Batch file commands at a glance

Batch files are files processed in batches, allowing Windows users to automate system and programme processes. To this end, these files receive commands, also called batch commands, which are run through the command line or by prompt. There are hundreds of batch commands, which can automate everything from printer queues to complex tasks.

What batch commands are there?

Hundreds of batch file commands exist, however not all of them work on every operating system. Some batch commands are outdated or only work on operating systems that are hardly used or not used at all nowadays. The following list of batch commands introduces the most important commands that work on modern computers and systems. It provides an insight into the world of possibilities with batch file commands.

Tip

You can find detailed information about how to create and execute your own batch files in our separate article on this topic.

Batch command Result Versions of Windows
assoc Shows or changes the file extension (e.g. .txt or .jpg) XP Vista 7, 8, 10
at Starts a command or programme at a specific time; then entered into “Planned tasks” XP Vista 7
attrib Displays or changes file attributes (e.g. file size, modification date, storage location) XP Vista 7, 8, 10
cacls Displays or changes ACLs (access permissions) for files XP Vista 7, 8, 10
call Retrieves a batch file inside another XP Vista 7, 8, 10
cd Switches to another directory or another folder XP Vista 7, 8, 10
chcp Displays or changes the current code page, character table or character map XP Vista 7, 8, 10
chdir Changes the directory or the display of its name XP Vista 7, 8, 10
chkdsk Checks the data carrier for errors XP Vista 7, 8, 10
chkntfs Displays or changes the data carrier check at system start-up XP Vista 7, 8, 10
choice Makes yes/no queries or A/B/C/D selection dialogues possible, including return value     7, 8, 10
cipher Makes it possible to encode directories (in NTFS-type partitions) or to display the underlying encoding XP Vista 7, 8, 10
cls Deletes all screen content XP Vista 7, 8, 10
cmd Starts the prompt XP Vista 7, 8, 10
cmstp Makes it possible to install profiles in the connection manager XP Vista 7, 8, 10
color Changes the background colour of the current panel XP Vista 7, 8, 10
comp Compares the contents of two or more files XP Vista 7, 8, 10
compact Displays or changes the compression of files in NTFS-type partitions XP Vista 7, 8, 10
convert Converts FAT drives to NTFS XP Vista 7, 8, 10
copy Makes it possible to copy files XP Vista 7, 8, 10
cscript Starts the interpreter for VBScript/JScript XP Vista 7, 8, 10
date Displays and adapts the system date/time XP Vista 7, 8, 10
defrag Makes it possible to defragment drives XP Vista 7, 8, 10
del Deletes individual files XP Vista 7, 8, 10
dir Displays all content of the directory XP Vista 7, 8, 10
diskcomp Compares the content of two different disks XP Vista 7, 8, 10
diskpart Makes it possible to administer data carriers directly within the panel XP Vista 7, 8, 10
dism With DISM, features and packages of Windows images can be listed, installed, uninstalled, configured or updated     7, 8, 10
doskey Creates macros, recalls commands entered previously, and edits the command input XP Vista 7, 8, 10
driverquery Displays the driver for devices installed on the computer XP Vista 7, 8, 10
echo Displays notifications inside the panel, as well as turning the command display on and off XP Vista 7, 8, 10
endlocal Ends a session that was started with setlocal XP Vista 7, 8, 10
erase Deletes one or more files XP Vista 7, 8, 10
errorlevel Displays whether a command was successful or not (0 means yes, 1 means no) XP Vista 7, 8, 10
eventcreate Enters into the event log XP Vista 7, 8, 10
eventquery Lists events or their properties; this is run with the help of cscript XP    
eventtriggers Displays or configures event triggers in the event log XP    
exist Checks whether a file exists XP Vista 7, 8, 10
exit Closes a batch file or the prompt XP Vista 7, 8, 10
expand Unpacks compressed files or folders XP Vista 7, 8, 10
fc Compares different data and displays the differences XP Vista 7, 8, 10
find Searches for one or several files by entering characters XP Vista 7, 8, 10
findstr Searches for strings within a file, e.g. in the file name or a text XP Vista 7, 8, 10
for Creates a for() loop that retrieves commands as often as specified inside the brackets XP Vista 7, 8, 10
format Makes it possible to format a data carrier XP Vista 7, 8, 10
fsutil Displays and configures the properties of a file system XP Vista 7, 8, 10
ftp Makes it possible to upload and download files via FTP (File Transfer Protocol), e.g. onto a server XP Vista 7, 8, 10
ftype Displays file types and what their assignment is XP Vista 7, 8, 10
getmac Displays the MAC addresses (identifier of a device) for network adapters (local or remote) XP Vista 7, 8, 10
goto Makes it possible to jump to a specific point within a batch file XP Vista 7, 8, 10
gpresult Displays group guidelines that are used on the computer or for a specific user XP Vista 7, 8, 10
gpupdate Makes it possible to update group guidelines XP Vista 7, 8, 10
graftabl Displays special characters in the graphics mode XP Vista 7, 8, 10
help Displays all cmd commands inside the panel XP Vista 7, 8, 10
hostname Displays the computer name XP Vista 7, 8, 10
icacls Makes it possible to display, change, secure or retrieve ACLs and the access control for files and directories     7, 8, 10
if Makes it possible to integrate conditions inside batch files, similarly to with JavaScript, for example XP Vista 7, 8, 10
ipconfig Configures IP network settings XP Vista 7, 8, 10
irftp Sends a file on an infrared interface XP Vista 7, 8, 10
label Changes the designation of a data carrier XP Vista 7, 8, 10
logman Administers the service “Performance logs and alerts” XP Vista 7, 8, 10
lpr Makes it possible to send a print job to a printer in the network XP    
mkdir Creates a directory XP Vista 7, 8, 10
mmc Retrieves the management panel XP Vista 7, 8, 10
mode Configures system interfaces and devices XP Vista 7, 8, 10
more Displays data page-by-page on the screen XP Vista 7, 8, 10
mountvol Creates, deletes or lists a mount point for a data carrier XP Vista 7, 8, 10
move Renames or moves files or directories XP Vista 7, 8, 10
openfiles Makes it possible to display or separate files or directories that have been opened     7, 8, 10
msiexec Installs .msi packages (MSI files are also called Windows Installer package files) XP Vista 7, 8, 10
net Administers and displays network services XP Vista 7, 8, 10
netsh Manage and configure components of the network using the prompt XP Vista 7, 8, 10
netstat Display TCP-IP connections and their status XP Vista 7, 8, 10
nslookup Queries the DNS server XP    
ntbackup Starts NTBackup via CommandLine / starts Silent XP    
path Displays or establishes the search path for the programme selected XP Vista 7, 8, 10
pathping Tests the connection to a selected IP address XP Vista 7, 8, 10
pause The batch file currently being run is stopped and the panel provides the message “Press any key” XP Vista 7, 8, 10
perfmon Starts the performance monitor for Windows XP Vista 7, 8, 10
ping The connection to another device is tested with this XP Vista 7, 8, 10
print Prints out a text-based file XP Vista 7, 8, 10
prncnfg After starting cscript, configuration information for a printer can be displayed or changed XP    
prndrvr After starting cscript, printer drivers can be displayed, added or deleted XP    
prnjobs After starting cscript, print jobs in the queue can be displayed, stopped or repeated XP    
prnmngr After starting cscript, printers or printer connections can be added or a standard printer can be defined XP    
prnport After starting cscript, printer ports can be created, deleted or listed. XP    
prompt Changes the prompt (e.g. “Good morning!” instead of “Press any key”) XP Vista 7, 8, 10
rd Deletes a directory     8, 10
recover Makes it possible to retrieve readable files from a damaged data carrier XP Vista 7, 8, 10
reg Entries in the registry can be added, read, imported or exported XP Vista 7, 8, 10
regsvr32 .dll and .ocx files and programme libraries can be registered in the registry XP Vista 7, 8, 10
rem All commands after rem are treated as comments by the panel XP Vista 7, 8, 10
rename Files can be renamed with this command XP Vista 7, 8, 10
replace Files can be replaced or overwritten with this command XP Vista 7, 8, 10
reset session Sessions can be separated with the help of reset XP Vista 7, 8, 10
rmdir Deletes a directory XP Vista 7, 8, 10
rd Deletes a directory XP Vista 7, 8, 10
rsm Removable media (e.g. CD-ROMs) can be administered or managed XP    
schtasks Planned tasks on the current or remote computer can be created, changed, run or closed XP Vista 7, 8, 10
secedit Authoriszations can be compared by means of templates with this in order to check system security XP Vista 7, 8, 10
set Makes it possible to read and delete variables inside the prompt XP Vista 7, 8, 10
shutdown The computer can be logged out, restarted or turned off XP Vista 7, 8, 10
sort Sorts the current task of a read file or standard input XP Vista 7, 8, 10
start Some windows, certain programmes or commands can be started XP Vista 7, 8, 10
subst With this command, a path can be directed to a drive label (e.g. “C:”) XP Vista 7, 8, 10
systeminfo Information about the system configuration of the computer can be queried XP Vista 7, 8, 10
taskkill Used to immediately close active processes XP Vista 7, 8, 10
tasklist Retrieves all active tasks and processes XP Vista 7, 8, 10
tcmsetup The telephone client can be established with this XP Vista 7, 8, 10
telnet Telnet connections can be established with this XP    
tftp With TFTP, files on a TFTP server can be transferred XP    
time Sets or displays the system time XP Vista 7, 8, 10
timeout A chosen period of time can be set in which nothing will happen   Vista 7, 10
title The title of the prompt window can be established with this XP Vista 7, 8, 10
tree Graphic display of the file structure XP Vista 7, 8, 10
type The contents of text files can be displayed with this XP Vista 7, 8, 10
ver The current version of the operating system can be displayed XP Vista 7, 8, 10
verify Verifies whether files have been written onto the data carrier correctly XP Vista 7, 8, 10
vol The label and serial number of a data carrier can be displayed with this XP Vista 7, 8, 10
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