Windows comes with such an amazing and attractive interface and the OS is very simple to use, click and you can get any function done on your Windows PC. But to get some few works done on your Windows OS you will need to know some of the Command Prompt tricks. Many of you might not be familiar with using Command Prompt or CMD on your Windows PC. So for those who are not familiar with CMD they might feel like they have come to the world of black and white. But learning some of the SMD tricks can literally make you do fewer clicks in doing work. There are lots of CMD tricks that you can learn for your Windows OS, here in this article you will know about the best Command Prompt tricks that you can use most of the time.
Here we have made a list of Command Prompt tricks and tips that may help you with your work on everyday basis. The tricks that we are going to list down here are very simple, so even though you have just begun with the CMD you will not be confused with what is happening or not. So let’s have a look with the best Command Prompt tricks to use on your PC.
Best And Most Used CMD Command Prompt Command Tricks:
1: Using of Function Keys:
Yes, finally you can use the function keys of your keyboard on the CMD and be a pro is using those. There are lot to learn about the function keys, so let’s have a look how they function when it is pressed in the cmd window.
F1: This key function as a memory buffer it copies and pastes the command that is used at the end of per character in the column.
F2: It actually searches for the template of the command that you press after pressing F2 key. After searching the template, it inserts the text but it will not include the character that you have pressed after F2.
F3: With simple words this command key pastes the last used command.
F4: It deletes the character from the current inserted point position. Simply press F4 and then insert the letter that you wanted to delete from the inserted position.
F5: This function key pastes the command without cycling.
F6: It does nothing but paste CTRL + Z in the command at the current insert point.
F7: It will provide you the list of used commands so that you can select any of the command that you want to use again.
F8: Pastes all the cyclable commands in the insert point
F9: After using the F7 function key you can use the F9 to paste the recent used command in the current insert point.
ALT + F10: Pressing these key will deletes all of the macro definitions from the command prompt window.
2: Copy Data From The cmd:
Copying any text from the command prompt you cannot just use the CTRL + C key. But it is not that hard too, simply right click anywhere in the cmd window and click on the MARK option. After that simply select the text that you wanted to copy, then simply select the ENTER button to get the text copied from the place.
But if you are using Windows 10 then you don’t need to follow the above given steps, simply use the normal copy paste key that you use for copy pasting normal folder. As Windows have updated some of the functions in the Command Prompt. But if you are using older version then you will need to follow the above given tricks.
3: Run Multiple Commands Same Time:
You can also run multiple commands at ones to use different command in the same line. You can easily do that by using “&&” in between both the commands. Inserting this text will create like a border in between two commands even though if they are in the same line. For example if you are inserting ipconfig && dir that means you will run both ipconfig and paint in the same time.
4: Tips For Command History:
In the cmd window you can also check command history and it is very useful in most of the cases. You can use this trick when you want to use the past used command, but you have totally forgot what was that. So in order to get the command history you need to simply press dockey/history in the command prompt window. As you as you enter this command you will be shown all the command that you have used in the past 1-2 days.
5: Stop a Command Halfway:
Many a time while working in the command prompt window you will may be by mistake click on the enter button and run some unwanted command that can destroy your hard work. But now if you want to pause any command that is already half way run you can do it by simply entering CTRL + C command in the cmd window. So in this way you can even stop the command that is running, but most of the time if you are running a small command it will not work, as the command runs very quickly at a snap of fingers.
6: CMD Colourful:
For those who have been thinking that Command Prompt is black and white, now you turn the CMD window to colourful using the cmd tricks. You can also use this trick to your friends PC and be a pro of Command Prompt. To change the color of the Command Prompt window right click on the top corner of the window and select the Properties option. Now find out the color option and search for the color option to change the background and text color of the CMD window.
7: See All The Driver List:
Using Command Prompt you can also see all the drivers list of your PC that is installed. To see the driver simply run the “driverquery” command and you will be able to see the list of drivers that is installed on your PC with their name, their type, and other important information.
8: Cycle Through The Folders:
Most of the time it is difficult to find out the required file or folder as you don’t remember as to which directory the file is stored and through which folder you should go. But with Command prompt tricks you can simply run a command and you can reach your desired file or folder cycling through the other folders. Just the thing you should remember is, in which drive is the folder stored. If you remember the drive then you can cycle through all the folders from a particular drive using the TAB button of your keyboard. Isn’t this trick interesting, as it has made your work lot easier.
9: Quick Edit:
Cmd also comes handy with all the extra features that you need to know. There is a Quick Edit mode in the CMD window, if you enable the features, you will be able to copy past any text easily on the go. In the Quick edit mode you simply need to right lick on the text to copy and right click on the empty space to paste any text from the clipboard. SO to enable this feature right click on top right corner of the command prompt window near by the close, minimize button and select the “Properties” option from the menu. From then you have to tick the “Quick edit mode” to enable the feature in your cmd window. Once you are done, you can make use of the simple copy paste feature.
10: Create Hotspot From CMD Window:
Yes, you have read it right you can even turn ON or create Hotspot from your Command Prompt window. To do this first of all, you will need to execute some of the command in the Control Panel. Go to the Control Panel and then go to the Change Adapter setting which is inside the Network and sharing option. Now enter the network you are connected with and go to the properties and enable the option “Allow other network users to connect through this Computer’s Internet connection”. After doing all this open the Command prompt Window and then run the following command one after the other.
netsh wlan set hostednetwork mode=allow ssid=Youthotspotname key=yourpassword
After the above command has ran properly, enter this command below to start the WiFi hotspot.
netsh wlan start hostednetwork
After everything is done to stop all the command, simply enter this command given below.
netsh wlan stop hostednetwork“.
So this is all the way by following which you can create Wi-Fi hotspot using the Command Prompt Window on the go. The steps are very simple, you need to simply run 2-3 commands and get the Hotspot ON.
11: Send Output From CMD To Clipboard:
Not all the time, but sometime saving the result of the command that you have run recently is very necessary. Most of the people uses the old trick to save the command result that is the copy and paste. But with this trick you can simply save the result of any command in your clipboard by simply running a command. Simply run “ipconfig | clip” command to get the result copy saved in the clipboard.
12: Scan Files To Find out The Problem:
Now following this trick you can scan all your system files from the Command Prompt and fix the issues if find any. Use the “sfc /scannow” command to san files from your system. This command actually runs a Scan Windows system that scans all the file and if any issues are found in the files like corrupted etc. then the Scan system will automatically fix the issues of the file.
13: Recheck Default Programs of The System:
Using the “assoc” command in the cmd window you will be able to check all the default program of your system. After running the command, you will be able to see all the extensions and programs that open the extensions. So this is the way you can check all the default programs of your entire system.
14: Check IP Address of Any Website:
You can check any IP address of any website, by simply running a command in the cmd window. Running a simple “nslookup” command with the website name will show you the IP address of the website. Example you have to type “nslookup website name” and press ENTER button to get the IP address.
15: Get Help on All Command:
This trick is for beginners, but professional also do use this trick often as it is hard to keep in mind all the functions of each and every command. To get help from any command simply enter “/?” at the end of every command for which you want help, like you can enter “ipconfig/?” to get all the detailed information of the command ipconfig. You will get all detailed information of the command like when is it used, how it works and what are the process that is used to use this command. So this way you can proceed your work in CMD if you are stuck.
16: Check Your Network Details:
Now check your connected network details, like the IP address, gateway etc. by simply running a single command on your system. So simply run the “ipconfig” command and then you will be able to see all the details of the network where you are connected like the network name, IP address, local IP address of the provider, subnet mask, gateway.
17: Create Undeletable Folders:
You can easily create undeletable folders from the Command prompt using some command. In the CMD window you will need to type the name of the drive where you want to create undeletable folder. But you have to make sure that you only chose the drive where there is no Windows file. After doing that enter the “md con\” or “md lpt1” command. Any of the command will search for the “D: md com\”. After doing all this it will automatically create a folder on the drive that you have selected. The folder created is not able to rename and also will not be able to delete. So to delete the undeleteable folder enter the “rd con\” or “rd lpt\” in the command prompt window.
18: Compare Between 2 Files on Your System:
Yes, you can also compare two file in the command prompt, the result is not accurate if you compare with the other tool that compare two files. But overall the experience of comparing files in cmd is excellent and fun to try out. Simply enter “FC” command in the cmd window and also you must make sure that both the files are in .txt format. Example you will need to enter the command in the following way “fc C:\forever\sample1.txtC:\forever\sample2.txt” and then press the ENTER button and it will show you all the difference between both the files.
Here in the above example the C:\ happens to be the drive from where I want to compare 2 files. And the Sample.txt is the files in .txt format which I am going to compare. Now if you are having different content in both the files then you will get result showing all the difference. But if you are having same content in both of the files then you will get a result saying that “no difference encountered”. So this is all the way by following which you can compare 2 files using Command Prompt.
19: Hide Your Important Files or Folders:
Hide your important files or folders on your PC using command prompt so that any guest user will not be able to open the folder by standard Windows unhide method. So to hide any file or folder using the command prompt you will need to use the command “Attrib +h +s +r” and then enter the file or folder name that you wanted to hide. For example it will be like “D: Attrib +h +s +r forever”
In the example “Forever” is the file name which I wanted to hide, “D:” is the drive where the file is located. After doing this, if you are to unhide the file or folder again then you will need to use the same command with a tweak like “Attrib -h -s -r” and the format of the command will be the same first the drive, then the command and then the file or folder name.
20: Entertainment With Command Prompt:
This trick is till now one of the best trick you can ever try out with Command Prompt, as you can even watch your favorite Star Wars movie using CMD. Yes, you have heard it right you can watch movies Star Wars, but it will be an ASCII version so you can’t literally expect HD quality movie in CMD.
Now to entertain yourself with CMD simply enter the given command “telnettowel.blinkenlights.nl”. As soon as you enter the command the movie will start, but if you don’t have “telnet” on your system then you will receive a notification to install Telnet on your system. If your system is ready then you will be able to watch the movie on the go.
21: Windows 10 New Tricks Form Command Prompt:
There are lots and lots of new tricks that every Windows 10 users should know, here we have put the list of the new tricks of Windows 10 CMD:
- Use this shortcut to mark text or lines with mouse itself: Ctrl + M
- Copy and paste text from command prompt to clipboard: Ctrl + C or Ctrl + Insert
- Paste copied text in the command prompt window: Ctrl + V or Shift + Insert
- (In Mark Mode) Move cursor up, down, left, or right: Up/Down/Left/Right
- Moving the cmd screen one line up or down: Ctrl + Up/Down
- Move your cursor left or right one character and select text: Shift + Left/Right
- Find a letter or word inside the command prompt window using: Ctrl + F
- Shortcut for moving screen one page up or down: Ctrl + Page Up/Page Down
- Select all text in the current line (if there’s no text in the current line, all text in the Command Prompt will be selected): Ctrl + A
- Move your cursor up or down one line and select text: Shift + Up/Down
- Move your cursor to select one ward in the CMD: Ctrl + Shift + Left/Right
- Move cursor up or down screen and select text: Shift + Page Up/Page Down
- Move cursor to the beginning or end of current line if you want to select the text of current line using this shortcut: Shift + Home/End
- Close the Command Prompt using the shortcut: Alt + F4
So these are all the Windows 10 command prompt shortcuts that you shall know before running any command in the cmd. Some of this shortcuts are even can be used in other Windows older version, which means it is the same in the latest version. So use these shortcuts while working in CMD window. These shortcuts will really shorten your work time and make your work easy.
These are all the tricks of the Command Prompt that you must know. Even though if you are a beginner in working with command prompt, but you will feel easy to adopt these tricks, as they are all simple. The only thing is that you will need to run some few commands in order to get your things done. The best part about these tricks is that, in every tricks you only need one single command to run. But even then it is for sure that you will not be able to remember all the commands that we have shared here. So it is better you bookmark the article so that you can open and check whenever you want.