CMD Commands

A collective list of Windows CMD Commands

^Status

_{Alternate links}
Command-line Reference A-Z • Windows Commands • CMD

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⚠️ Note

Some of these commands may require relevant service or Windows version to work correctly.

Commonly used commands are marked with ✔️

For help use /? with command. For example: ping /?

🎯 Goals

📍 Remove redundancy.

📍 Remove deprecated or unavailable commands.

📍 List only (latest OS) working commands, in an alphabetical order.

Help is always appreciated

📜 Index

A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X

A

Commands	Description
arp ✔️	Address Resolution Protocol is used to map IP address to the hardware address
at	Run a command at a specific time
attrib ✔️	Used to change file attributes
assoc ✔️	Used to change associations for file extensions

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B

Commands	Description
bcdboot	Used to create and repair a system partition
bcdedit	Used to manage boot configuration data
bitsadmin	Used to manage the Background Intelligent Transfer Service
bootcfg	Used to edit boot configuration in Windows
break	Enable/Disable break capability (CTRL+C) in CMD

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C

Commands	Description
cacls	Used to change permissions of files
call	Used one batch program to call another
certreq	Used to request a certificate from a certification authority
certutil	Manage Certification Authority files and services
cd ✔️	Used to change folder (directory) or go to a specific one
change	Used to change terminal services
chcp	Displays the number of active console code page
chdir	Same as cd command
chkdsk ✔️	Used to check and repair issues in the disk
chkntfs	Used to check the NTFS file system
choice	Accept user input (via keyboard) to a batch file
cipher	Used to encrypt/decrypt files and folder
cleanmgr	Used clean temp files and recycle bin automatically
clip	Copy result of any command (stdin) to Windows clipboard
cls ✔️	Clear CMD screen
cmd ✔️	Used to start a new CMD shell
cmdkey	Used to manage stored usernames and passwords
cmstp	Used to install or remove a connection manager service profile
color ✔️	Change the color of the CMD shell using options
comp	Compare contents of two files or two sets of files
compact	Compress files and folders on an NTFS partition
convert	Convert a FAT partition to NTFS
copy ✔️	Copy one or more files to another location
coreinfo	Show the mapping between logical and physical processors
cprofile	Cleans specified profiles of wasted space and disabled user-specific file associations
cscmd	Configure offline files on a client computer
csvde	Import or Export the data of an active directory

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D

Commands	Description
date ✔️	Used to display the date or change it
defrag ✔️	Used to defragment system hard drive
del ✔️	Used to delete a file(s)
delprof	Used to delete user profile(s)
devcon	Access the command line device manager utility
dir ✔️	Used to display files and folders list
dirquota	Manage File Server Resource Manager quotas
diruse	Used to display disk usage
diskcomp	Compare contents of two floppy disks
diskcopy	Copy data of one floppy disk to another
diskpart	Make changes to partitions of storage, both internal and connected
diskshadow	Access the Disk Shadow Copy Service
diskuse	View used space in folder(s)
doskey	Used to edit command line, recall commands, and create macros
driverquery	Display a list of installed device drivers
dsacls	View and edit access control entries for objects in active directory
dsadd	Used to add objects to active directory
dsget	View objects in active directory
dsquery	Find objects in an active directory
dsmod	Used to modify objects in an active directory
dsmove	Rename or move an active directory object
dsrm	Remove objects from an active directory
dsmgmt	Manage Active Directory Lightweight Directory Services

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E

Commands	Description
echo ✔️	Turn command-echoing feature on/off, display a message on the screen
endlocal	End localization environment changes in a batch file
erase	Used to delete on or more file(s)
eventcreate	Add custom event to Windows event log (Admin rights required)
eventquery	Display list of events and their properties from event logs
eventtriggers	Display and configure event triggers on local and remote machines
exit ✔️	Exit the command line (Quit current batch script)
expand	Uncompress one or more .CAB file(s)
extract	Uncompress one or more Windows cabinet file(s)

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F

Commands	Description
fc ✔️	Used to compare two files
find ✔️	Used to search a specified text string in a file
findstr	Used to find string patterns in files
finger	Display information about user(s) on a specified remote computer
flattemp	Used to enable/disable flat temporary folders
For ✔️	Run a command in a loop for a file(s) for defined parameter
forfiles	Used for batch processing of selected file(s)
format ✔️	Used to format a disk
freedisk	Used to check free space on a disk
fsutil	File system utility to manage file and drive properties
ftp ✔️	Use FTP service to transfer files from one PC to another
ftype	Display/ Modify file extension type associations

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G

Commands	Description
getmac ✔️	Used to display the MAC address of your network adapter
goto ✔️	Used to direct a batch program to a line identified by a label
gpresult	Display Group Policy Settings and Resultant Set of Policy for a user
gpupdate	Update local and active directory based on group policy settings
graftabl	Turn on the ability to display an extended character in graphics mode

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H

Commands	Description
help ✔️	Display a list of commands and see online information for them
hostname ✔️	Used to display hostname of the computer

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I

Commands	Description
icacls	Used to change permissions of files and folders
iexpress	Used to create a self-extracting zip archive
if	Used for conditional processing in batch programs
ipconfig ✔️	Display and change Windows IP configuration
ipseccmd	Used to configure IP Security policies
ipxroute	Display and modify routing table information used by IPX protocol
irftp	Used to send files over an infrared link (infrared functionality required)

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L

Commands	Description
label ✔️	Used to change the name of a disk
lodctr	Update registry values with latest performance counters
logman	Used to manage performance monitor logs
logoff ✔️	Log a user off
lpq	Displays print queue status
lpr	Used to send a file to a computer running the Line Printer Daemon service

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M

Commands	Description
macfile	Manage files server for Mackintosh
makecab	Used to create .cab files
md ✔️	Used to create directories and sub-directories
mkdir ✔️	Used to create directories and sub-directories
mklink	Used to create symbolic link to a directory
mmc	Access Microsoft Management Console
mode	Configure COM, LPT, CON system devies
more	Display one screen of output at time
mountvol	Create, list, or delete a volume mount point
move ✔️	Used to move files from one folder to another
msg ✔️	Used to send a pop-up message to a user
msiexec	Install, modify, consfigure using Windows Installer
msinfo32 ✔️	Display system information
mstsc	Create a remote desktop connection

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N

Commands	Description
nbstat	Display NetBIOS over TCP/IP information
netsh ✔️	Display or modify network configuration
netstat ✔️	Display active TCP/IP connections
nslookup ✔️	Check IP address on a Name Server
ntbackup	Backup data to tape using CMD or batch file
ntcmdprompt	Runs cmd.exe instead of command.exe in an MS-DOS application

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O

Commands	Description
offline	Takes an online disk or volume to the offline state
online	Takes an offline disk or volume to the online state
openfiles	Queries or displays open files

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P

Commands	Description
pagefileconfig	Display and configure Virtual memory settings
path ✔️	Set PATH environment variable for executable files
pathping	Latency and Packet loss info for each node in the network path
pause ✔️	Used to stop processing of a batch file
pbadmin	Starts Phone Book Administrator
pentnt	Detect Floating Point Division error in the Pentium chip
perfmon	Access performance monitor in CMD
ping ✔️	Test network connection to a computer
popd	Go to the latest path/folder stored by PUSHD command
powercfg ✔️	Used to configure power settings and know battery health
powershell ✔️	Used to start a Windows PowerShell session in a Command Prompt window
powershell_ise	Used to start a Windows PowerShell ISE session in a Command Prompt window
print	Used to print a text file(s) from CMD
prncnfg	Used to configure/rename a printing device
prndrvr	List/add/delete printer drivers
prnjobs	List/pause/resume/cancel print jobs
prnmngr	List/add/delete printers, display/set default printer
prnport	List/create/delete TCP printer ports, display/change port configuration
prnqctl	Clear printer queue, print a test page
prompt ✔️	Used to change the Prompt in CMD
pushd	Change current folder and store previous folder for use by POPD

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Q

Commands	Description
query ✔️	Display information about processes
quser	Displays information about user sessions on a Remote Desktop Session Host server

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R

Commands	Description
rasdial	Display Remote Access Service Status
recover ✔️	Recover readable data from a defective disk
reg ✔️	Display/add/change registry keys and values in Windows registry
regsvr32 ✔️	Used to register/unregister a DLL file
regini	Used to change registry permissions
relog	Export performance counters to other formats like TSV, CSV, SQL
rem ✔️	Add comments in batch file
ren	Used to rename a file(s)
replace ✔️	Used to replace a file with another file of same name
rd ✔️	Used to delete a folder(s)
rmdir ✔️	Used to delete a folder(s)
robocopy	Used to copy files and folders that have changed
route	Display/change the local IP routing table
runas	Run a program as a different user
rundll32 ✔️	Used to run a DLL program

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S

Commands	Description
sc	Use Service Controller to manage Windows services
schtasks ✔️	Schedule command(s) to run at a specific time
secedit	Configure system security
set ✔️	Display/set/remove environment variables in CMD
setlocal	Control visibility of environment variables in a batch file
setx ✔️	Set Environment Variables permanently
sfc ✔️	System File Checker
shift	Change the position of the batch parameters in a batch file
slmgr ✔️	Software Licensing Management tool for activation and KMS
sort ✔️	Used to sort and display a redirected or piped input
start ✔️	Start a program, command, or batch file
strings	Find ANSI and UNICODE strings in binary files
subst	Associate a path with a drive letter
systeminfo ✔️	Display detailed configuration information about the computer

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T

Commands	Description
takeown	Used to take the ownership of a file
taskkill ✔️	Used to terminate one or more running processes
tasklist ✔️	Display a list of running apps and services
tcmsetup	Enable/disable TAPI client
telnet	Communicate with a remote machine using TELNET protocol
tftp	Transfer files to and from a remote machine running TFTP protocol
time ✔️	Display/change system time
timeout	Delay a batch file execution for specified seconds
title ✔️	Change the text on top of CMD window
tracerpt	Process event trace logs and generate trace analysis report
tracert ✔️	Trace route to a remote host by sending ICMP request messages
tree ✔️	Display a folder structure in the form of a graphical tree
tsdiscon	Terminate a remote desktop connection
tskill ✔️	Terminate a running process on a RD Session Host server
type ✔️	Show contents of a text file
typeperf	Write performance data to a CMD window or a log file
tzutil ✔️	Time Zone Utility

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U

Commands	Description
uniqueid ✔️	Displays or sets the GUID partition table (GPT) identifier or master boot record (MBR) signature
unlodctr	Remove performance counter names and explain text for a service from the registry

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V

Commands	Description
ver ✔️	Show version number of installed OS
verify	Verify whether files are saved correctly on the disk
vol ✔️	Show disk volume label and serial number
vssadmin	Show shadow copy backups, installed shadow copy writers and providers

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W

Commands	Description
waitfor	Used to synchronise events between networked computer(s)
wevtutil	Retrieve information about event logs and publishers
where ✔️	Find and display file(s) in the current directory
whoami ✔️	Display information about the active user
winrs	Windows Remote Shell
wmic	Windows Management Instrumentation Command
wscript	Used to execute scripts in a variety of languages

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X

Commands	Description
xcopy ✔️	Copy files or directory trees to another folder

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License

MIT