How do I make my Perl scripts act like normal programs on Windows?

Note: The actions below require administrative privileges. For
steps utilizing the command prompt it must be launched via “Run as
administrator” on Windows Vista / Windows 7.

Associate *.pl files with perl

Run the following commands at a shell prompt:

assoc .pl=PerlScript
ftype PerlScript=C:\bin\perl.exe "%1" %*

Replace C:\Perl\bin\perl.exe with the path to your Perl installation. This
enables you to run myscript.pl instead of perl myscript.pl.

Default install locations are:

• ActivePerl: C:\Perl
• Strawberry Perl: C:\Strawberry

Add .PL to your PATHEXT environment variable.

This makes Windows consider *.pl files to be executable when searching your
PATH. It enables you to run myscript instead of myscript.pl.

You can set it for the current cmd session

set PATHEXT=%PATHEXT%;.PL

To set it permanently (under Windows Vista or Windows 7)

setx PATHEXT %PATHEXT%;.PL

Under Windows XP you have to use the GUI:

1. Right-click My Computer, and then click Properties.
2. Click the Advanced tab.
3. Click Environment variables.
4. Select PATHEXT, then click Edit.
5. Append ;.PL to the current value.

Make I/O redirection work

I/O redirection (e.g. program | myscript) doesn’t work for programs started
via a file association. There is a registry patch to correct the problem.

1. Start Registry Editor.
2. Locate and then click the following key in the registry:
   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer
3. On the Edit menu, click Add Value, and then add the following registry value:
   • Value name: InheritConsoleHandles
   • Data type: REG_DWORD
   • Radix: Decimal
   • Value data: 1
4. Quit Registry Editor.

Warning: In principle, this should only be necessary on Windows XP. In my experience it’s also necessary in Windows 7. In Windows 10 this is actively harmful—programs execute but produce nothing on stdout/stderr. The registry key needs to be set to 0 instead of 1.

See also:

• STDIN/STDOUT Redirection May Not Work If Started from a File Association
• Perl Scripts on Windows 10 run from Explorer but not Command Prompt

If patching the registry isn’t an option running program | perl -S myscript.pl
is a less annoying work-around for scripts in your PATH.

Add a drop handler

Adding a drop handler for Perl allows you to run a Perl script via drag & drop;
e.g. dragging a file over the file icon in Windows Explorer and dropping it
there. Run the following script to add the necessary entries to the registry:

use Win32::TieRegistry;
$Registry->Delimiter("/");
$perlKey = $Registry-> {"HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT/Perl/"};
$perlKey-> {"shellex/"} = {
    "DropHandler/" =>  {
        "/" => "{86C86720-42A0-1069-A2E8-08002B30309D}"
}};