Windows 11 Command Line Tools Every Power User Should Know

The graphical interface handles most tasks elegantly, but Windows 11’s command line tools provide a level of speed, precision, and automation that no amount of clicking can match. Whether you need to batch-rename hundreds of files, query system information in seconds, manage network connections without navigating menus, or automate repetitive tasks, the command line is the right tool.

Windows 11 ships with several command line environments and an extensive collection of built-in utilities. This guide covers the essential tools across Command Prompt, PowerShell, and Windows Terminal, with real examples you can use immediately.

Windows Terminal: The Modern Command Line Hub

Windows Terminal is the modern interface for working with command lines in Windows 11. Unlike the older Command Prompt window, Windows Terminal supports multiple tabs, split panes, customisable themes, full Unicode and emoji support, and GPU-accelerated text rendering.

Windows Terminal comes pre-installed on Windows 11 and can be launched by:

• Right-clicking the Start button and selecting Windows Terminal (or Windows Terminal (Admin) for elevated access)
• Searching for Terminal in the Start menu
• Pressing Win + X and selecting Terminal

Windows Terminal can open tabs running Command Prompt, PowerShell, Azure Cloud Shell, or Windows Subsystem for Linux — all from the same window. Use the dropdown arrow at the top to choose which to open.

Useful Windows Terminal Shortcuts

• Ctrl + Shift + T — Open a new tab with the default shell
• Ctrl + Shift + D — Duplicate the current tab
• Alt + Shift + D — Split the pane horizontally
• Alt + Shift + Plus — Split the pane vertically
• Ctrl + Shift + F — Find text in the terminal output
• Ctrl + Shift + W — Close the current tab

PowerShell: The Primary Administrative Shell

PowerShell is the preferred shell for Windows system administration in 2026. Unlike Command Prompt, which works with plain text, PowerShell works with objects — structured data that retains its properties as it passes through command pipelines. This makes complex queries and automation far more elegant.

Essential PowerShell Commands

System Information

# Get comprehensive system information
Get-ComputerInfo | Select-Object CsName, OsName, OsVersion, CsProcessors, CsPhyicallyInstalledMemory

# Get installed RAM
(Get-CimInstance -ClassName Win32_PhysicalMemory | Measure-Object -Property Capacity -Sum).Sum / 1GB

# Get BIOS version and manufacturer
Get-WmiObject -Class Win32_BIOS | Select-Object Manufacturer, SMBIOSBIOSVersion, ReleaseDate

# Get disk information
Get-PhysicalDisk | Select-Object FriendlyName, MediaType, Size, HealthStatus

Process Management

# List all running processes sorted by CPU usage
Get-Process | Sort-Object CPU -Descending | Select-Object -First 20 Name, CPU, WorkingSet

# Kill a process by name
Stop-Process -Name "notepad" -Force

# Start a process
Start-Process -FilePath "notepad.exe" -ArgumentList "C:\MyFile.txt"

# Wait for a process to finish before continuing
Start-Process -FilePath "setup.exe" -Wait

File System Operations

# Find large files (over 100 MB) across the C drive
Get-ChildItem -Path C:\ -Recurse -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue | Where-Object {$_.Length -gt 100MB} | Sort-Object Length -Descending | Select-Object FullName, @{Name="Size(MB)";Expression={[math]::Round($_.Length/1MB,2)}}

# Bulk-rename files: change .txt extension to .bak
Get-ChildItem -Path C:\MyFolder -Filter *.txt | Rename-Item -NewName {$_.Name -replace '\.txt$','.bak'}

# Copy files modified in the last 7 days
$sevenDaysAgo = (Get-Date).AddDays(-7)
Get-ChildItem -Path C:\Source -Recurse | Where-Object {$_.LastWriteTime -gt $sevenDaysAgo} | Copy-Item -Destination C:\Destination

# Count files in a folder by extension
Get-ChildItem -Path C:\MyFolder -Recurse | Group-Object Extension | Sort-Object Count -Descending | Format-Table Name, Count

Network Commands

# Get all network adapters and their IP addresses
Get-NetIPAddress | Where-Object {$_.AddressFamily -eq 'IPv4'} | Select-Object InterfaceAlias, IPAddress, PrefixLength

# Test connectivity to a host (like ping, but with more control)
Test-NetConnection -ComputerName "google.com" -Port 443

# Trace the network route to a destination
Test-NetConnection -ComputerName "8.8.8.8" -TraceRoute

# Get DNS resolution for a hostname
Resolve-DnsName -Name "microsoft.com" -Type A

Service Management

# List all services and their status
Get-Service | Sort-Object Status | Format-Table Name, DisplayName, Status

# Start, stop, or restart a service
Start-Service -Name "Spooler"
Stop-Service -Name "Spooler"
Restart-Service -Name "Spooler"

# Change a service's startup type
Set-Service -Name "WSearch" -StartupType Disabled

PowerShell Profiles

Your PowerShell profile is a script that runs automatically every time you open a PowerShell session. It is the ideal place to define custom functions, aliases, and environment variables. Edit your profile with:

notepad $PROFILE

If the file does not exist, create it first:

New-Item -Path $PROFILE -ItemType File -Force

Example profile entries:

# Custom aliases
Set-Alias -Name ll -Value Get-ChildItem
Set-Alias -Name grep -Value Select-String

# Custom function: get public IP address
function Get-PublicIP { (Invoke-RestMethod -Uri 'https://api.ipify.org?format=json').ip }

# Start in a specific directory
Set-Location C:\Users\$env:USERNAME\Projects

Command Prompt: Classic Tools That Still Matter

While PowerShell is more powerful for complex tasks, Command Prompt remains valuable for quick operations and certain legacy tools that do not have PowerShell equivalents.

Network Diagnostics

REM Test basic connectivity
ping -t 8.8.8.8

REM Show all active network connections
netstat -ano

REM Show routing table
route print

REM Release and renew IP address (useful for DHCP troubleshooting)
ipconfig /release
ipconfig /renew

REM Flush DNS cache
ipconfig /flushdns

REM Show current DNS cache contents
ipconfig /displaydns

REM Look up DNS records
nslookup microsoft.com
nslookup -type=MX gmail.com

System Administration

REM Check system file integrity (run as administrator)
sfc /scannow

REM Run DISM health check and repair
DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /CheckHealth
DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth

REM Show currently logged-on users on the machine
query user

REM Remote Desktop connection
mstsc /v:192.168.1.100

REM Get system uptime
net stats workstation | find "Statistics since"

REM Force Group Policy update (useful after making GP changes)
gpupdate /force

Drive and Partition Management

REM Run check disk (schedules check on next restart for system drives)
chkdsk C: /f /r

REM List volumes and drive letters
diskpart
list volume

REM Check drive health using SMART data (requires admin)
wmic diskdrive get model,status

File Operations

REM Robocopy: mirror a directory with logging
robocopy C:\Source D:\Backup /MIR /Z /LOG:C:\robocopy.log

REM XCOPY with subdirectories and timestamps
xcopy C:\Source D:\Dest /S /E /H /Y /D

REM Find files by name pattern recursively
dir /s /b C:\*.pdf

REM Find text within files
findstr /s /i "search term" C:\*.txt

Sysinternals: The Power User’s Toolkit

Microsoft’s Sysinternals Suite is a collection of advanced command-line and GUI utilities for Windows system administration. They are free to download from Microsoft and are used by IT professionals worldwide. Key tools:

• Process Monitor (procmon): Real-time monitoring of file system, registry, and process activity. Invaluable for diagnosing application issues and understanding exactly what software is doing.
• Process Explorer (procexp): An enhanced Task Manager that shows parent-child process relationships, DLLs loaded by each process, and handles. Far more detail than Task Manager.
• Autoruns: Shows every programme configured to run at startup or login — far more comprehensive than Task Manager’s Startup tab. Essential for malware investigation.
• PsExec: Execute processes on remote machines from the command line. A core tool for remote administration.
• TCPView: Shows all TCP and UDP connections with the process that owns each one — the graphical version of netstat.

You can run all Sysinternals tools directly without installation using the live path: \\live.sysinternals.com\tools\procexp.exe

Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL)

Windows Subsystem for Linux brings the entire Linux command line ecosystem to Windows 11. This is especially valuable if you work with development tools, servers, or scripts that are written for Linux.

Install WSL with a single PowerShell command (as administrator):

wsl --install

This installs Ubuntu by default. To see and install other distributions:

wsl --list --online
wsl --install -d Debian

Once installed, your WSL instances appear as tabs in Windows Terminal. You get access to apt package management, bash scripting, Python, Node.js, and every other Linux tool — all running natively on Windows without a VM.

Winget: Windows Package Manager

Winget is Windows 11’s built-in package manager, similar to apt on Ubuntu or brew on macOS. It allows you to install, update, and manage software from the command line.

# Search for an application
winget search notepadplusplus

# Install an application
winget install Notepad++.Notepad++
winget install Microsoft.VSCode
winget install Google.Chrome

# Update all installed applications
winget upgrade --all

# List all installed applications that have updates available
winget upgrade

# Uninstall an application
winget uninstall Notepad++.Notepad++

Winget is particularly powerful for setting up new machines: create a text file listing all the applications you want, and winget will install them all automatically. Export your current application list with winget export -o apps.json and import it on a new machine with winget import -i apps.json.

Registry Editing from the Command Line

REM Read a registry value
reg query "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer" /v EnableAutoTray

REM Set a registry value
reg add "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer" /v EnableAutoTray /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f

REM Export a registry key (for backup)
reg export "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\MyApp" C:\Backup\myapp_registry.reg

REM Import a registry file
reg import C:\Backup\myapp_registry.reg

Building Your Command Line Toolkit

The most effective approach to building command line proficiency is task-driven: next time you are about to navigate several menus to do something, ask whether a command line equivalent exists. Nine times out of ten it does, and it is faster. Start with the tasks you do most frequently — checking disk space, managing services, querying network settings — and add commands to your repertoire as you encounter new needs.

Keep a personal cheat sheet (a plain text file or Markdown document) of the commands you use regularly. Reference it until the commands become muscle memory, then add more. Within a few months, you will have a personal toolkit that makes you significantly faster and more capable than a user who never leaves the GUI.

Windows 11 Professional (£18.99 at GetRenewedTech) includes all the tools covered in this guide, including Group Policy, Local Security Policy, Hyper-V, and the full PowerShell environment.