(defun locate-current-file-in-explorer ()
  (interactive)
  (cond
   ;; In buffers with file name
   ((buffer-file-name)
    (shell-command (concat "start explorer /e,/select,\"" (replace-regexp-in-string "/" "\\\\" (buffer-file-name)) "\"")))
   ;; In dired mode
   ((eq major-mode 'dired-mode)
    (shell-command (concat "start explorer /e,\"" (replace-regexp-in-string "/" "\\\\" (dired-current-directory)) "\"")))
   ;; In eshell mode
   ((eq major-mode 'eshell-mode)
    (shell-command (concat "start explorer /e,\"" (replace-regexp-in-string "/" "\\\\" (eshell/pwd)) "\"")))
   ;; Use default-directory as last resource
   (t
    (shell-command (concat "start explorer /e,\"" (replace-regexp-in-string "/" "\\\\" default-directory) "\"")))))

How it works?

• If you are visiting a buffer associated to a file (with buffer-file-name), the Windows Explorer is opened to focus the file in its directory.
• If you are in dired mode (browsing a directory inside Emacs with dired-mode), it will open that directory in Windows Explorer.
• If you are in eshell-mode, the current working directory will be opened in Windows Explorer.
• As last chance it will open the Windows Explorer in the default directory (where you start emacs). E.g. This can happen if you use this function in scratch buffer (which is a buffer without an associated file).