Best Command Prompt Tricks and Hacks (CMD Tricks)

For Windows users, Command Prompt (CMD) tricks are a very powerful tool that will allow for a better user experience. Knowing these Command Prompt tricks will be a great tool that you can use anytime. Even though many think that cmd tricks are boring and not useful, we’ll show you some of the best command prompt tricks that are available.

This article provides some of the best Command Prompt tricks and other Command Prompt hacks that will show you that the Windows Command Prompt is a great tool to use. Many don’t know that the shortcut for Command Prompt is cmd and that’s all you need to enter in search to bring up the command prompt. You can also read the Best Notepad Tricks and Commands for Windows. The following are some of the best command prompt tricks that you should know how to use:

Open Command Prompt in a Folder

The command prompt generally opens up in either a User or System folder. But if you don’t want to change the directory commands to open the command prompt in a folder, the next option is to open the folder in Windows Explorer. Once you open the command prompt in Windows Explorer, hold the “Shift” key when you right-click in the folder and select Run command window here  to directly open the CMD prompt with the path to that folder directly.

See Command Prompt History

One of the best command prompt tricks is the ability to see your command prompt history. Using this CMD trick, you can see the commands from past sessions using the navigation buttons. But if you want to see the command prompt history of all commands and not just the last session, press the F7 button to see all the command prompts.

Run Command Prompts Simultaneously

If you type && between two command prompts, and then execute them after each other the multiple command prompts will run simultaneously. The command on the left will execute first followed by the command on the right of the double ampersand.

Run Command Prompts as Admin

If you need to run command prompt as an Admin, then this is one of the best command prompt tricks you should know. When you first search for CMD in the Start Menu, instead of selecting “Run as administrator” with using a right-click. You can also just press Ctrl+Shift+Enter to open the command prompt as admin.

Know if your neighbours are stealing your WiFi connection

If you live an apartment building or share close boundaries with your neighbors, this may be the best Command Prompt Trick to know if someone is connected to your Local Area Connection and using it. Use these steps to get the CMD Trick to work:

1. Open your browser and visit http://192.168.1.1 or http://192.168.0.1 depending on your router.
2. Find the tab that mentions “Attached Devices” or something similar.
3. Find the computer name, IP address and MAC Address (sometimes called Physical Address or Hardware Address) of your computer using the previous trick.
4. Compare it with those displayed by your router in Step 2. If you notice some strange devices, then your neighbour has been sneaking in on your internet connection and it is best to add a password.

Command Prompt Help

If you ever need help understanding how a command prompt works, you just need to enter the suffix of the command with /? and execute the command. This is great for when you know about a specific command, but you don’t know what it does. If the command is valid, the command prompt will give you all the information related to it.

IP address, DNS Server’s address and more about your Internet Connection
Some Command Prompt tricks allow you to know information about your IP address. Just type ipconfig/ all in the command prompt and press Enter. Along with your IP address and DNS servers, command prompt will also return a ton of information like your host name, primary DNS suffix, node type, whether IP Routing ,Wins Proxy, and DHCP are enabled, your network adapter’s description, your physical (MAC) address etc.

Know if someone is hacking your computer/ Trace a Hacker

If you any reason to believe that someone is hacking into your computer, this Command Prompt trick can help you find if someone is stealing private data. Type netstat -a and the command prompt will return a list of computers that your computer is connected to.
These tricks work on Windows 8.1, Windows 8, Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP and all previous versions of Windows.