Keyboard shortcuts can save you a lot of time, and they can reduce the chance of repetitive strain injuries (RSIs) like carpal tunnel syndrome. So let’s check out the best keyboard shortcuts for the Windows Command Prompt.
Keyboard Shortcuts for the Command Prompt Console
These are shortcuts that help you control the actual window that you’ll use for your command line dialog.
- געווינען + X דעמאָלט C: Opens the Command Prompt app. It may not work in Windows 11 if it’s defaulted to Windows Terminal. איר קענען אויך נוצן געווינען + R, דעמאָלט טיפּ קמד און דרוקן אַרייַן.
- געווינען + C דעמאָלט A: Opens the Command Prompt app with administrator rights. This requires administrator credentials, of course. It may not work in Windows 11 if it’s defaulted to Windows Terminal, then that keyboard combo will open Windows Terminal with administrator rights.
- פקסנומקס or אַלט + אַרייַן: Use to switch Command Prompt between full screen and windowed mode.
- קטרל + יבעררוק + מער (+) און קטרל + יבעררוק + מינוס (-): Increase or decrease the opacity of the Command Prompt. קטרל + יבעררוק + מויז מעגילע ראָד does the same thing.
- געווינען + פייַל קיז: Maximize, minimize, and move the Command Prompt around the screen.
- אַלט + Mouse Scroll Wheel: Zooms in and out on the Command Prompt, making the text larger or smaller.
- אַלט + F4: Quickly closes the Command Prompt.
Keyboard Shortcuts for Cursor and Text Control in the Command Prompt
The keyboard shortcuts to select or manipulate text and move the cursor around without a mouse are much the same as the text קלאַוויאַטור שאָרטקאַץ in other Windows 10 or 11 apps, like עקססעל or Word.
- קטרל + M: Switches the cursor to Mark Mode, which lets you select text with the mouse. To exit Mark Mode, press עסק. To tell if you’re in Mark Mode or not, look at the title bar of the Command Prompt window and the cursor. If it says Mark in the title or the cursor is a solid upright rectangle, you’re in Mark Mode.
- היים or סוף: Home moves the cursor to the start of the command line while End moves it to the end.
- יבעררוק + היים or יבעררוק + סוף: שיפט + היים selects all text from where the cursor is to the beginning of the command line. If the cursor is already at the beginning, it will select the prompt itself. יבעררוק + עק selects all text from the cursor to the end.
- יבעררוק + רעכט עראָו or לינקס פייַל: Increase the current selection by a character to the right or left.
- קטרל + יבעררוק + רעכט עראָו or לינקס פייַל: ניצן די קטרל + יבעררוק key combo with the right and left arrow keys will select the entire word to the right or left of the cursor.
- Up or אַראָפּ פייַל: In Mark Mode, the up arrow moves the cursor up, and the down arrow moves it down a line per press. When not in Mark Mode, it cycles through recently entered commands.
- קטרל + Up or אַראָפּ פייַל: Moves the page up or down one line at a time. This is useful to scroll through a large amount of text slowly.
- פּג אַרויף or PgDown: When in Mark Mode, the בלאַט אַרויף און בלאַט אַראָפּ keys will move the cursor a page at a time in their respective directions.
- יבעררוק + פּג אַרויף or פּגדן: Select text from the cursor to include a whole page up or down.
- קטרל + A: The first press selects all text in the current line. An immediate second press selects all text in the command prompt window.
- קטרל + C or קטרל + ינסערט: Both will copy the text currently selected. If you use קטרל + C and no text is selected, it will interrupt a running command if there is one.
- קטרל + Backspace: Just as backspace deletes the character to the left of the cursor, קטרל + באַקקספּאַסע deletes the entire word to the left of the cursor.
- קטרל + היים or קטרל + סוף: Deletes all text from the cursor to the start or end of the current line, respectively.
- קטרל + יבעררוק + היים or קטרל + יבעררוק + סוף: Selects all text from the cursor to the top or bottom of the Command Prompt. In the image below, the cursor was at the start of the ipconfig /allcompartments, און דעמאָלט קטרל + יבעררוק + עק was pressed, selecting everything to the end of the window.
- עסק: Deletes the entire line or escapes Mark Mode if you’re in it.
- ינסערט: Changes between insert modes to either insert text or overwrite the text.
- קטרל + F: אָפּענס די געפינען dialog to help search through text. You can change the parameters to match the case and search up or down through the command prompt.
Keyboard Shortcuts to Use with Commands
Typing every character or repeatedly typing the same commands is a huge time drain. Fortunately, Microsoft includes many Command Prompt keyboard shortcuts to help enter commands quickly.
- Up or Down Arrows: אַרויף (^) moves you back through the previous commands in the command history, and down (˅) moves you forward.
- רעכט פייַל: Enters the most recent command letter by letter. If דרייווערקווערי was the last command executed, pressing the right arrow types d, pressing again types r, אאז"וו
- F2: Copies text up to the first instance of the character typed when the אַרייַן טשאַר צו קאָפּיע אַרויף צו: dialog is open, in the last command executed. For example, if the last command used was יפּקאָנפיג / אַלע, you enter F2 און טיפּ /, יפּקאָנפיג will appear at the command prompt.
- F3: Recalls the last command from the command history.
- F4: Deletes text up to the first instance of the character typed when the Enter char to delete up to: dialog opens.
- F5: Works similarly to the up arrow, only going backward in the command history, one command at a time.
- F7: Opens the command history, and you can use the up and down arrows to move through the list. Then press אַרייַן to execute the command that’s highlighted.
- אַלט + F7: Clears the command history. Use אַלט + F7 and then try just פקסנומקס, and the command history doesn’t even open because there’s nothing in it.
- F8: Recalls commands from the command history which begin with the text already entered. In this example, F8 would scroll back through any previous יפּקאָנפיג commands used.
- F9: Re-types a command from the command history based on its number, as shown when using F7. In the example shown above for F7, you’d press F9 צו עפענען די Enter command number: dialog and then type 17 אריינצוגיין דיסקפּאַרט.
- Tab: Cycles through folders under the directory in the current command to autocomplete it with the one you stop on. In the example below, C: was typed in, then קוויטל was pressed once, giving us C:$Recycle.Bin.
- קטרל + V or יבעררוק + ינסערט: Pastes last text copied to the clipboard. In the image below, you can see that it’ll be יפּקאָנפיג / אַלע פון די קליפּבאָרד history window.
You’re in Command of the Windows Command Prompt Now
Maybe you’ve used some command-line features in the past, and you’re handy with the proper syntax. Perhaps you’ve even written some batch files. Now you’ve got the shortcuts to look like a wizard. Not a Microsoft operating system person?
That’s alright—we’ve got Mac shortcuts און אפילו Linux keyboard shortcuts. We even show you how to create keyboard shortcuts for Microsoft Office און פֿענצטער. What are your favorite shortcut key combos?