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Windows

72 cheat sheets

Windows#

PowerShell scripting, package management, and WSL integration.

dir — List Directory Contents

Display files and folders in a directory with filtering, sorting, formatting, and recursive traversal options. The Windows cmd.exe equivalent of Unix ls.

May 26, 2026
dir windows cli filesystem scripting web-researched

cd — Change Directory

Navigate the Windows command prompt's current working directory. Covers drive switching, absolute and relative paths, UNC paths, and path-with-spaces quoting.

May 26, 2026
cd windows cli filesystem scripting web-researched

hostname — Print Machine Name

Display the DNS hostname of the local Windows machine from the command prompt — useful in scripts to identify the machine without parsing systeminfo output.

May 26, 2026
hostname windows cli scripting networking web-researched

whoami — Current User Identity

Display the current user name, SID, group memberships, and privileges from the Windows command prompt — essential for auditing security context in scripts and support scenarios.

May 26, 2026
whoami windows cli scripting security sysadmin reference web-researched

set — Environment Variables

Set, display, and delete cmd.exe environment variables within the current session, perform integer arithmetic with /A, and read interactive user input with /P.

May 26, 2026
set windows cli scripting environment web-researched

echo — Output Text and Control Command Echo

Print text to stdout, expand environment variables, write blank lines, redirect output to files, and toggle command-echoing in cmd.exe batch scripts.

May 26, 2026
echo windows cli scripting batch web-researched

findstr — Search Text in Files

Search for string patterns inside files or piped input on Windows — the built-in grep equivalent for cmd.exe, with support for regular expressions, case-insensitive matching, and recursive directory searches.

May 26, 2026
findstr windows cli scripting regex web-researched

fc — File Compare

Compare two text or binary files line-by-line or byte-by-byte and report their differences — the built-in Windows equivalent of Unix diff for quick file audits in cmd.exe.

May 26, 2026
fc windows cli scripting comparison web-researched

cls — Clear Console Screen

Clear all text from the cmd.exe or PowerShell console window and reset the cursor to the top-left — the single command for resetting a terminal session's visible output.

May 26, 2026
cls windows cli scripting batch web-researched

copy — Copy Files

Copy one or more files to a new location in the Windows command prompt. Covers single-file copy, wildcard batches, file concatenation, and binary vs ASCII modes.

May 26, 2026
copy windows cli filesystem scripting web-researched

xcopy — Extended Copy

Copy files and directory trees with attribute preservation, date filtering, exclusion lists, and verification. The step between copy and robocopy for most scripting needs.

May 26, 2026
xcopy windows cli filesystem scripting backup web-researched

robocopy — Robust File Copy

Production-grade file and directory synchronisation with mirroring, multi-threading, retry logic, logging, and exclusion filters. The go-to for backup scripts and deployment pipelines on Windows.

May 26, 2026
robocopy windows cli filesystem scripting backup sync web-researched

del — Delete Files

Delete one or more files from the Windows command prompt. Covers wildcards, quiet mode, attribute overrides, recursive deletion patterns, and the distinction from rmdir.

May 26, 2026
del windows cli filesystem scripting web-researched

rmdir / rd — Remove Directory

Delete empty or entire directory trees from the Windows command prompt. Covers the /S and /Q flags, force-removing read-only trees, and safe deletion patterns.

May 26, 2026
rmdir windows cli filesystem scripting web-researched

mkdir / md — Make Directory

Create one or more directories from the Windows command prompt. Covers single and nested directory creation, batch patterns, and common scripting idioms.

May 26, 2026
mkdir windows cli filesystem scripting web-researched

move — Move and Rename Files

Move files to a new location or rename them within the Windows command prompt. Covers single files, wildcards, directory renames, overwrite control, and cross-drive behaviour.

May 26, 2026
move windows cli filesystem scripting web-researched

ipconfig — IP Configuration

Display and manage TCP/IP network configuration for all adapters on a Windows machine — covers full adapter details, DNS cache operations, and DHCP lease management.

May 26, 2026
ipconfig windows cli networking scripting web-researched

ping — Test Network Connectivity

Send ICMP echo requests to a host to test reachability, measure round-trip latency, and detect packet loss from the Windows command prompt.

May 26, 2026
ping windows cli networking scripting web-researched

tracert — Trace Network Route

Trace the sequence of routers between your machine and a destination by sending probes with increasing TTL values — the go-to tool for locating where a network path breaks or introduces high latency.

May 26, 2026
tracert windows cli networking scripting icmp reference web-researched

netstat — Network Connections and Statistics

Display active TCP/UDP connections, listening ports, routing tables, interface statistics, and per-connection process IDs from the Windows command prompt.

May 26, 2026
netstat windows cli networking scripting web-researched

nslookup — DNS Query Tool

Query DNS servers for A, AAAA, MX, TXT, NS, PTR, and other resource records from the Windows command prompt — the built-in tool for diagnosing name resolution issues.

May 26, 2026
nslookup windows cli networking dns web-researched

Chocolatey — Windows Package Manager

Install, upgrade, pin, and script software installs on Windows with the choco CLI, packages.config files, and custom sources.

May 26, 2026
chocolatey choco package-manager install cli windows web-researched

PowerShell Built-in Variables — Automatic & Preference Variables

Complete reference for every automatic and preference variable built into PowerShell — $_, $Error, $MyInvocation, $PSCmdlet, $Host, $PSVersionTable, $ExecutionContext, and all preference variables that tune runtime behaviour.

May 26, 2026
powershell variables reference scripting web-researched

PowerShell Error Handling — try/catch, ErrorAction, and Strict Mode

Master terminating vs non-terminating errors, $ErrorActionPreference, try/catch/finally, throw vs Write-Error, transcripts, and strict mode.

May 26, 2026
powershell scripting errors debugging web-researched

PowerShell Modules — Packages, Profiles, and the Gallery

Install, discover, update, and author PowerShell modules: PowerShellGet, PSResourceGet, the Gallery, $PSModulePath, $PROFILE customisation, PSReadLine, SecretManagement, and the must-have module shortlist.

May 26, 2026
powershell modules ecosystem web-researched

PowerShell Pipelines — Objects, Not Text

Deep dive on PowerShell's object pipeline: Where-Object, Select-Object, ForEach-Object, Sort-Object, Group-Object, Measure-Object, Compare-Object, Out-GridView, parallel execution, and the two filter forms.

May 26, 2026
powershell scripting pipelines web-researched

PowerShell Remoting — Running Commands on Other Machines

Execute PowerShell against one or many remote hosts using WinRM or SSH transport, persistent sessions, credential management, and JEA.

May 26, 2026
powershell networking remoting sysadmin scripting web-researched

PowerShell Scripting — Functions, Parameters, and Control Flow

Author production-grade PowerShell: advanced functions with [CmdletBinding()], parameter validation, pipeline-bound parameters, splatting, switch parameters, .ps1 vs .psm1, and all the control-flow constructs.

May 26, 2026
powershell scripting web-researched

Scoop — User-Scope Package Manager

Install dev tools without admin rights using Scoop — buckets, manifests, multi-version installs, and reproducible setups.

May 26, 2026
scoop package-manager dev-tools cli windows web-researched

tasklist — List Running Processes

Display all running processes on a local or remote Windows machine with PID, memory usage, session, and optional service or module details — the cmd.exe equivalent of Task Manager for scripts.

May 26, 2026
tasklist windows cli scripting sysadmin web-researched

Windows Terminal — Profiles, Keybindings, Schemes

Configure Windows Terminal — settings.json structure, profiles for pwsh/cmd/wsl/ssh, keybindings, colour schemes, panes, and the wt.exe CLI.

May 26, 2026
terminal productivity customization windows cli web-researched

winget Package Manager

Installing, upgrading, and managing packages with Windows Package Manager.

May 26, 2026
winget windows packages cli web-researched

wsl — Managing Linux Distros from the wsl.exe CLI

Install, list, export, import, configure, and clone WSL distributions using the wsl.exe command on Windows 10 and 11.

May 26, 2026
wsl linux virtualization cli sysadmin web-researched

taskkill — Terminate Processes

End one or more running Windows processes by PID or image name from the command prompt, with options for force termination, process tree killing, filtering, and remote targets.

May 26, 2026
taskkill windows cli scripting sysadmin web-researched

WSL Interoperability

Running Linux tools from Windows and vice versa, file system access, and networking between WSL and Windows.

May 26, 2026
wsl linux windows interop networking sysadmin reference web-researched

wmic — Windows Management Instrumentation CLI

Query and manage Windows system information — hardware, software, processes, services, and more — from the command prompt using WMI classes and WMIC's SQL-like syntax.

May 26, 2026
wmic windows cli scripting sysadmin web-researched

diskpart — Disk Partition Manager

Create, delete, format, extend, shrink, and assign drive letters to disk partitions from the Windows command prompt using an interactive or scripted REPL interface.

May 26, 2026
diskpart windows cli scripting sysadmin web-researched

schtasks — Task Scheduler CLI

Create, query, run, end, and delete scheduled tasks on local or remote Windows machines from the command prompt — the scripting interface to Windows Task Scheduler.

May 26, 2026
schtasks windows cli scripting sysadmin web-researched

driverquery — List Installed Drivers

Display all installed device drivers on a local or remote Windows machine — module name, type, link date, and driver file path — for hardware audits and troubleshooting.

May 26, 2026
driverquery windows cli scripting sysadmin web-researched

powercfg — Power Configuration CLI

Manage Windows power plans, enable or disable hibernation, diagnose battery health and sleep failures, and generate energy efficiency reports from the command prompt.

May 26, 2026
powercfg windows cli scripting sysadmin web-researched

bcdedit — Boot Configuration Data Editor

View and modify the Windows Boot Configuration Data store — manage boot entries, set default OS, change timeouts, enable debugging, and configure boot options from an elevated command prompt.

May 26, 2026
bcdedit windows cli scripting sysadmin web-researched

chkdsk — Check Disk

Scan a FAT or NTFS volume for file system errors and bad sectors, optionally repairing them — the built-in Windows disk health and integrity tool for drives and volumes.

May 26, 2026
chkdsk windows cli scripting sysadmin web-researched

dism — Deployment Image Servicing and Management

Service Windows images and the running OS — enable/disable optional features, repair the component store, mount and edit WIM/ESD images, add drivers, and manage editions from an elevated command prompt.

May 26, 2026
dism windows cli sysadmin imaging components web-researched

Sysinternals — PsExec, Handle, ProcMon and the Sysadmin Toolkit

Bootstrap and drive the headless Sysinternals utilities — PsExec, Handle, PsList, Autoruns, ProcMon, ListDLLs — for process spelunking, file-lock hunting, autostart auditing and scripted system tracing on Windows.

May 26, 2026
sysinternals debugging sysadmin tools cli scripting web-researched

fsutil — File System Utility

Inspect and manage NTFS file system internals — query volume info, manage hard links, sparse files, reparse points, the USN journal, and the dirty bit — from an elevated command prompt.

May 26, 2026
fsutil windows cli scripting sysadmin web-researched

reg — Windows Registry from the Command Line

Query, add, modify, export, and import Windows registry keys and values with the built-in reg.exe — the scriptable, no-dependency tool for everything from one-off tweaks to full backup-and-restore.

May 26, 2026
reg registry cli scripting sysadmin web-researched

tzutil & w32tm — Timezone and Windows Time

Read and set the system timezone with tzutil, then query, configure, and force-sync the Windows Time service with w32tm — including NTP peer configuration and Kerberos-clock-drift recovery.

May 26, 2026
tzutil w32tm windows cli sysadmin time ntp sync kerberos reference web-researched

attrib — File Attribute Manager

View and modify Windows file attributes (hidden, read-only, system, archive) from the command line. Covers all attribute flags, recursive operations, and practical recipes for unhiding malware-hidden files and managing backups.

May 26, 2026
attrib windows cli filesystem scripting web-researched

certutil — Certificates, Hashing and Encoding

The dual-purpose Windows CLI for certificate-store management and as the most reliable built-in tool for file hashing, base64 encoding, and CRL/CTL handling — no install required.

May 26, 2026
certutil certificates security hashing encoding cli web-researched

defrag — Disk Defragmenter CLI

Analyze, defragment, and optimize volumes from the command line — consolidate free space on HDDs, issue TRIM on SSDs, and schedule or review optimization tasks.

May 26, 2026
defrag windows cli scripting sysadmin web-researched

gpresult & gpupdate — Group Policy Diagnostics and Refresh

Inspect the Resultant Set of Policy that applied to a user and computer with gpresult, then force a refresh with gpupdate — including HTML reports, scope filtering, and the classic 'why didn't my GPO take effect?' workflow.

May 26, 2026
gpresult gpupdate windows cli sysadmin group-policy security web-researched

mountvol — Volume Mount Point Manager

List, create, and remove NTFS volume mount points and display the unique volume GUID path for any drive letter or directory junction from the command prompt.

May 26, 2026
mountvol windows cli scripting sysadmin web-researched

net user — Local User Account Manager

Create, modify, delete, and list local Windows user accounts from the command prompt — set passwords, manage account expiry, lock/unlock accounts, and control logon hours.

May 26, 2026
net-user windows cli scripting sysadmin web-researched

net localgroup — Local Group Manager

Create, delete, and modify local security groups on a Windows machine — add or remove members, list group memberships, and manage built-in groups from the command prompt.

May 26, 2026
net-localgroup windows cli scripting sysadmin web-researched

icacls — ACL Editor

Display and modify NTFS access control lists on files and directories — grant, deny, or remove permissions for users and groups, manage inheritance, and save or restore full ACL sets.

May 26, 2026
icacls windows cli scripting sysadmin web-researched

takeown — Take File Ownership

Transfer ownership of files and directories to the current user or the Administrators group from an elevated command prompt — a prerequisite for modifying ACLs on system-protected paths.

May 26, 2026
takeown windows cli scripting sysadmin ntfs acl permissions ownership security reference web-researched

runas — Run as Different User

Launch a program in the security context of a different user account — elevate to Administrator, switch to a service account, or test application behaviour under a restricted identity.

May 26, 2026
runas windows cli scripting sysadmin security web-researched

netsh — Network Shell

Configure network interfaces, firewall rules, wireless profiles, port proxies, and Winsock settings from an elevated command prompt — the comprehensive Windows network configuration CLI.

May 26, 2026
netsh windows cli scripting sysadmin web-researched

arp — ARP Cache Viewer and Editor

Display, add, and delete entries in the Windows ARP (Address Resolution Protocol) cache — map IP addresses to MAC addresses, detect IP conflicts, and diagnose Layer 2 connectivity issues.

May 26, 2026
arp windows cli scripting sysadmin web-researched

systeminfo — System Information

Display detailed OS, hardware, and network configuration for the local or a remote Windows machine. Covers output formats, remote querying, filtering, and parsing in scripts.

May 26, 2026
systeminfo windows cli sysadmin scripting hardware inventory reference web-researched

route — IP Routing Table Manager

Display, add, delete, and modify entries in the Windows IP routing table — control how packets are forwarded between subnets, add persistent static routes, and diagnose routing failures.

May 26, 2026
route windows cli scripting sysadmin networking web-researched

pathping — Combined Traceroute and Ping

Trace the route to a destination and measure per-hop packet loss and latency over a sustained sampling period — more diagnostic than tracert and more thorough than ping for identifying intermittent network problems.

May 26, 2026
pathping windows cli scripting sysadmin web-researched

getmac — MAC Address Query

Display the MAC (hardware) addresses and associated transport names for all network adapters on a local or remote Windows machine — useful for asset inventory, DHCP reservation setup, and network access control.

May 26, 2026
getmac windows cli scripting sysadmin web-researched

sc — Service Control Manager CLI

Query, create, configure, start, stop, and delete Windows services from the command line — the scripting interface to the Service Control Manager, equivalent to the Services MMC snap-in but fully automatable.

May 26, 2026
sc windows cli scripting sysadmin web-researched

wevtutil — Windows Event Log Manager

Query, export, clear, and manage Windows Event Log channels from the command line — the primary CLI for event log automation, log archiving, and scripted log analysis on Windows.

May 26, 2026
wevtutil windows cli scripting sysadmin event-log security reference web-researched

logman — Performance Monitor CLI

Create, start, stop, and manage Data Collector Sets for performance counters, event traces, and configuration data — the command-line interface to Windows Performance Monitor for scripted monitoring and automated log collection.

May 26, 2026
logman windows cli scripting sysadmin web-researched

timeout — Pause Script Execution

Pause a batch script for a specified number of seconds with an optional keypress bypass — a reliable replacement for the ping-delay idiom and a safer alternative to sleep in Windows CMD scripts.

May 26, 2026
timeout windows cli scripting sysadmin reference web-researched

shutdown — Shutdown, Restart, and Logoff

Initiate, schedule, abort, or force a shutdown, restart, logoff, hibernate, or sleep on a local or remote Windows machine from the command line — essential for scripted maintenance, patch automation, and remote administration.

May 26, 2026
shutdown windows cli scripting sysadmin web-researched

ssh — Secure Shell Client for Windows

Connect to remote hosts, transfer files, and forward ports over an encrypted channel using the OpenSSH client built into Windows 10 and later.

May 26, 2026
ssh windows cli networking security scripting web-researched

beets Music Organizer

Importing, tagging, querying, and organizing a music library with beets — config, plugins, queries, and common workflows on Windows.

May 26, 2026
beets windows music audio tagging library cli python web-researched

PowerShell Essentials

Variables, operators, pipelines, Where-Object, ForEach-Object, Select-Object, sorting, grouping, remoting, jobs, CIM, registry, JSON, error handling, and common cmdlets.

May 26, 2026
powershell windows scripting cli web-researched

yt-dlp

Downloading video and audio from YouTube and hundreds of other sites with yt-dlp — formats, playlists, subtitles, post-processing, and config.

May 26, 2026
yt-dlp windows video audio cli ffmpeg download web-researched