The Windows command prompt is a feature that'due south been a core role of the Windows operating organisation for a long time. There are some CMD commands that are so useful and easy to use that even regular users encounter the Windows command prompt as a cardinal part of the operating system.

There are e'er rumors that it will exist phased out at some signal, but that's unlikely to happen any time shortly.

The post-obit are 21 of the best CMD commands yous should know if you desire to have more than control over your Windows PC.

Also, be sure to check out our YouTube video where nosotros become over the commands listed in this article:

1. ASSOC: Set up File Associations

One of the most powerful tools in the CMD command library is the ASSOC command.

Your calculator assembly sure file extensions with certain programs. This is how your computer knows to open Adobe when you lot double click a PDF file, or Microsoft Word when y'all double click a DOC file.

You can view all the file associations your computer knows about by typing ASSOC in the command window. You'll run across the file extension and the program it's associated with.

You tin set the association by typing something like assoc .doc=Word.Certificate.8.

2. FC: File Compare

Sometimes when files are inverse over fourth dimension, information technology'south hard to recall what the differences were between versions. Yous may not know that a CMD control offers the ability to compare files and see all differences, but it'due south true.

The FC command performs either an ascii or a binary file comparison and will list all of the differences that it finds.

Fc /a File1.txt File2.txt will compare two ascii files.

Fc /b Picture1.jpg Picture2.jpg volition do a binary compare on ii images.

3. IPCONFIG: IP Configuration

Network troubleshooting is never unproblematic, but i command that makes it much easier is IPCONFIG.

Using this command in the CMD command prompt returns detailed information near your current network adapter connexion including:

  • Current IP Address
  • Subnet Mask
  • Default Gateway IP
  • Current domain

This information tin can help you troubleshoot router issues and other connection issues you could be having with your network adapter.

4. NETSTAT: Network Statistics

Concerned that yous could have malware running on your computer that's connecting to internet locations without y'all knowing near information technology?

If you run a NETSTAT command in the command prompt, you can go a list of all active TCP connections from your figurer.

5. PING: Send Test Packets

An IT Annotator's all-time friend is the PING command.  Running this command sends test packets over the network to the target system.

You lot can use the PING command to exam whether your figurer can admission another computer, a server, or fifty-fifty a website. It can aid with revealing network disconnections. It also provides transit time for the packets in milliseconds, then it also reveals a bad network connection every bit well.

vi. TRACERT: Trace Route

TRACERT is a fascinating Windows Control to use. If you're ever curious to encounter the path your net traffic takes to become from your browser to a remote organization like Google servers, y'all can use TRACERT to run into it.

The command stands for "Trace Route", which sends packets out to a remote destination (server or website), and provides yous with all of the following information:

  • Number of hops (intermediate servers) before getting to the destination
  • Time information technology takes to get to each hop
  • The IP and sometimes the name of each hop

TRACERT can reveal how the routes of your internet requests change depending where you're accessing the web. It besides helps with troubleshooting a router or switch on a local network that may exist problematic.

vii. POWERCFG: Ability Configuration

Are you frustrated with how quickly your laptop seems to run out of power? It could be that your power settings are configured as efficiently every bit possible. There'due south a windows CMD command called POWERCFG (power configuration) that tin help. Run the command prompt as an administrator and type powercfg – energy to become a total power efficiency study.

The process can have up to about a minute, merely when it'due south done, you'll see whether at that place are whatever warnings or errors that might help y'all meliorate the ability efficiency of your system.

View the energy-written report.html file to come across the details of those errors and warnings.

8. SHUTDOWN: Plow Off Calculator

The SHUTDOWN command is a pretty versatile command that lets yous shutdown the computer only command the beliefs of that shutdown. It'southward commonly used as a scheduled task or role of an IT batch job after patches have been applied to a computer system.

Typing shutdown /i from the command prompt will initiate a shutdown, merely it'll upon a GUI to give the user an option on whether to restart or exercise a full shutdown. If you don't want to have whatsoever GUI pop upwardly, y'all can just event a shutdown /southward command.

In that location is a long list of other parameters you can use to do a log off, hibernate, restart, and more. Just blazon shutdown without any arguments to see them all.

9. SYSTEMINFO: Organisation Information

If you need to know what make of network card you have, processor details, or the exact version of your Windows OS, the SYSTEMINFO command tin help.

This command polls your system and pulls the almost important information near your system. Information technology lists the information in a clean format that's easy to read.

ten. SFC: System File Checker

If you're ever concerned that a virus or some other software might have corrupted your core arrangement files, there'due south a Windows command that tin can scan those files and ensure their integrity.

You need to launch CMD as ambassador (right click and cull Run every bit Administrator). Typing SFC /SCANNOW volition check the integrity of all protected system files. If a trouble is found, the files will be repaired with backed-up organisation files.

The SFC control also lets yous:

  • /VERIFYONLY: Bank check the integrity but don't repair the files.
  • /SCANFILE: Scan the integrity of specific files and set if corrupted.
  • /VERIFYFILE: Verify the integrity of specific files but don't repair them.
  • /OFFBOOTDIR: Use this to exercise repairs on an offline boot directory.
  • /OFFWINDIR: Use this to do repairs on an offline Windows directory.
  • /OFFLOGFILE: Specify a path to save a log file with browse results.

The scan can take up to 10 or 15 minutes, so give information technology time.

eleven. NET Utilise: Map drives

If you want to map a new bulldoze, you could ever open File Explorer, right click on This PC, and go through the Map Network Drive wizard. Yet, using the Cyberspace USE command, you lot can do the same affair with ane command cord.

For case, if you have a share binder on a computer on your network called \\OTHER-COMPUTER\SHARE\, you can map this as your own Z: drive by typing the command:

Net use Z: "\\OTHER-Reckoner\SHARE" /persistent:yes

The persistent switch tells your computer that you want this drive remapped every fourth dimension you lot log back into your reckoner.

12. CHKDSK: Check Deejay

While the SFC control only checks the integrity of cadre system files, you can utilize the CHKDSK command to scan an entire bulldoze.

The command to cheque the C: drive and repair whatever problems, launch the command window as an administrator and type CHKDSK /f C:.

This command checks for things similar:

  • File fragmentation
  • Disk errors
  • Bad sectors

The control can set any deejay errors (if possible). When the control is finished, y'all'll see a status of the scan and what deportment were taken.

13. SCHTASKS: Schedule Tasks

Windows comes with a wizard for creating scheduled tasks. For example, maybe you have a BAT file stored on C:\temp that you lot want to run every 24-hour interval at apex.

You'd accept to click through the Scheduled Task magician to configure this. Or you can type a single SCHTASKS command to set it up.

SCHTASKS /Create /SC HOURLY /MO 12 /TR Example /TN c:\temp\File1.bat

The scheduled switch accepts arguments like minute, hourly, daily, and monthly. And so you specify the frequency with the /MO control.

If you typed the control correctly, yous'll see the response, SUCCESS: The scheduled task "Instance" has successfully been created.

14. ATTRIB: Change File Attributes

In Windows, you can change file attributes by right clicking on a file and finding the correct property to change. Yet, instead of hunting effectually for the file attribute, you can use the ATTRIB command to ready the file attributes.

For example, if yous type: ATTRIB +R +H C:\temp\File1.bat, it'll set File1.bat as a hidden, read-simply file.

At that place is no response when it'due south successful, so unless y'all see an fault bulletin, the command worked.

Other Windows CMD Commands

As you lot can run into, there are some powerful and useful things yous can exercise with the Windows control prompt, if you know the right commands.

Believe it or not, in that location are fifty-fifty more commands that will requite you the ability to do some things you lot probably never realized simply by typing a uncomplicated command.

  • BITSADMIN: Initiate upload or download jobs over the network or internet and monitor the current state of those file transfers.
  • Colour: Modify the background colour of the command prompt window.
  • COMP: Compare the contents of any two files to see the differences.
  • FIND/FINDSTR: Search for strings inside of whatever ASCII files.
  • PROMPT: Alter the control prompt from C:\> to something else.
  • TITLE: Change the title of the command prompt window.
  • REGEDIT: Edit keys in the Windows registry (use with caution).
  • ROBOCOPY: A powerful file re-create utility built right into Windows.

If you're interested in learning more, Microsoft offers a full listing of all of the Windows CMD commands included in the latest version of the Windows Bone.