Here is the list of all Windows CMD commands sorted alphabetically along with exclusive CMD commands pdf file for future reference for both pro and newbies.

Command Prompt and CMD Commands are unknown territories for most of the Windows users, they only know it as a black screen for troubleshooting the system with some fancy commands.

If you are Linux user then you would know how commands play an important role in different system operations. Unlike Linux, Windows is a user-friendly operating system and we don’t require to play with CMD commands at all to do our task. In most cases, people open Command Prompt only when they need to repair a corrupted disk, hide certain drives, to create a hacking-like environment etc.

What is Command Prompt and CMD Commands?

Command Prompt, also known as cmd.exe or cmd — a command line interpreter application on Windows NT family operating systems. And CMD Commands are the specific set of instructions given to Command Prompt to perform some kind of task or function on your Windows PC. Most of the Windows CMD Commands are used to automate tasks via scripts and batch files, perform advanced administrative functions, and troubleshoot and solve certain kinds of Windows issues.

So here is the A-Z list of Windows CMD commands to perform desired tasks which you normally do by using the GUI. Also, you can use these commands to do some exciting hacks through Windows — which we will list soon.

How To Access Command Prompt ?

Before we start first we will see how to open Command Prompt program.

Three ways you can run Command Prompt program :

1. Simply by typing cmd in the Start Menu search bar.
2. If you are using Windows 8,then you can access Command Prompt via the Command Prompt shortcut located in the Start Menu or on the Apps screen.
3. Or you can press CTRL+R to open the RUN utility, type cmd, and press Enter.

Note:
Many commands can only be executed if Command Prompt is being run as an administrator. To open an Elevated Command Prompt — Locate the Command Prompt shortcut, then right-click on it to bring up its pop-up menu of options and from the pop-up menu, choose Run as administrator. Accept any User Account Control messages or warnings.

A-Z Windows CMD Commands

CMD Commands Function
A
 addusers
Used to add and list users in a CSV file
 admodcmd
Used for bulk modifying contents in an active directory
 arp
Address Resolution Protocol is used to map IP address to the hardware address
 assoc
Used to change associations for file extensions
 associat
One step file association
 at
Run a command at a specific time
 atmadm
Display connection info of the ATM adapter
 attrib
Used to change file attributes
B
 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
C
 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
 compress
Compress one or more files
 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
D
 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)
 deltree
Used to delete a folder and its sub-folders
 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
E
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)
eventquerry
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)
explorer
Open Windows Explorer
extract
Uncompress one or more Windows cabinet file(s)
F
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
G
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
H
help
Display a list of commands and see online information for them
hostname
Used to display host name of the computer
I
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
ifmember
Display the group(s) an active user belongs to
inuse
Replace the files which the OS is currently using (restart required)
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)
L
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
logtime
Add the date, time, and a message to a text file
lpq
Displays print queue status
lpr
Used to send a file to a computer running the Line Printer Daemon service
M
macfile
Manage files server for Mackintosh
makecab
Used to create .cab files
mapisend
Used to send email from command line
mbsacli
Microsoft Baseline Security Analyser
mem
Used to show memory usage
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 devices
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
moveuser
Move user account to a domain or between machines
msg
Used to send a pop-up message to a user
msiexec
Install, modify, configure using Windows Installer
msinfo32
Display system information
mstsc
Create a remote desktop connection
N
nbstat
Display NetBIOS over TCP/IP information
net
Used to manage network resources and services
netdom
Network Domain Manager utility
netsh
Display or modify network configuration
netstat
Display active TCP/IP connections
nlsinfo
Used to display locale information
nltest
List domain controllers, force remote shutdown, etc
now
Display date and time
nslookup
Check IP address on a Name Server
ntbacku
Backup data to tape using CMD or batch file
ntcmdprompt
Runs cmd.exe instead of command.exe in an MS-DOS application
ntdsutil
Manage Active Directory Domain Services
ntrights
Used to edit user account privileges
ntsd
Only for system developers
nvspbind
Used to modify network bindings
O
openfiles
Queries or displays open files
P
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
perms
Display a user\’s ACL permissions for a file
ping
Test network connection to a computer
popd
Go to the latest path/folder stored by PUSHD command
portqry
Display TCP and UDP port status
powercfg
Used to configure power settings and know battery health
print
Used to print a text file(s) from CMD
printbrm
For backup/recovery/migration of the print queue
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
procdump
Monitor system for CPU spikes, generate a crash report during a spike
prompt
Used to change the Prompt in CMD
psexec
Run a CMD process on a remote computer
psfile
Display remotely opened files, close an open file
psinfo
List system information about a local/remote machine
pskill
Kill a process(es) using its name or process ID
pslist
Display process status and info about active processes
psloggedon
See active users on machine
psloglist
Display event log records
pspasswd
Used to change account password
psping
Used to measure network performance
psservice
Display and control services on a machine
psshutdown
Shutdown/restart/logoff/lock a local or remote machine
pssuspend
Used to suspend a process on a local or remote computer
pushd
Change current folder and store previous folder for use by POPD
Q
qgrep
Search file(s) for a given string pattern
query
process or qprocess Display information about processes
R
rasdial
Display Remote Access Service Status
rasphone
Manage RAS connections
rcp
Copy files to a computer running remote shell service
recover
Recover readable data from a defective disk
reg
Display/add/change registry keys and values in Windows registry
regedit
Import/export/delete settings from a .reg text file
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
reset
session Used to reset a remote desktop session
rexec
Run commands on remote machines running Rexec service
rd
Used to delete a folder(s)
rmdir
Used to delete a folder(s)
rmtshare
Manage file and printer shares local or remote servers
robocopy
Used to copy files and folders that have changed
route
Display/change the local IP routing table
rsh
Run commands on remote servers running RSH service
rsm
Manage media resources using Removable storage
runas
Run a program as a different user
rundll32
Used to run a DLL program
S
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
setspn
Manage Service Principal Names for an Active Directory service account
setx
Set Environment Variables permanently
sfc
System File Checker
share
List/edit a file share or print on any computer
shellrunas
Used to run a command as a different user
shift
Change the position of the batch parameters in a batch file
shortcut
Create a Windows shortcut
shutdown
Shutdown the computer
sleep
Put computer to sleep for specified number of seconds
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
subinacl
Display/modify ACEs for file and folder permissions
subst
Associate a path with a drive letter
sysmon
Monitor and log system activity to Windows event log
systeminfo
Display detailed configuration information about the computer
T
takeown
Used to take the ownership of a file
taskkill
Used to terminate on 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
touch
Change file timestamps
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
tssutdn
Shutdown/reboot a terminal server remotely
type
Show contents of a text file
typeperf
Write performance data to a CMD window or a log file
tzutil
Time Zone Utility
U
unlodctr
Remove performance counter names and explain text for a service from the registry
V
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
W
w32tm
Access Windows Time Service Utility
waitfor
Used to synchronize 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
windiff
Compare contents of two files or sets of files
winrm
Windows Remote Management
winrs
Windows Remote Shell
wmic
Windows Management Instrumentation Command
wuauclt
Windows Update Agent to download new update files
X
xcalcs
Change ACLs for files and folders
xcopy
Copy files or directory trees to another folder
::
That’s it! If you think we forget to add any other CMD commands in this list, please notify us. Also here is get a copy of list of CMD Commands PDF too.
List of CMD Commands PDF File