The Windows command prompt is a characteristic that's been a cadre role of the Windows operating system for a long time. There are some CMD commands that are so useful and easy to use that even regular users see the Windows command prompt as a key role of the operating system.

There are always rumors that it will exist phased out at some point, but that'south unlikely to happen whatever fourth dimension before long.

The following are 21 of the best CMD commands you lot should know if you want to accept more control over your Windows PC.

Likewise, be certain to cheque out our YouTube video where nosotros become over the commands listed in this article:

1. ASSOC: Ready File Associations

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

Your reckoner associates certain file extensions with sure programs. This is how your figurer knows to open up Adobe when yous double click a PDF file, or Microsoft Word when you double click a DOC file.

Y'all can view all the file associations your computer knows about past typing ASSOC in the command window. You'll meet the file extension and the program information technology's associated with.

You can set the association past typing something like assoc .md=Word.Document.eight.

2. FC: File Compare

Sometimes when files are changed over time, it's hard to remember what the differences were between versions. You may not know that a CMD command offers the ability to compare files and see all differences, but it's truthful.

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

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

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

3. IPCONFIG: IP Configuration

Network troubleshooting is never elementary, but one command that makes it much easier is IPCONFIG.

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

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

This information can assist you troubleshoot router problems and other connection issues you could exist having with your network adapter.

4. NETSTAT: Network Statistics

Concerned that you could have malware running on your computer that's connecting to net locations without you knowing almost it?

If you lot run a NETSTAT control in the command prompt, you can become a listing of all active TCP connections from your estimator.

5. PING: Send Test Packets

An It Analyst's best friend is the PING command.  Running this command sends exam packets over the network to the target arrangement.

Y'all can utilize the PING command to examination whether your computer tin access some other calculator, a server, or even a website. It can help with revealing network disconnections. Information technology as well provides transit fourth dimension for the packets in milliseconds, and so it also reveals a bad network connectedness also.

vi. TRACERT: Trace Route

TRACERT is a fascinating Windows Control to use. If yous're e'er curious to see the path your internet traffic takes to go from your browser to a remote system like Google servers, you tin can use TRACERT to see it.

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

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

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

7. POWERCFG: Power Configuration

Are yous frustrated with how quickly your laptop seems to run out of ability? It could be that your ability settings are configured every bit efficiently as possible. There's a windows CMD command called POWERCFG (power configuration) that can assistance. Run the command prompt every bit an ambassador and type powercfg – energy to get a full power efficiency report.

The procedure tin can take up to about a infinitesimal, but when it'due south done, yous'll come across whether there are any warnings or errors that might assistance y'all improve the ability efficiency of your system.

View the free energy-report.html file to see the details of those errors and warnings.

8. SHUTDOWN: Turn Off Computer

The SHUTDOWN command is a pretty versatile control that lets yous shutdown the computer only control the behavior of that shutdown. Information technology's commonly used as a scheduled task or part of an It batch job after patches have been applied to a estimator system.

Typing shutdown /i from the command prompt will initiate a shutdown, but it'll upon a GUI to give the user an option on whether to restart or do a full shutdown. If you don't want to have whatsoever GUI popular up, yous can simply issue a shutdown /s command.

In that location is a long list of other parameters you can apply to do a log off, hibernate, restart, and more. Just type shutdown without whatever arguments to encounter them all.

9. SYSTEMINFO: Organization Information

If you lot need to know what make of network carte you lot have, processor details, or the exact version of your Windows Bone, the SYSTEMINFO command tin aid.

This control polls your system and pulls the well-nigh important information nearly your organization. It lists the data in a clean format that's like shooting fish in a barrel to read.

ten. SFC: System File Checker

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

You demand to launch CMD as administrator (right click and choose Run as Administrator). Typing SFC /SCANNOW volition check the integrity of all protected system files. If a problem is found, the files will be repaired with backed-upwards system files.

The SFC command also lets you:

  • /VERIFYONLY: Check the integrity only don't repair the files.
  • /SCANFILE: Browse the integrity of specific files and fix if corrupted.
  • /VERIFYFILE: Verify the integrity of specific files just don't repair them.
  • /OFFBOOTDIR: Use this to practise repairs on an offline boot directory.
  • /OFFWINDIR: Use this to practice repairs on an offline Windows directory.
  • /OFFLOGFILE: Specify a path to relieve a log file with browse results.

The browse can have up to 10 or 15 minutes, so give it time.

11. Cyberspace 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. All the same, using the NET USE command, you can do the aforementioned thing with 1 control string.

For example, if you have a share folder on a estimator on your network called \\OTHER-COMPUTER\SHARE\, you can map this every bit your own Z: drive by typing the command:

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

The persistent switch tells your figurer that you desire this bulldoze remapped every time you log back into your figurer.

12. CHKDSK: Check Disk

While the SFC command but checks the integrity of cadre system files, you tin use the CHKDSK command to scan an entire bulldoze.

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

This command checks for things like:

  • File fragmentation
  • Disk errors
  • Bad sectors

The command can fix whatever deejay errors (if possible). When the command is finished, you'll encounter a status of the scan and what actions were taken.

13. SCHTASKS: Schedule Tasks

Windows comes with a magician for creating scheduled tasks. For example, peradventure y'all have a BAT file stored on C:\temp that you desire to run every day at noon.

Yous'd have to click through the Scheduled Job wizard to configure this. Or you tin can type a single SCHTASKS command to set it upwards.

SCHTASKS /Create /SC HOURLY /MO 12 /TR Case /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 command.

If you lot typed the control correctly, you'll see the response, SUCCESS: The scheduled job "Example" has successfully been created.

14. ATTRIB: Change File Attributes

In Windows, y'all can alter file attributes by correct clicking on a file and finding the right belongings to alter. However, instead of hunting effectually for the file attribute, you can use the ATTRIB command to fix the file attributes.

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

There is no response when it'south successful, then unless you see an error bulletin, the control worked.

Other Windows CMD Commands

As you lot can run across, there are some powerful and useful things y'all can do with the Windows command prompt, if you know the right commands.

Believe it or not, in that location are fifty-fifty more commands that will give you the ability to exercise some things y'all probably never realized merely by typing a simple control.

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

If y'all're interested in learning more than, Microsoft offers a total listing of all of the Windows CMD commands included in the latest version of the Windows Os.