Handy Windows Command Prompt commands

Below are some handy Windows Command Prompt commands that can help you troubleshoot and manage your system more effectively.

For commands that produce a lot of output, consider redirecting the output to a text file for easier reading. You can do this by appending > filename.txt to the command. Another option is appending | clip when using PowerShell to copy the output directly to the clipboard so you can paste it in a text editor.

Command	Description
chkdsk	Checks the file system for logical and physical errors. Can fix some issues automatically using /f or /r parameters.
gpupdate /force	Forces an immediate update of Group Policy settings. Useful for applying changes without waiting for the next automatic refresh.
ipconfig	Displays the current network configuration, including IP address, subnet mask, and default gateway.
ipconfig /displaydns	Shows the contents of the DNS resolver cache.
ipconfig /flushdns	Clears the DNS resolver cache, which can help resolve certain connectivity issues.
powercfg /batteryreport	Generates a detailed battery report for laptops, showing past usage and battery health.
netstat -anob	Displays active network connections, their ports, and the associated app name and process ID (PID) using the port. Useful for identifying suspicious connections, and finding which application is using a particular port.
sfc /scannow	Scans all protected system files and replaces corrupted files with a cached copy.
whoami	Displays the current logged-in user name along with domain information.
whoami /groups	Lists all the groups the current user belongs to.
winget upgrade	Lists all installed applications that have available updates via Windows Package Manager.
winget upgrade –all	Upgrades all installed applications that have available updates via Windows Package Manager.
wmic product get name	Lists all installed software on the system. Useful for inventory or troubleshooting purposes.
wmiobject win32_winsat	Displays the Windows System Assessment Tool (WinSAT) scores, which provides hardware performance scores to quickly see a PCs overall performance.

I intend to keep updating this list as I discover more useful commands. If you know of others, please let me know in the comments.

If you like these, you might also like my Common Run commands to access various Windows settings and apps post.

I hope you find these helpful. Happy computing!