Top 10 Windows Command Prompt Commands

Microsoft developed Windows interface from the command line based disk operating system (DOS). But still you can use the command prompt as a command line utility in Windows. These commands are really helpful to perform daily operations. In this article, let us show you top 10 command prompt commands which can make your Windows experience much better. In Windows 10, Microsoft will show you Windows PowerShell option instead of Command Prompt and you will have Windows Terminal app in Windows 11. You can perform all the below commands both from Windows PowerShell and Command Prompt.

Top 10 Windows Command Prompt Commands

Given below is the list of 10 popular command prompt commands. They are not case sensitive, so you can use capital or small letters when typing them.

1. ipconfig

One of the popular commands in CMD (Command prompt) in your PC. Ipconfig allows you to check the IP address configuration of your PC. You can also modify the computer’s IP address with this command.

• Go to the ‘Start’ and type ‘CMD’ and hit the ‘Enter’ key from the keyboard.
• To view the full IP configuration of your system, use ‘ipconfig /all’ command.

• If the system has its IP address from a DHCP server then to release the IP address, use ‘ipconfig /release’ command.
• Similarly, use the ‘ipconfig /renew’ command to renew the IP address.
• To flush the DNS server, use the ‘ipconfig /flushdns’. it is very useful when a system has incorrect DNS addresses.

2. System File Checker

This command is sometimes a lifesaver. Sometimes, a malicious software replaces or damage the core files of the system. This command helps to make sure that everything is fine on your system. If you feel system files are corrupted on your PC then run this command from the command prompt.

• Open the ‘Command Prompt’ as an administrator. Go to the ‘Start’ menu and type CMD then right-click on it and choose the option ‘Run as administrator‘.
• Type the command ‘sfc /scannow’ and hit the ‘Enter’ key.

3. Driver Query

To know more about your drivers installed in the system, there is a specific driver query for it. You can actually get a list of all the drivers currently running on your PC. To do this:

• In the ‘Command Prompt‘, type ‘driverquery’ and hit the ‘Enter’ key.
• You’ll be able to see the name of the module, its driver type, the date and time.

4. Ping and Pathping

This command is one of the simplest command ever. It is used to check the connectivity of the host with our PC. This command uses an IP address of the host to get in action.

• In your Command Prompt, type ‘ping 192.168.0.189’ and hit the ‘Enter’ key.
• IP address here should be of the PC to which you want to check the connectivity.
• After completion, it will show you the stats for that IP address like packets sent and received.

In case, if the ping command fails, there is always a second option with ‘pathping’. If the PCs are connected with more than one routers then use this command. It will send packets to each router that is in the way of the IP address you are pinging and compute the stats. To use this command:

• Type ‘pathping 192.168.0.189’ in your CMD and hit the ‘Enter’ key.
• It will take some time to compute the stats and show the name of the host.

5. Tasklist and Taskkill

This command tells you the tasks which are currently running on your system. It provides you with a list of tasks by typing the following command:

• Type ‘tasklist’ in your CMD and press the ‘Enter’ key.
• To display all the DLL modules regarding the task running, use the ‘tasklist -m’ command.

• To view the services that support the running task, type ‘tasklist -svc’ command.

If you want to terminate the currently running task then use the ‘taskkill’ command to end it. The name of the command says all of it. To end a specific task, you have to enter its PID (Process ID) or IM (Image name).

• In your CMD, type ‘taskkill -pid 1808’ and hit the ‘Enter’ key.
• Similarly, use the image name, ‘taskkill – im svchost.exe’ to end that task.

6. nslookup

This command is used to check the nameserver of the given host. All you need is the hostname, which is referred as website name or domain name.

• In the CMD, type ‘nslookup webnots.com’.
• Hit the ‘Enter’ key.

7. Signature Verification

Most of the software is digitally signed for the Windows 10. But still many out there are not. File signature verification is a tool which can be launch via command line interface but it will use to GUI interface.

• Type ‘sigverif’ and press the ‘Enter’ key.
• A prompt will open up and you can ‘Start’ it to check the verification of the system files.

8. Command History

To track the command history in your command prompt, use this command. This command basically shows you the complete history of the commands used in CMD in the current session.

• Simply, type the ‘doskey /history’ and press the ‘Enter’.
• It brings you a list of all the commands right there.

9. netstat

This command is useful when you want to know the active connections and their ports with your PC.

• Type ‘netstat’ and hit the ‘Enter’ key.
• A list of active connections with a local address and their ports will appear right there.

10. cipher

To permanently delete/overwrite a directory, use the cipher command in command prompt. This is mostly used for the encryption purposes but it can be used to free up space on the hard drive. Please note that if you use this command, no data from the drive can be recovered again. To use this command:

• Type ‘cipher /w:D:\’ and hit the ‘Enter’ key.
• There is no space between the drive (/w:) and (D:\) and be careful while using this command.