Swift Environment Variable Editor

Main Features

• Edit user and system environment variables
• Comment support (use #, ;, or // to temporarily disable variables)
• Syntax highlighting for clearer, more readable configuration
• Multi-user management
• Automatic privilege elevation when editing system variables
• Find and replace for fast updates
• Adjustable font size
• Intuitive, easy-to-use interface
• Switch between multiple languages in the interface for a localized experience
• Manage environment variables from the command line for scripting and automation
• Environment variables are backed up automatically before changes to keep your configuration safe

Command-Line Usage

Swift Environment Variable Editor can be run from the command line (cmd or PowerShell) for scripting and automation. With no parameters, it starts the graphical interface. Use the following options to get help or to set, insert, append, remove, or delete environment variables.

Help

EnvironmentEditor -H

Set variable value

EnvironmentEditor -S [-C] [-E] [-U | -M] variableName newValue

Insert value (prepend)

EnvironmentEditor -I [-C] [-E] [-U | -M] variableName value

Append value

EnvironmentEditor -A [-C] [-E] [-U | -M] variableName value

Remove value

EnvironmentEditor -R [-C] [-U | -M] variableName value

Delete variable

EnvironmentEditor -D [-U | -M] variableName

Options

• -S set value
• -I insert (prepend)
• -A append
• -R remove one value from a list
• -D delete the variable
• -C cleanup (remove duplicate paths and empty elements)
• -E create as expandable if the variable does not exist
• -U user variables (default)
• -M system (machine) variables

Usage examples

Set a user variable (e.g. MY_APP_HOME) to a path:

EnvironmentEditor -S MY_APP_HOME C:\MyApp

Append a folder to the user PATH (and clean duplicates with -C):

EnvironmentEditor -A -C PATH C:\Tools\bin

Insert a path at the beginning of PATH (prepend):

EnvironmentEditor -I PATH D:\PriorityTool

Remove one entry from PATH:

EnvironmentEditor -R -C PATH C:\OldTool\bin

Delete a variable (user scope by default):

EnvironmentEditor -D MY_APP_HOME

Set a system variable (run cmd or PowerShell as Administrator):

EnvironmentEditor -S -M JAVA_HOME "C:\Program Files\Java\jdk-17"

Editing system variables (-M) may require running the command prompt or script as Administrator. Run EnvironmentEditor -H in a terminal to see the same help text.

Project Origin

Compared with macOS and Linux, Windows hides the entry point for editing environment variables several layers deep (for example: Settings → System → About → Advanced system settings → Environment Variables). When setting a large number of environment variables, you often have to copy the variable name, paste it, then copy the value and paste it. If you need to configure many environment variables—for example, three or four variables—you end up repeating the same add → copy/paste name → copy/paste value → save loop again and again. It’s unnecessarily time-consuming and frustrating—this is exactly why Swift Environment Variable Editor was born.

To address these pain points, we built Swift Environment Variable Editor. It provides a modern editing experience with syntax highlighting, comment support, and find-and-replace features—making environment variable management simple and efficient. We also added practical features like multi-user management and automatic privilege elevation for different scenarios.

We hope this tool helps developers and system administrators manage Windows environment variables more easily and improves productivity.

Support the Project

If you find this tool helpful, please consider supporting the project. Your support helps us continue to improve and maintain this software.