CMD Commands Overview: BATch Commands Windows Command Prompt

An introduction to Windows-BATch or the Windows-Command-Line can be found here: Windows Batch

After Windows-Powershell gradually replaces Windows-BATch, see also: Windows PowerShell

DOS commands

The command help displays an overview of all integrated commands (depending on the DOS or Windows version).
To get more detailed information about the commands: start the command with /?
so e.g. xcopy /? will generate a short description or the command line parameters of the respective command.

Here are some commands and a short description:

Command	Description	Operating systems Windows
assoc	Displays or changes file extension associations	XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
at	AT can be used to start commands or programs at a specific time. These are then entered in "Scheduled Tasks (in Windows 8 schtasks should be used instead of AT)	XP/Vista/7
attrib	Displays or changes file attributes	XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
break	Turns extended checking for CTRL+C on or off	8/10/11
bcdedit	Sets properties in the boot database to control booting.	11
cacls	changes file ACLs (Access Control List) or displays them	XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
call	calls a batch file from another	XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
cd	change to another directory; cd \ changes to the root directory	XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
chcp	changes the current code page or displays its number	XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
chdir	changes the directory or displays its name	XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
chkdsk	check disk	XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
chkntfs	Show disk check at startup, change	XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
choice	Users can select items from a drop-down list	7/8/10/11
cipher	Show or enable encryption of directories (NTFS partition)	XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
cls	Clear screen content	XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
cmd	starts the command prompt	XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
cmstp	profile installation for the connection manager	XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
color	Change console colors	XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
comp	compares the contents of files	XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
compact	view or change the compression of files (ntfs)	XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
convert	convert fat drives to NTFS	XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
copy	copy files. more suitable for copy operations is the command:xcopy	XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
cscript	starts the scripting host: e.g. to display the output of a .vbs file in the console (not in individual windows)	XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
date	shows the current date and asks for a new	XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
defrag	defragment drives	XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
del	delete files (no folders!)	XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
dir	shows the directory contents	XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
diskcomp	compares the content of 2 floppy disks	XP/Vista/7/8
diskcopy	copies one floppy disk to another	XP/Vista/7/8
diskpart	disk management from the console	XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
dism	DISM is used for enumerating, installing, uninstalling, configuring and updating features and packages in Windows images. The commands available depend on which image is being maintained and whether the image is and whether the image is an offline image or an online image. online image.	7/8/10/11
doskey	is responsible for remembering commands already entered in the console, these can be recalled with the up arrow key	XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
driverquery	can display installed devices and their properties	XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
echo	Display messages in the console or switches the command display on or off	XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
endlocal	ends a session started with setlocal (changes in a batch file are applied with setlocal only in the batch file)	XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
erase	Deletes one or more files	XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
errorlevel	Return value of a command (whether it was successful: 0 or not: 1)	XP/Vista/7/8
eventcreate	can write messages to the event log	XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
eventquery	lists event or event properties from eventlog (must be executed with cscript)	XP
eventtriggers	display and configure event triggers (eventlog)	XP
exist	checks if a file exists	XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
exit	exits cmd.exe or a batch file	XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
expand	unpack compressed files	XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
fc	Compare files and shows the differences	XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
find	searches for a string in one or more files	XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
findstr	searches for strings in files	XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
finger	shows which user is logged in; rather old service usually doesn't work anymore for security reasons	XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
for	for loop, execute commands multiple times based on records (lists)	XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
format	formats a disk	XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
fsutil	tune filesystem	XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
ftp	File transfer protocol via command line files up and download	XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
ftype	shows file types and their assignment	XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
getmac	shows the Mac addresses of the computer	XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
goto	jumps to a marker in a batch file	XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
gpresult	displays currently applied group policies	XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
gpupdate	updates group policies	XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
graftabl	enables Windows to display special characters in graphics mode	XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
help	shows an overview of Windows CMD commands	XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
hostname	shows the computer name	XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
icacls	view, modify, backup, or restore ACLs for files and directories	7/8/10/11
If	Conditions in batch files	XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
ipconfig	Displays IP network settings	XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
ipxroute	NWLink IPX routing and source routing control program	XP
irftp	sends files to the infrared interface	XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
label	change volume label	XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
lodctr	Updated names and explanations for extensible performance indicators	XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
logman	manages the "performance logs and alerts" service	XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
lpq	displays the status of a remote LPQ queue	XP
lpr	sends a print job to a network printer	XP
mkdir (md)	create directory	XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
mmc	starts the Management Console	XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
mklink	creates symbolic and fixed links	8/10/11
mode	configures interfaces/devices (speed, parity, ..) in the system	XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
more	displays data page by page on the screen	XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
mountvol	assign or delete drive letters / mount points	XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
move	move and rename files and folders	XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
openfiles	shows files opened by remote users for file sharing	7/8/10/11
msiexec	Install msi packages	XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
nbtstat	Displays TCP/IP connections using NBT (NetBIOS over TCP/IP)	XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
net	Manage network services, show e.g. net use shows currently connected drives	XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
netsh	configure network components via cmd control, show	XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
netstat	shows TCP IP connections and their status	XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
nslookup	query DNS server	XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
ntbackup	Start NTBackup via CommandLine / Silent	XP
ntsd	Application Debugger	XP
pagefileconfig	Configure pagefile (run with cscript)	XP
path	sets the search path for cmd commands or displays them	XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
Pathping	tests the connection to a given IP address and shows the hops to the destination address (similar to tracert)	XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
pause	stops the execution of a batch file and writes: Press any key ...	XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
pentnt	shows if the computer has the Intel(tm) Pentium Floating Point Devision error or disables floating point hardware and enables floating point emulation	XP
perfmon	starts the Performence Monitor (Program: Performance)	XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
ping	tests a connection to another computer / device	XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
popd	changes to the directory that was saved with Phusd	XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
print	prints a text file	XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
prncnfg	configures or displays configuration information about a printer. (start with cscript)	XP
prndrvr	Add, delete, display printer driver (start with cscript)	XP
prnjobs	Stop, display, repeat PrintJobs (start with cscript)	XP
prnmngr	Add printers or printer connections, set default printer (start with cscript)	XP
prnport	Create, delete or list print jobs (start with cscript)	XP
prnqctl	prints a test page pauses or resumes a print job deletes the print queue	XP
prompt	changes the prompt	XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
pushd	saves the current directory for use with popd	XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
rasdial	establish dial-up connections via command line	XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
rcp	copies files to computers or from computers running the RCP service	XP
rd	Removes a directory	8/10/11
recover	recovers readable data from a damaged disk	XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
reg	add registry entries read import eXPort	XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
regsvr32	register dlls	XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
relog	Rebuild performance indicator logs	XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
rem	commands after rem in a batch file are considered comments and are not processed	XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
rename (ren)	renames files	XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
replace	replaces files	XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
reset	disconnect open terminal sessions	XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
rexec	executes commands on remote computers where the RESEC service is active	XP
rmdir	deletes a directory	XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
rd	deletes a directory	XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
route	show network routing table, add static routes	XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
robocopy	Advanced copying of files and directories	7/8/10/11
rsh	Executes commands on remote hosts where RSH service is active	XP
rsm	manage and control removable media	XP
runas	run programs as another user	XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
sc	Command line program that communicates with NT Service Controller and Services	XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
schtasks	scheduled tasks on a local or remote computer create, modify, delete, execute, terminate replaces at.exe	XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
secedit	MS own security editor: allows to check permissions by comparing templates or applying the templates	XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
set	sets or deletes environment variables for CMD.exe	XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
setlocal	Changes of the environment are only related to the batch file after the "setlocal" command. To reset the original settings the command endlocal is used or the batch file is terminated.	XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
shift	changes the position of replaceable parameters in a batch program	XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
shutdown	log off, restart, turn off computer	XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
sort	sort screen output	XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
start	starts a separate window to execute a specific program or command	XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
subst	assigns a drive name to a path	XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
systeminfo	get general information about the system configuration: e.g. logon server, installed hotfixes network settings	XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
sfc	checks all protected system files and replaces wrong versions with Microsoft original versions	XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
taskkill	can kill processes	XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
tasklist	shows applications and associated tasks or processes (PID)	XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
tcmsetup	Sets up the telephony client	XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
telnet	Establish telnet connections	XP
tftp	transfer files to a TFTP server using TFTP	XP
time	sets or displays the system time	XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
timeout	waits an arbitrary time	Vista/7/10/11
title	sets the window title for the prompt window	XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
tracerpt	generate a readable report file from a binary trace file (etl). The etl file can be generated using Windows Performance Monitor tracing logs.	XP/Vista/7/8
tracert	Route tracing similar to pathping	XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
tree	displays the folder structure graphically	XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
type	displays the contents of text files	XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
typeperf	writes performance indicator data to command line or log file	XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
unlodctr	deletes names and explanations for extensible performance indicators	XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
ver	displays the operating system version	XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
verify	sets the monitoring whether files are written correctly to the disk	XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
vol	shows the name and serial number of a volume	XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
vssadmin	Volume Shadow Copy Service command line utility	XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
w32tm	Time synchronization, time server, set time zone	XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
wmic	(Windows Management Instrumentation Commandline). Tool with which the classes of the WMI library can be easily exploited in the command line without programming knowledge.	XP/Vista/7/8/10/11
xcopy	improved copy	XP/Vista/7/8/10/11