how to open *.pdf from Excel VBA

I had the same question and this is what will work:

Begin code
CMD = "cmd.exe /k ""path to pdf\mypdf.pdf""
taskID = Shell(CMD, vbMinimizedNoFocus)
End code

However, the a command shell window is left open until the user clicks on the little x up in the corner.

I tred vbHide instead of vbMinimizedNoFocus and a look in the task manager shows that the command shell window is still running.

Jim here,

I should have put tripple quotes at the end of the file path. That will include quotes around the file path and name incase of spaces.