50 Most Used Commands on Command Prompt (With Examples)

Most of us rely on the Graphical User Interface (GUI) as it’s more convenient than memorizing the traditional command lines. But one thing is certain—you can’t perform every task in the Windows GUI, and that’s when Command Prompt can be at your service.

This built-in command line interface can produce immediate outputs using simple commands with fewer computer resources. This way, you do not have to navigate through different windows just to get a single task done. With this program, you can perform advanced administrative functions or troubleshoot different Windows issues on your own!

In this article, I will discuss 50 commands you must know to master Command Prompt. But if you’re relatively new to this utility, I advise checking our beginner’s guide first.

Basic Commands

Before deep diving into the major commands, I’ll start with the basic ones. Whether you’re planning to use Command Prompt extensively or just for general purposes, these are going to be useful.

Command	Function
cls	Clears the Command Prompt screen
exit	Quits Command Prompt
help	Provides help with a certain command
cd	Moves you from one directory/drive to another
clip	Copies the content to Windows Clipboard
ver	Displays your present Windows version

CLS

This command simply clears the Command Prompt screen. If you feel to clear up the working space after executing too many commands, it can be extremely helpful. All you have to do is type cls and hit Enter.

Exit

If you’re planning to close the Command Prompt application, you do not require moving the cursor to press the Close button. Simply run the exit command and the program quits.

You can also use the /b parameter to exit from the loaded batch script. This way, the main window remains open and only the batch file is exited. However, if you use the parameter outside the script, it will close the CMD app.

Help

This command comes in handy if you come across any command and wish to know its function. It provides you with the syntax along with the different parameters (switches).

If you simply execute help, it displays a list of the common commands used in Command Prompt.

However, not all commands support this utility. In that case, you may use the /? parameter and this should work for every command.

CD or CHDIR

It simply means ‘Change Directory’ and as the name suggests, it switches you from the current directory based on the specified path.

If you simply execute cd, it will just display the name of your current directory. Therefore, it’s important to learn the different parameters along with their functions and syntax:

Parameters	Functions	Syntax
<drivename>:	Displays the drive along with the last directory location	cd <drivename>:
<path>:	Takes you to the directory as per the specified location	cd <path>:
/d	Changes directory	cd /d [drivename]:
..	Takes you to the previous/root directory	cd..

Clip

This command copies the output executed from a certain command into the Windows clipboard. In this way, you can directly copy the data into any other program.

It’s extremely useful to directly copy the text or script files without opening them. Here are the parameters associated with it:

Parameters	Functions	Syntax
<command>	Copies the output of a certain command to the Windows clipboard	<command> | clip
<filename>	Copies the content of a certain file	clip < filename

Ver

Command Prompt offers the quickest way to view the version number of Windows using a simple command. This way, you can determine whether the latest Windows version is installed on your computer.

System Commands

Whether you’re trying to learn about your computer or perform some system-related tasks, the following commands can come in handy:

Command	Function
powercfg	Controls power system settings
shutdown	Logs off, restarts, or shuts down your computer
driverquery	Displays all the installed drivers
hostname	Displays the name of the computer’s host
systeminfo	Displays detailed information about your system

Powercfg

This Command Prompt utility allows you to control the overall power settings of your computer. Note that if you use it without the appropriate parameters, you’ll encounter an “Invalid parameters” error. 

While there are plenty of parameters available, I’m only going to discuss the most common ones below. If you want to learn more, simply execute powercfg /?. 

Parameters	Functions	Syntax
/list or /l	Displays all the available power schemes	powercfg /list or powercfg /l
/deletesetting	Delete a specific power setting	powercfg /deletesetting <sub_guid> <setting_guid>
/setactive	Makes a scheme active	powercfg /setactive <scheme_guid>
/getactivescheme	Fetches your current power scheme	powercfg /getactivescheme
/hibernate or /h	Used to enable/disable hibernation	powercfg /hibernate [parameter]
/availablesleepstates or /a	Displays the available sleep states on your computer	powercfg /availablesleepstates or powercfg /a
/devicequery	Displays those devices that meet the specified criteria (query flag)	powercfg /devicequery <queryflag>
/deviceenablewake	Allows the specified device to wake the computer from sleep	powercfg /deviceenablewake <devicename>
/devicedisablewake	Disables the device to wake the computer from sleep	powercfg /devicedisablewake <devicename>
/lastwake	Displays the activity that last woke your system from sleep	powercfg /lastwake

To learn the above commands in detail, I recommend executing the powercfg /? <parameter> command.

For example, if you wish to know more about the /list parameter, you can execute powercfg /list.

Shutdown

Interestingly, you can turn off your computer using a single command on Command Prompt. Also, it’s possible to schedule the shutdown process as you desire.

Here are some common parameters that might be useful:

Parameters	Functions	Syntax
/i	Opens up the Remote Shutdown dialogue	shutdown /i
/l	Logs you out	shutdown /l
/r	Restarts your computer	shutdown /r
/a	Cancels the shutdown operation	shutdown /a
/h	Hibernates your computer	shutdown /h
/t xxx	Sets the time-out period before the shutdown	shutdown /r /t xxx
/f	Ends all the applications and signs you out of the computer	shutdown /f

Driverquery

Moving on, device drivers are integral components of a computer. If you seek information on them, we already have the Device Manager utility on Windows GUI.

However, if you wish to display detailed driver information while working on the command-line interface, you may simply type driverquery and hit Enter.

Along with that, you can utilize the following parameters each having individual functions:

Parameters	Functions	Syntax
/s <system>	Specifies the name and IP address of your computer	driverquery /s [system]
/u <domain> <username>	Specifies the user’s credentials and can only be used after /s is specified	driverquery /s [system] /u [username]
/p <password>	Specifies the user’s password and can only be used after /u is specified	driverquery /s [system] /u [username] /p [password]
/fo	Displays the output in the specified format–table, list, or csv	/fo [table/list/csv]
/nh	“No header”, meaning the header is not displayed (doesn’t work for /fo list)	driverquery /fo [table/csv] /nh
/si	Displays signed drivers	driverquery /si
/v	Displays verbose output (doesn’t work for signed drivers)	driverquery /v

Hostname

This command prints the device name. If you’re unsure about yours or you’re trying to identify it on another computer, simply typing hostname and pressing Enter in the Command Prompt will display the result.

Systeminfo

Unlike the hostname command, this will print detailed information about your computer. Basically, it’s like launching the System Information application to check your PC specs.

Moreover, you can use the same parameters used in devicequery (/s, /u, /p, /fo, /nh, /si, and /v) to print the output in your desired format.

Windows Troubleshooting Commands

If you’re facing a Windows-related issue, there could be several causes for it—corrupted drive, system files, images, or more. Usually, running useful troubleshooters and commands can fix the problem, and that’s exactly what I will cover in this section.

Command	Function
chkdsk	Checks your disk drives to identify and fix possible errors or bad sectors
sfc	Scans the system files to determine corrupted ones and replaces them with a cached copy
dism	Manages Windows images
msdt.exe -id DeviceDiagnostic	Starts Hardware and Devices troubleshooter

CHKDSK

This command checks for the local disks on the computer and informs users about logical and physical errors. Note that fixing errors is only possible if you use the following parameters wisely.

Here, I have only discussed the common ones. But if you want to learn more, here’s a complete guide on how to run CHKDSK to repair and fix a hard drive.

Parameters	Functions	Syntax
<volume>	Scans the specified volume	chkdsk <volume>:
/f	Fixes errors on locked disks (otherwise it first asks you to dismount the volume and completes the scan once you restart your PC)	chkdsk /f
/v	Displays path and name of every file for FAT/FAT32 disks and cleanup messages on NTFS	chkdsk /v
/r	Fixes the physical disk errors and performs all the operations that the /f parameter does	chkdsk /r
/x	Forces the volumes to be dismounted before performing the scan	chkdsk /x
/i	A quicker way to scan for disk errors for NTFS drives	chkdsk /i
/offlinescanandfix	Performs offline scans to fix disk errors	chkdsk /offlinescanandfix

SFC

The Windows System File Checker (SFC) helps you repair corrupted Windows files. It works by replacing corrupted files, which can even optimize the computer’s performance.

Here are some of the most used SFC commands:

Parameters	Functions	Syntax
/scannow	All system files are scanned and repaired	sfc /scannow
/verifyonly	All system files are scanned (no repair)	sfc /verifyonly
/scanfile<file>	The user-specified system file is scanned and repaired	sfc /scanfile=[file path]
/verifyfile<file>	The user-specified system file is scanned (no repair)	sfc /verifyfile=[file path]

DISM

This command starts the Deployment Image Servicing and Management tool to configure the features and packages of Windows images. There are plenty of DISM commands to use when troubleshooting Windows, including FFU, WIM, Imaging, and more. But I will only be discussing the common parameters.

For your comfort, we have already provided a detailed guide on running different DISM commands.

Parameters	Functions	Syntax
/online	Targets running OS	dism.exe /online [parameters]
/image	Specifies the path of an offline Windows image	dism.exe /image:<path_to_offline_image>
/list-image	Displays all files and folders in the specified Windows image	dism.exe /list-image ImageFile:<path_to_image_file>
/delete-image	Deletes the specified Windows image from the WIM file	dism.exe /delete-image /ImageFile:<path_to_image_file>

msdt.exe -id DeviceDiagnostic

The Hardware and Devices troubleshooter is no longer available with the other troubleshooters in Windows Settings. However, the utility can find and fix related problems with all hardware components.

In Windows 11, you can launch it using the msdt.exe -id DeviceDiagnostic command on Command Prompt.

File and Directory Management Commands

Managing files and directories on Command Prompt can be a little tricky. Nevertheless, here are some of the basic commands that can make your tasks a lot easier.

Command	Function
dir	Displays all the files and folders inside a directory
copy	Copies files within the directory or from one to another directory
move	Transfers files from one directory to another
del	Deletes a file or directory
mkdir	Creates a new directory
ren	Changes file name
rmdir	Deletes an existing directory
type	Displays content of a text file
assoc	Modifies the file type
fc	Compares two files and displays their differences
attrib	Changes a directory’s attributes
tree	Graphical representation of a directory structure of a specified path

DIR

This command displays all the files and directories/subdirectories from the specified drive/directory. 

Most users utilize this command to list the files and directories. This is possible by simply executing the dir command. Along with the listings, it also displays the volume’s label, serial number, and the total number of files and directories.

Apart from that, you can also utilize the following parameters:

Parameters	Functions	Syntax
<drive>	Displays the files inside the specified drive	dir [drive]:
<path>	Displays the files from the specified location	dir [path]:
/b	Displays just the list of items without any additional information	dir /b
/s	Displays all the files inside the directories, their subdirectories, and files	dir /s
/w	Lists all the files in a wide format	dir /w
/d	Same as /w but sorts them by column	dir /d

Copy

As the name suggests, this command copies the files from one location to another. Note that it will just create a duplicate instead of moving it.

For example, to copy the example.txt file from the D drive to the Example folder in the same drive, here’s the command I’ll use:

copy example.txt Example

Move

This command functions the same way as copy. However, the difference is that it actually moves the file from one location to the other. It’s basically the cut-and-paste technique we use in Windows GUI.

For example, to move the example.txt file from the D drive to the Example folder in the same drive, here’s the command I’ll use:

move example.txt Example 

Del or Erase

Both the Del and Erase commands can be used to permanently delete a file. This means that you can’t retrieve the file back from the Recycle Bin.

For example, to delete the example.txt file permanently, here’s the command I’ll execute:

del example.txt

MKDIR or MD

Both the MKDIR and MD commands are used to create a new directory (folder). You can do this in the present directory or even on another directory directly, meaning you do not require moving to that specific drive/directory to create one.

For example, if I’m in D drive and wish to create a new directory, here’s the command I’ll use:

mkdir MyDirectory

But if wish to create a new directory in a specific path, here’s what I would execute:

mkdir C:\Users\bishu\Desktop\MyDirectory

Rename or Ren

Ren or Rename command simply reconfigures the file or directory name. While doing so, make sure you do not duplicate the name with any other file/directory.

Taking the same example as above, here’s how I am going to rename the two files I had created earlier:

ren MyDirectory MyDir

ren C:\Users\bishu\Desktop\MyDirectory MyDir

RMDIR or RD

It stands for ‘Remove Directory’ and that’s exactly what the command does. You may also use a shorter command that performs the same action–RD.

Here are all the parameters for the RMDIR command:

Parameters	Functions	Syntax
<path>\<dir_name>	Deletes the directory as per the specific path	rmdir [path]\[dir_name]
/s	Deletes the directory along with all the files inside it (asks for confirmation)	rmdir /s [path]\[dir_name]
/q	Deletes the directory along with all the files inside it (doesn’t ask for confirmation)	rmdir /q [path]\[dir_name]

As an example, I’m going to show you how to delete the MyDirectory file that I created earlier:

rmdir MyDir

rmdir C:\Users\bishu\Desktop\MyDir

Type

This command is used to display a text file’s content on Command Prompt. This way, you do not have to navigate to a certain location, open the file, and again close it if not necessary.

Assoc

This command is used to display or manage different file name extension associations. Note that you require administrative privilege to modify the associations.

If you simply execute the assoc command, the command-line utility lists all the extensions along with their associated file types.

Also, you can check which file extensions are associated with individual file types. For example, you can find out all the extensions that are associated with ‘sysfile’ as shown in the below example.

Example:assoc | find “sysfile”

It’s possible to modify the associations too. You can associate any file extension to whichever file type you want.

Example: assoc .abc=sysfile

Lastly, you can even delete an association. However, you’ll need to restart your computer to apply the changes.

Example: assoc .abc=

FC

FC stands for “File Compare” and as it sounds, it’s used for comparing two files so that you can learn about their differences. As shown in the demonstration above, I have compared two text files to know the item difference inside them.

Here are some of the useful parameters for the FC command:

Parameters	Functions	Syntax
/b	Comparison in binary mode	fc <file1> <file2> /b
/c	Ignores the letter case during comparison	fc <file1> <file2> /c
/n	Displays the line number	fc <file1> <file2> /n
/u	Comparison of Unicode text files	fc <file1> <file2> /u
/w	Ignores consecutive spaces when comparing	fc <file1> <file2> /w

Attrib

This command manages the attributes for files and folders. You can set whatever attribute you wish—Hidden, Read-Only, System, and more. To set an attribute, use ‘+’ and to remove, use ‘-’.

Attribute Value	Description
H	Hidden
R	Read-only
A	Archive
S	System
O	Offline
I	Not content Indexed
X	No scrub
V	Integrity
P	Pinned
U	Unpinned
B	SMR Blob

Tree

If you’re wishing to view the subdirectories inside of a directory or a drive, the tree command will make it look graphically pleasing. It structures the document in an easy-to-view format. All you have to do is run the tree command and specify the path if required. 

Below are the two parameters you can adopt with the tree command:

Parameters	Functions	Syntax
/a	Displays the lines using text characters instead of graphical representation	tree <path> /a
/f	Displays all the items in the drive/directory	tree <path> /f

Disk/Drive Management Commands

Along with file and directory management, it’s also possible to configure disks and drives in Command Prompt.

Here are the 7 most used commands for this purpose:

Command	Function
vol	Displays the disk volume’s label and serial number
format	Formats a certain drive in the specified file system
diskpart	Manages storage drive partitions
defrag	Defragments the specified hard drive
diskusage	Displays the amount of used and free space available on the specific disk

Vol

This is a command to quickly check the volume name or serial number. All you have to do is execute vol with the drive letter.

Format

While there already exists easy-to-use GUI applications for formatting your disk drives, it’s never a bad idea to learn this on Command Prompt.

If you want to format a hard drive having just one partition, the format command should work out for you. However, the better option would be using diskpart, which I shall discuss below.

Here, I’ll only mention the common parameters. Nonetheless, you can go through the other guide that should help you format a hard drive from CMD in detail.

Parameters	Functions	Syntax
/v	Specifies the volume label of the drive you’re trying to format	format /v:<label>
/q	Performs a quick format	format <drivename>: /q
/fs	Formats the drive with specific file system	format <drivename>: /fs:<filesystem>
/p	Completely wipes the drive	format <drivename>: /p:<count>

Diskpart

This is a command-line interpreter that offers disk management features on Command Prompt. With this utility, you can assign drive letters, manage the drive attributes, configure partitions, display disk information, format a drive, and much more.

Type diskpart and this should launch the interpreter. However, you require administrative privilege to use it. 

In the table below, I have mentioned the most used commands in Diskpart. If you wish to learn more about disk partitions using the diskpart command, you can check out our dedicated guides for both HDD and SSD.

Command	Functions	Syntax
list	Displays the volumes, disks, partitions, or virtual disks based on the parameter specified	list <volume/disk/partition/vdisk>
select	Selects a volume, disk, partition, or virtual disk based on the parameter specified	select <volume/disk/partition/vdisk>
create	Creates a volume, partition, or virtual disk file based on the parameter specified	create <partition/disk/vdisk> <parameters>
assign	Assign a drive letter or mount point to the selected volume	assign <letter=[letter_number]/mount=[path]>
format	Formats a disk	format <parameter>
exit	Exits the Diskpart interpreter	exit

Defrag

Defragmentation simply means reorganizing the data inside an HDD to achieve better performance (not recommended on SSD).

Like any other action, Windows already offers a dedicated utility.

However, if you wish to know this in detail, Command Prompt offers tons of parameters that should help you out. Note that this command requires administrative privilege.

Parameters	Functions	Syntax
<driveletter>:	Defrags the specified drive (traditional defragmentation, default parameter is set to /d)	defrag <driveletter>:
/a	Analyzes the selected drive	defrag <driveletter>: /a
/b	Performs boot optimization on the selected drive	defrag <driveletter>: /b
/c	Runs operations on all the volumes	defrag <driveletter>: /c
/h	Runs operations in normal priority	defrag <driveletter>: /h
/u	Prints the progress	defrag <driveletter>: /u

Diskusage

This might not be the most used command but is definitely worth it. You can get the summarized details on the selected disk’s usage in no time.

Simply executing the diskusage command should do the job (note that you need to open CMD as an administrator). Along with that, you can take a look at the following parameters that might be beneficial:

Parameters	Functions	Syntax
/c	Displays the result in CSV format	diskusage /c <drive>:
/h	Displays the result in human-readable format	diskusage /h <drive>:
/s	Displays size for system files only	diskusage /s <drive>:

Networking Commands

Unlike others, networking commands are widely used mainly for troubleshooting purposes. In fact, fetching IP addresses or configuring network settings is much easier on Command Prompt than using GUI components.

If you’re a networking enthusiast, here are the commands that you need to focus on: 

Command	Function
net	Manage network and its settings
ipconfig	Displays detailed information about your network configuration
netsh	Starts the Netsh prompt that lets you manage network configurations
netstat	Displays active network connections
ping	Verifies IP-level connectivity and reachability
tracert	Checks the computer’s path to connect to the network
pathping	Traces the route to the target and also displays the statistics (combination of ping and tracert)
getmac	Displays the MAC address
nslookup	Displays the information about domain names and IP addresses

Net

You can use this command to manage different networking services. It comes with multiple options each performing a specialized task.

Here, I’ve only mentioned the most common ones. You can execute the net command without a parameter to get more.

Option	Function
accounts	Configures login requirements
computer	Manages computers in the domain
continue	Restarts a service
start	Starts a networking service
stop	Stops a networking service
view	Displays all the devices in a network
statistics	Displays network statistics

Ipconfig

This command is for network configuration and management. You can view the detailed Windows TCP/IP information, release/renew IP addresses, flush the DNS cache, and much more.

Executing ipconfig without parameters displays the IPv4, IPv6, subnet mask, and default gateway for every adapter. For other purposes, you can adopt the following parameters:

Parameters	Functions	Syntax
/all	Displays TCP/IP configuration for all adapters	ipconfig /all
/flushdns	Flushses the DNS client resolver cache	ipconfig /flushdns
/release <adapter>	Releases the DHCP configuration for the specified adapter (you can simply execute the /release parameter to release the configuration for all the adapters at once)	ipconfig /release <adapter>
/renew <adapter>	Renews DHCP configuration for the specified adapter (if not specified, renews for all the adapters)	ipconfig /renew <adapter>

Netsh

This is another essential networking command used for managing network configurations. You can execute netsh to launch the dedicated shell. After that, you can perform desired networking operations using some of the well-known parameters from the below table:

Commands	Functions
dhcpclient	Manages the DHCP client service
dnsclient	Manages DNS client settings
firewall	Manages the Windows firewall service
interface	Manages physical or virtual network adapters
lan	Manages LAN settings on your computer
wlan	Manages wireless network settings on your computer
namespace	Manages namespace configurations
offline	Sets the mode to offline
online	Sets the mode to online
quit/exit/bye	Exits the Netsh shell
winsock	Manages Winsock settings

Netstat

This command lists the active connections on your computer. It displays the protocol, local as well as foreign address, and the current state. Just executing the netstat command will list the active TCP connections.

To display other protocols, here are some parameters you can use:

Parameters	Functions	Syntax
-a	Displays all the active TCP and UDP connections	netstat -a
-b	Displays all active connections along with each process (requires admin privilege)	netstat -b
-e	Displays the interface statistics	netstat -e

Ping

This command is widely used for testing host-server reachability and internet connectivity. Executing ping displays the IP address statistics and the approximate round trips in milliseconds.

Here are a few parameters that I recommend trying out: 

Parameters	Functions	Syntax
-t	Continues displaying stats until interrupted by pressing CTRL+C	ping -t <target_name>
-n<count>	Displays stats based on the specified number of echo Request messages	ping -n <number> <target_name>
-l<length>	Displays stats based on the specified length	ping -l <number> <target_name>

Tracert

This command traces the route to a certain IP or domain by sending ICMP or ICMPv6 messages with increasing TTL values. It’s extremely useful during network troubleshooting as it informs users about the routing issues and validates the network paths.

Implementing the tracert command without a parameter traces the route of the specified domain/IP over a maximum of 30 hops.

Nevertheless, you could make use of the following parameters to gain additional networking information:

Parameters	Functions	Syntax
-h<max_hops>	Displays results in ‘n’ no. of maximum hops specified	tracert -h <hops_in_number> <target_name>
-d	Doesn’t resolve IP address making the results appear much faster	tracert -d <target_name>
-w<timeout>	Specifies the maximum time to wait for echo Reply message (if not, displays *)	tracert -w <max_time> <target_name>
-4	Uses IPv4 to trace the route	tracert -4 <target_name>
-6	Uses IPv6 to trace the route	tracert -6 <target_name>

Pathping

This command is a combination of Tracert and Ping. When executed without a parameter, it traces the route to the target over a maximum of 30 hops and computes statistics for 125 seconds (by default).

Here are some of the most used pathping parameters:

Parameters	Functions	Syntax
-h<max_hops>	Displays results based on the maximum hops specified	pathping -h <number> <target>
-p<period>	Waits between consecutive pings before displaying the stats	pathping -p <max_period> <target>
-w<timeout>	Specifies the maximum time to wait for each reply	pathping -w <max_time> <target>
-4	Only uses IPv4	pathping -4 <target>
-6	Only uses IPv6	pathping -6 <target>

Getmac

If you wish to get the MAC address of your computer, you can execute the getmac command and this will display the result in no time. The result includes both the physical address and the transport name.

Along with that, I highly recommend trying out the following parameters:

Parameters	Functions	Syntax
/s <computer>	Displays the results for the specified computer name of IP address	getmac /s <computer>
/fo <table/list/csv>	Displays in the specified format	getmac /fo <table/list/csv>
/nh	Displays in the table or CSV format excluding the column header	getmac /nh

NSLookUp

This is yet another command-line utility that includes numerous commands to obtain domain name or IP address information. To start the prompt, simply type nslookup in the Command Prompt and hit Enter.

While there are countless parameters for nslookup, I’m only going to focus on a few common ones in the table below:

Commands	Functions
finger	Connection with finger server
ls	Displays DNS domain information
lserver	Changes default server to the specified DNS using current server
server	Changes server to the specified DNS using default server
set	Different parameters (all, class, d2, etc.) are used to set various DNS-related settings

Miscellaneous

If you have implemented each of the commands I’ve discussed, you should now be proficient enough to use Command Prompt. However, the aforementioned commands are not enough to master this Windows command-line interface. 

There are thousands more, and it’s impossible for me to include all of them in this single post.

For now, I would recommend trying out the following commands that could come in handy while you’re on the way to mastering Command Prompt:

Command	Function
tasklist	Displays all the currently running processes
taskkill	Kills a process
powershell	Starts Windows PowerShell session
set	Manages Windows environment variables
start	Runs the specified program
bcdboot	Repairs the boot environment
date	Displays today’s date
prompt	Changes the cmd text
color	Customizes foreground and background color

Tasklist

You can use this command to display the currently running processes on your computer. Executing tasklist lists down the name of the process, its PID, session name, session number, and memory usage. Also, you can try out the following parameters:

Parameters	Functions	Syntax
/s <computer>	Displays all the processes of the specified computer name or IP address	tasklist /s <computer>
/m	Displays all the modules of currently running processes	tasklist /m
/fo <table/list/csv>	Displays the results in a specified format	tasklist /fo <table/csv/list>
/nh	Displays the results in table or CSV format without the header column	tasklist /nh
/svc	Displays all the services associated with the currently running processes	tasklist /svc

Taskkill

While the tasklist command displays the processes, taskkill kills/ends them. You can use either process ID or image name to do this task. Therefore, you need to utilize any of the following common parameters:

Parameters	Functions	Syntax
/pid <processID>	Kills the process as per the specified process ID	taskkill /pid <processID>
/im <image_name>	Kills the process as per the specified image name	taskkill /im <imageName>
/f	Ends the process forcefully	taskkill /f <pid/im> <processID/imageName>
/t	Ends the process along with all the child processes	taskkill /t <pid/im> <processID/imageName>

Powershell

If you prefer Windows PowerShell over CMD, you can actually run the Command Prompt as a Powershell window. Just type powershell and hit Enter. You’ll likely get the PS prefix indicating that you can now run all the Powershell cmdlets here.

Set

This command is used for configuring the Windows environment variables. To display all the available ones, you can use the set command without any parameters. In order to set a new environment variable, you can use a variable name and provide the necessary value.

Likewise, it’s possible to delete any environment variable too. Below is the syntax that should clear your doubt.

The set command on Command Prompt has the following two parameters with individual functionality:

Parameters	Functions	Syntax
/a	Sets the variable name as a line of input	set /a <variable>=<expression>
/p	Sets the value as a numerical expression	set /p <variable_name>=<promptString>

Start

You can use this command to launch a new Command Prompt window. Without the use of any parameter, it will simply launch the new prompt. However, utilizing the following parameters can help you perform just more than that:

Parameters	Functions	Syntax
“title”	Launches the CMD window with the specified title	start “<title_name>”
/d <path>	Starts the CMD window with the specified path	start /d <path>
<min> or <max>	Launches the CMD windows in restored or maximized window	start <min/max>
/wait	Starts the application and waits for it to end (meaning you cannot execute further commands in the main prompt)	start /wait

BCDBoot

Most users utilize this command to repair the boot environment from the Windows Recovery Environment. It works by copying the Windows installation files to a system partition. You need to execute bcdboot with the following parameters:

Parameters	Functions	Syntax
/l	Specifies an optional language during BCD store initialization	bcdboot <source> /l <locale>
/s	Specifies the system partition’s label where the BCD files will be copied to	bcdboot <source> /s <partition>
/d	Preserves the existing default windows boot entry	bcdboot <source> /d <path>
/bcdclean	Cleans the BCD store	bcdboot <source> /bcdclean

Date

This is another useful command to quickly check the current date. You can display or set a new date as per your requirement. If you execute just the date command, the prompt displays the date and asks you to set a new one. But if you quickly want to check the date, use the /t parameter.

Prompt

This command offers customization of the text that appears in front of the cursor (by default, it’s the current directory path). 

You can change this to any character string of your choice or predefined characters (like current date, drive, path, times, windows version, etc.) using special codes. You can check using the /? Parameter. To switch back to the normal format, execute the prompt without any parameters.

Color

Certainly, you have thought of customizing the Command Prompt. To your surprise, it’s possible to tweak the default black (background) and white (foreground/text) combination. For this, you require specifying two hex digits—the first representing the background and the second corresponding to the text.

Hex Digit	Color
0	Black
1	Blue
2	Green
3	Aqua
4	Red
5	Purple
6	Yellow
7	White
8	Grey
9	Light Blue
A	Light Green
B	Light Aqua
C	Light Red
D	Light Purple
E	Light Yellow
F	Bright White

As per the above table, let’s say you want a red background with light blue text. So, you’ll have to execute the following command:
color 49

While you’re at it, note that you cannot set the same background and foreground colors. Even if you do it, the command will not execute and you’ll be left with the existing combination.

To switch back to default, run the color command without any parameter.