30 Windows Commands you CAN’T live without

Windows power users can squeeze far more out of the command line than basic “dir” and “ipconfig.” The standout theme is that a handful of built-in Windows commands can turn Command Prompt (and the newer Windows Terminal) into a control panel for privacy, networking, system management, and even everyday utilities—without leaving the terminal.

The privacy and security tricks start immediately. Command Prompt can be forced to run with elevated permissions by default: right-click the shortcut’s file location, open Properties → Advanced, and enable “Run as administrator by default.” From there, the transcript demonstrates a “secret photo” workflow using standard Windows tools. Files can be zipped, then hidden inside an image via a binary copy operation (copy /b image + zip → new image). The result looks like a normal photo to anyone else, while the original data sits inside it. For stronger protection, the built-in Cipher utility can encrypt every file in a folder (cipher /e <folder>), so only the user with the right keys can open the contents.

It also shows how to make folders effectively vanish from view using attribute changes. A folder can be hidden by applying attributes (attrib +h +s +r <folder>), and restored by removing those attributes (switching + to -). For networking, the transcript pivots to Wi‑Fi forensics: netsh wlan show profile reveals every wireless network previously connected, and specifying a particular SSID plus key=clear exposes the saved password in plain text. For convenience, the command can be redirected into a text file (netsh ... > wifi passwords.txt) and wrapped into a batch file so the same dump can be run later with a single command.

Beyond privacy and Wi‑Fi, the transcript highlights practical system and workflow commands. systeminfo provides a quick snapshot of machine details. Secure file transfer is done with secure copy (sftp/scp-style syntax is shown as “s sep” in the transcript), and Explorer can be launched from the command line in both directions—typing cmd into the Explorer address bar to open a terminal “at” a folder, or typing explorer . from Command Prompt to jump back into the current directory.

A pair of commands makes the file system feel more flexible: SUBST maps a folder to a drive letter (subst S: "<path>"), and subst /d removes the mapping. For customization, color changes (color <background><text>) and prompt styling (prompt $G with optional title changes via title <name>) let users tailor the terminal’s look.

The transcript then leans heavily on curl as a Swiss Army knife. curl can fetch weather, expand shortened URLs, check website status codes, retrieve public IP, generate QR codes, and query APIs for “latest video” or “latest tweet” style results. It even demonstrates using curl to support ChatGPT-style Q&A from the command line (via a long curl request), plus a dictionary/word-of-the-day lookup using curl to a dictionary site.

Finally, the transcript argues for moving beyond classic Command Prompt by switching to Windows Terminal (installable on Windows 10). Windows Terminal adds tabs, drag-and-drop file selection for commands like secure copy, “shift-right-click” to open a terminal in a folder, and built-in help plus command-specific usage via “/?”—and it closes by recommending PowerShell for deeper scripting power, while still keeping Command Prompt available for familiar tasks.