Windows Command

A-Z Windows CMD Commands List

Do you know every command prompt in Windows? Find it here

Method 1: Open the program in Start Menu

Click the lower-left Start button to open the Start Menu, type cmd in the
empty box and tap Command Prompt in the results.
Method 2: Turn on Command Prompt by search.
Tap the Search button on the taskbar, type cmd in the search box and
choose Command Prompt on the top.
Method 3: Open Command Prompt from Quick Access Menu.
Press Windows+X, or right-click the bottom-left corner to open the menu,
and then select Command Prompt on it.
Method 4: Open the app through Run.
Open the Run dialog using Windows+R hotkeys, enter cmd and tap OK.
Since now we know how to open the Command prompt screen, let’s have a
look at the commands along with their description:

Command Description

Allows programs to open data files in specified directories as if they were

append
located in the current directory.

Displays or changes the file type associated with a particular file

assoc
extension.

Schedules commands and other programs to run at a specific date and

at
time.

atmadm Displays connection information of the ATM adapter.

attrib Changes the attributes of a single file or a directory.

Displays information about or performs functions to manipulate audit

Auditpol
policies.
 Configures the boot files on a PC or device to run the Windows operating
bcdboot
system and to create a new system BCD store.

bcdedit Used to view or make changes to Boot Configuration Data.

bdehdcfg Used to prepare a hard drive for BitLocker Drive Encryption.

bitsadmin Used to create, download or upload jobs and monitor their progress.

bootcfg Used to build, modify, or view the contents of the boot.ini file.

Updates the master boot code for hard disk partitions to switch between
bootsect
BOOTMGR and NTLDR.

break Sets or clears extended CTRL+C checking on DOS systems.

cacls Displays or changes access of the security descriptors on folders and files.

Used to run a script or batch program from within another script or batch
call
program.

Also known as chdir, is used to change the current working drive and/or
cd
directory in operating systems.

Used to perform various certification authority (CA) certificate requests,

certreq such as submit a request, retrieve a response, create a new request,
accept, sign, policy, sign and enrol.

Used to dump and display certification authority (CA) configuration

certutil information, configure Certificate Services, backup and restore CA
components, and verify certificates, key pairs, and certificate chains.

Changes various terminal server settings like install modes, COM port
change
mappings, and logons.

chcp Displays or configures the active code page number.

chdir Used to display the drive letter and folder that you are currently in.

checknetisolation Used to test apps that require network capabilities.

 Enables or disables logons from client sessions on an RD Session Host
chglogon
(Remote Desktop Session Host) server, or displays current logon status.

Can be used to display or change COM port mappings to be compatible

chgport
with MS-DOS applications.

chgusr Used to change the install mode for the RD Session Host server.

Verifies the file system integrity of a volume and fixes logical file system
chkdsk
errors.

Used to display or modify the checking of the disk drive using NTFS at
chkntfs
boot time.

Allows batch files to prompt the user to select one item from a set of
choice single-character choices and return the value of that choice to the
program.

cipher Used to encrypt or decrypt files and folders on NTFS drives.

clip Copies the result of any command (stdin) to the clipboard in Windows.

Used to clear the screen or console window of all previously entered

cls
commands and any output generated by them.

cmd Starts a new instance of the cmd.exe command interpreter.

cmdkey Used to create, list and delete stored user names or credentials.

cmstp Used to install or uninstall a Connection Manager service profile.

Changes the colors of the text and background within the Command
color
Prompt window.

command Starts a new instance of the command.com command interpreter.

Performs a binary comparison of two set of files or multiple files and

comp
shows the differences between them.

Displays and changes the compression state of files or directories on NTFS

compact
partitions.
 Used to convert volumes using the FAT or FAT32 formatted file systems to
convert
NTFS.

copy Copies one or more files from one directory to another.

Provides command-line options for setting and executing script properties

cscript
via Microsoft Script Host.

ctty Used to change the default input and output devices for the system.

date Used to show or change the current date.

Initially known as DoubleSpace can be used to create or configure

driveSpace
DoubleSpace compressed drives.

debug Starts Debug, a command line application used to test and edit programs.

defrag Used to defragment a drive you specify.

del Used to delete one or more files.

deltree Used to delete a directory and all the files and subdirectories within it.

Displays a list of files and folders contained inside the folder that you are
dir
currently working in.

diskcomp Used to compare contents of two floppy disks.

diskcopy Copies the entire contents of one floppy disk to another.

Prevents creating multi-partition layout for removable media such as flash

diskpart
drives and also used for partitioning internal hard drives..

Used to remotely enable or disable physical or logical disk performance

diskperf
counters on computers running Windows 2000.

Starts the DiskRAID command-line tool that allows to configure and

diskraid manage redundant array of independent (or inexpensive) disks (RAID)
storage subsystems.

dism Starts the Deployment Image Servicing and Management (DISM) tool.

dispdiag Used to output a log of information about the display system.

djoin Used to create a new computer account in a domain.

Used to edit command lines, create macros, and recall previously entered
doskey
commands.

dosshell Starts DOS Shell, a graphical file management tool for MS-DOS.

Used to start DOS Protected Mode Interface (DPMI), a special mode

dosx designed to give MS-DOS applications access to more than the normally
allowed 640 KB.

driverquery Displays a list of all installed device drivers and their properties.

drvspace Used to create or configure DriveSpace compressed drives.

Used in shell scripts and batch files to output status text to the screen or
echo
a file and also to turn the echoing feature on or off.

edit Starts the MS-DOS Editor tool that is used to create and modify text files.

Starts the Edlin tool that is used to create and modify text files from the
edlin
command line.

emm386 Used to give MS-DOS access to more than 640 KB of memory.

Ends localization of environment changes inside a batch or script file,

endlocal restoring environment variables to their values before the
matching setlocal command.

erase Used to delete one or more files.

Provides database utilities for the Extensible Storage Engine (ESE) for
esentutl
Windows Vista.

eventcreate Creates a custom event in an event log.

eventtriggers Displays and configures event triggers on local or remote machines.

exe2bin Converts a file of the EXE file type (executable file) to a binary file.

Used to end the cmd.exe (Windows) or command.com (MS-DOS) session

exit
that you’re currently working in.
 Used to extract the files and folders contained in Microsoft Cabinet (CAB)
expand
files.

This command is actually a CAB extraction program for use by Internet

extrac32
Explorer but can be used to extract any Microsoft Cabinet file.

Used to extract the files and folders contained in Microsoft Cabinet (CAB)
extract
files.

This command provides more detailed information on any of the other

fasthelp
MS-DOS commands.

Used to add a program’s hard drive location to a special list stored in

fastopen
memory.

Used to compare two individual or sets of files and then show the
fc
differences between them.

fdisk Used to create, manage, and delete hard drive partitions.

find Used to search for a specified text string in one or more files.

findstr Used to find specific text string patterns in one or more files.

finger Used to find information about computer users.

fltmc Used to load, unload, list, and otherwise manage Filter drivers.

The fondue (Features on Demand User Experience) tool is used to install

fondue
any of the several optional Windows features from the command line.

for Used to run a specified command for each file in a set of files.

forcedos Used to start the specified program in the MS-DOS subsystem.

forfiles Selects one or more files and runs a command on them.

format Used to format a drive in the file system that you specify.

Performs tasks that are related to file allocation table (FAT) and NTFS file
fsutil system, such as managing reparse points and sparse files, dismounting a
volume, and extending a volume.
ftp Transfers files to and from another computer.

ftype Defines a default program to open a specified file type.

Used to display the Media Access Control (MAC) address of all the network
getmac
adapters in the computer.

Used in a batch or script file to direct the command process to a labelled

goto
line in the script.

gpresult Used to display group policy settings and resultant set of policy for a user.

Refreshes local and Active Directory-based Group Policy settings,

gpupdate
including security settings.

Used to enable the ability of Windows to display an extended character

graftabl
set in graphics mode.

graphics Used to load a program that can print graphics.

help Provides help information for Windows commands.

Displays the host name portion of the full computer name of the
hostname
computer.

hwrcomp Used to compile custom dictionaries for handwriting recognition.

Used to install a previously compiled custom dictionary for handwriting

hwrreg
recognition.

icacls Display, modify, backup, or restore ACLs for files and directories.

if Performs conditional functions in batch programs.

Connects two computers via a serial or parallel connection to share files

interlnk
and printers.

Starts interlnk server and to copy interlnk files from one computer to
intersvr
another.
 Displays all current TCP/IP network configuration values and can
ipconfig modify Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) and Domain Name
System (DNS) settings.

ipxroute Used to display and change information about IPX routing tables.

irftp Used to transmit files over an infrared link.

iscsicli Starts the Microsoft iSCSI Initiator, used to manage iSCSI.

Used to support MS-DOS files that need to configure a keyboard for a

kb16
specific language.

keyb Used to configure a keyboard for a specific language.

klist Used to list service tickets of Kerberos.

ksetup Used to configure connections to a Kerberos server.

ktmutil Starts the Kernel Transaction Manager utility.

label Used to manage the volume label of a disk.

lh Shorthand version of the loadhigh command.

Used to generate a text-based log and other data files that

licensingdiag
contain product activation and other Windows licensing information.

Used to load the specified program in the first 64K of memory and then
loadfix
runs the program.

Used to load a program into high memory and is usually used from within
loadhigh
the autoexec.bat file.

lock Used to lock a drive, enabling direct disk access for a program.

lodctr This is used to update registry values related to performance counters.

logman Used to create and manage Event Trace Session and Performance logs.

logoff Used to terminate a session.

Displays the status of a print queue on a computer running Line Printer

lpq
Daemon (LPD).
lpr Used to send a file to a computer running Line Printer Daemon (LPD).

makecab Used to create .cab files.

Manage-bde Used to configure BitLocker Drive Encryption from the command line.

Md Shorthand version of the mkdir command.

Shows information about used and free memory areas and programs that
Mem
are currently loaded into memory in the MS-DOS subsystem.

Memmaker Used to start MemMaker, a memory optimization tool.

Mkdir Used to create a new folder.

Mklink Creates a symbolic link.

Mode Used to configure system devices, most often COM and LPT ports.

This command properly displays the data within a Managed Object Format
Mofcomp
(MOF) file.

More Used to display the information contained in a text file.

Mount Used to mount Network File System (NFS) network shares.

Mountvol Used to display, create, or remove volume mount points.

Move Used to move one or files from one folder to another.

Mrinfo Used to provide information about a router’s interfaces and neighbors.

Msav This command starts Microsoft Antivirus.

This command starts Microsoft Backup, a tool used to back up and restore
Msbackup
one or more files.

Mscdex Used to provide CD-ROM access to MS-DOS.

Msd Starts Microsoft Diagnostics.

Msg Used to send a message to a user.

Used to start Windows Installer, a tool used to install and configure

Msiexec
software.
 This command starts the Multilanguage User Interface unattended setup
Muiunattend
process.

This command is used to show TCP/IP information and other statistical

Nbtstat
information about a remote computer.

Net Used to display, configure, and correct a wide variety of network settings.

Net1 Used to display, configure, and correct a wide variety of network settings.

Netcfg Used to install the Windows Preinstallation Environment (WinPE),

Used to start Network Shell, a command-line utility used to manage the

Netsh
network configuration of the local, or a remote, computer.

This command is most commonly used to display all open network

Netstat
connections and listening ports.

This command is used to manage Server for NFS or Client for NFS from
Nfsadmin
the command line.

Nlsfunc Used to load information specific to a particular country or region.

Used to test secure channels between Windows computers in a domain

Nltest
and between domain controllers that are trusting other domains.

The command is most commonly used to display the hostname of an

Nslookup
entered IP address.

Ntbackup Used to perform various backup functions from the Command.

Ntsd Used to perform certain command line debugging tasks.

This command starts the Windows Optional Component Setup tool, used
Ocsetup
to install additional Windows features.

Openfiles Used to display and disconnect open files and folders on a system.

Path Used to display or set a specific path available to executable files.

Functions much like the tracert command, will also report information
Pathping
about network latency and loss at each hop.
Pause Used within a batch or script file to pause the processing of the file.

Pentnt Used to detect floating point division errors in the Intel Pentium chip.

The command sends an Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) Echo

Ping Request message to a specified remote computer to verify IP-level
connectivity.

Pkgmgr Used to start the Windows Package Manager from the Command Prompt.

Pnpunattend Used to automate the installation of hardware device drivers.

Used to start the Microsoft PnP Utility, a tool used to install a Plug and
Pnputil
Play device from the command line.

This command is used to change the current directory to the one most
Popd
recently stored by the pushd command.

Used to reduce the power consumed by a computer by monitoring

Power
software and hardware devices.

Used to manage the Windows power management settings from the

Powercfg
command line.

Print Used to print a specified text file to a specified printing device.

Used to customize the appearance of the prompt text in Command Prompt

Prompt
or MS-DOS.

Used to store a directory for use, most commonly from within a batch or
Pushd
script program.

Used to enable, disable, or show the status of your Windows To Go start-

Pwlauncher
up options.

Used to display all Remote Desktop Session Host servers available on the
Qappsrv
network.

This command starts QBasic, the MS-DOS based programming

Qbasic
environment for the BASIC programming language.
Qprocess Used to display information about running processes.

Query Used to display the status of a specified service.

Used to display information about users currently logged on to the

Quser
system.

Qwinsta Used to display information about open Remote Desktop Sessions.

Rasautou Used to manage Remote Access Dialer AutoDial addresses.

Rasdial Used to start or end a network connection for a Microsoft client.

Used to copy files between a Windows computer and a system running the
Rcp
rshd daemon.

Rd Shorthand version of the rmdir command.

Rdpsign Used to sign a Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) file.

Reagentc Used to configure the Windows Recovery Environment (RE).

Recimg Used to create a custom refresh image.

Recover Used to recover readable data from a bad or defective disk.

Reg Used to manage the Windows Registryfrom the command line.

Used to set or change registry permissions and registry values from the
Regini
command line.

Register-
Used to register a Common Information Model (CIM) Provider in Windows.
cimprovider

Used to register a DLL file as a command component in the Windows

Regsvr32
Registry.

Used to create new performance logs from data in existing performance

Relog
logs.

Rem Used to record comments or remarks in a batch or script file.

Ren The shorthand version of the rename command.

Rename Used to change the name of the individual file that you specify.
 Used to repair or decrypt a damaged drive that’s been encrypted using
Repair-bde
BitLocker.

Replace Used to replace one or more files with one or more other files.

This command, executed as reset session, is used to reset the session

Reset
subsystem software and hardware to known initial values.

Restore Used to restore files that were backed up using the backup command.

Rexec Used to run commands on remote computers running the rexec daemon.

Rmdir Used to delete an existing or completely empty folder.

Robocopy Used to copy files and directories from one location to another.

Route Used to manipulate network routing tables.

This command makes a remote procedure call (RPC) to an RPC server and
Rpcinfo
reports what it finds.

Rpcping Used to ping a server using RPC.

Rsh Used to run commands on remote computers running the rsh daemon.

Rsm Used to manage media resources using Removable Storage.

Runas Used to execute a program using another user’s credentials.

Rwinsta Shorthand version of the reset session command.

Sc Used to configure information about services.

Scandisk Used to start Microsoft ScanDisk, a disk repair program.

This command starts Windows Registry Checker, a basic registry repair

Scanreg
program and backup utility.

Schtasks Used to schedule specified programs or commands to run a certain times.

Sdbinst Used to deploy customized SDB database files.

Used to configure and analyze system security by comparing the current

Secedit
security configuration to a template.
 Used to display, enable, or disable environment variables in MS-DOS or
Set
from the Command Prompt.

Used to start the localization of environment changes inside a batch or

Setlocal
script file.

Used to manage the Service Principal Names (SPN) for an Active Directory
Setspn
(AD) service account.

Used to set the MS-DOS version number that MS-DOS reports to a

Setver
program.

Used to create or change environment variables in the user environment

Setx
or the system environment.

Sfc Used to verify and replace important Windows system files.

Shadow Used to monitor another Remote Desktop Services session.

Share Used to install file locking and file sharing functions in MS-DOS.

Used to change the position of replaceable parameters in a batch or script

Shift
file.

Showmount Used to display information about NFS mounted file systems.

Used to shut down, restart, or log off the current system or a remote
Shutdown
computer.

This command installs and configures SMARTDrive, a disk caching utility

Smartdrv
for MS-DOS.

Used to read data from a specified input, sort that data, and return the
Sort results of that sort to the Command Prompt screen, a file, or another
output device.

Used to open a new command line window to run a specified program or

Start
command.

Subst Used to associate a local path with a drive letter.

Sxstrace Used to start the WinSxs Tracing Utility, a programming diagnostic tool.

Sys Used to copy the MS-DOS system files and command interpreter to a disk.

Used to display basic Windows configuration information for the local or a

Systeminfo
remote computer.

Used to regain access to a file that that an administrator was denied

Takeown
access to when reassigning ownership of the file.

Taskkill Used to terminate a running task.

Displays a list of applications, services, and the Process ID (PID) currently

Tasklist
running on either a local or a remote computer.

Used to setup or disable the Telephony Application Programming Interface

Tcmsetup
(TAPI) client.

Telnet Used to communicate with remote computers that use the Telnet protocol.

Used to transfer files to and from a remote computer that’s running the
Tftp
Trivial File Transfer Protocol (TFTP) service or daemon.

Time Used to show or change the current time.

Used in a batch or script file to provide a specified timeout value during a

Timeout
procedure.

Title Used to set the Command Prompt window title.

Tlntadmn Used to administer a local or remote computer running Telnet Server.

Tpmvscmgr Used to create and destroy TPM virtual smart cards.

Used to process event trace logs or real-time data from instrumented

Tracerpt
event trace providers.

This command sends Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) Echo

Request messages to a specified remote computer with increasing Time to
Tracert
Live (TTL) field values and displays the IP address and hostname, of the
router interfaces between the source and destination.
 Used to graphically display the folder structure of a specified drive or
Tree
path.

Tscon Used to attach a user session to a Remote Desktop session.

Tsdiscon Used to disconnect a Remote Desktop session.

Tskill Used to end the specified process.

Tsshutdn Used to remotely shut down or restart a terminal server.

Type Used to display the information contained in a text file.

This command displays performance data in the Command Prompt

Typeperf
window or writes the data to specified log file.

Tzutil Used to display or configure the current system’s time zone.

Umount Used to remove Network File System (NFS) mounted network shares.

Undelete Used to undo a deletion performed with the MS-DOS delete command.

Used to undo the formatting on a drive performed by the MS-DOS format

Unformat
command.

Unlock Used to unlock a drive, disabling direct disk access for a program.

Removes Explain text and Performance counter names for a service or

Unlodctr
device driver from the Windows Registry.

Vaultcmd Used to create, remove, and show stored credentials.

Ver Used to display the current Windows or MS-DOS version number.

Used to enable or disable the ability of Command Prompt, or MS-DOS, to

Verify
verify that files are written correctly to a disk.

Shows the volume label and serial number of a specified disk, assuming
Vol
this information exists.

Vsafe Used to start VSafe, a basic virus protection system for MS-DOS.
 This command starts the Volume Shadow Copy Service administrative
Vssadmin command line tool which displays current volume shadow copy backups
and all installed shadow copy writers and providers.

W32tm Used to diagnose issues with Windows Time.

Waitfor Used to send or wait for a signal on a system.

Used start and stop backup jobs, display details about a previous backup,
Wbadmin list the items within a backup, and report on the status of a currently
running backup.

Used to manage subscriptions to events that are forwarded from WS-

Wecutil
Management supported computers.

This command starts the Windows Events Command Line Utility which is
Wevtutil
used to manage event logs and publishers.

Where Used to search for files that match a specified pattern.

Whoami Used to retrieve user name and group information on a network.

Winmgmt Starts the command line version of WMI, a scripting tool in Windows.

Used to start the command line version of Windows Remote Management,

Winrm used to manage secure communications with local and remote computers
using web services.

Winrs Used to open a secure command window with a remote host.

Starts the Windows System Assessment Tool, a program that assesses

Winsat various features, attributes, and capabilities of a computer running
Windows.

Starts the Windows Management Instrumentation Command line (WMIC),

Wmic a scripting interface that simplifies the use of Windows Management
Instrumentation (WMI) and systems managed via WMI.

Used to manage aspects of the Windows Remote Management (WinRM)

Wsmanhttpconfig
service.
 Used to copy one or more files or directory trees from one location to
another. The xcopy command is generally considered a more “powerful”
Xcopy
version of the copy command though the robocopy command trumps even
xcopy.

This command, short for Extensible Wizard, is used to register data in

Xwizard
Windows, often from a preconfigured XML file.