Windows Cheat Sheet

There are several constants in our universe, such as the gravitational constant, the speed of light, and Windows’ search returning results inversely proportional to their relevance.

To bypass this eternal frustration, here’s a collection of commands to help you quickly access Windows configuration tools and get things done.

GUI

Commands to directly open Windows management graphical interfaces and panels which usually require lots of navigation to get to. It is recommended to launch these via Run (Win+R) to avoid the start menu launching an unhelpful Bing search.

Executable	Name	Purpose
mmc.exe	Microsoft Management Console	Launch ‘Device Manager’, ‘Group Policy Editor’, ‘Services’, ‘Task Scheduler’
devmgmt.msc	Device Manager	View and manage device hardware settings and driver software installed on your computer
gpedit.msc	Group Policy Editor	Edit the local Group Policy Objects stored on a computer
ncpa.cpl	Network Connections	Control panel network adapters / connections
services.msc	Services	Start, stop, and configure Windows services
taskschd.exe	Task Scheduler	Schedule computer tasks to run automatically
lusrmgr.msc	Local user manager	Manage local users and groups
systempropertiesadvanced	System properties advanced	Manage hostname, domain, workgroup

CLI

Command-line tools which can be run from Command Prompt or PowerShell. Launch Command Prompt via Run (Win+R then type cmd).

Command	Purpose
dism /Online /Cleanup-image /Restorehealth	Scan the image for component store corruption and perform repair operations automatically
sfc /scannow	Scans integrity of all protected system files and repairs files with problems when possible
shutdown -t 0 -r -o	Boot into Windows Recovery
shutdown -t 0 -r -fw	Boot into UEFI/BIOS
netsh wlan show profiles name='SSID' key=clear	View saved WiFi password
netsh interface ipv4 set address	Set adapter IP address
netsh interface ipv4 show interfaces	List interface status
oobe\bypassnro	Press Shift + F10 within Windows 11 installer to launch terminal and skip Microsoft account requirement with this command
wmic path SoftwareLicensingService get OA3xOriginalProductKey	View Windows 10/11 product key / license key

PowerShell

Command-line tools which are only supported by PowerShell. Launch PowerShell via Run (Win+R then type powershell).

Command	Purpose
Get-SmbConnection	List SMB network shares more reliably than via net use
(New-Object -com "WMPlayer.OCX.7").cdromcollection.item(0).eject()	Eject optical disc tray. Easily locate a computer in a server room
Set-ItemProperty -Path 'HKLM:\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\FileSystem' -Name LongPathsEnabled -Type DWord -Value 1	Enable long paths on Windows 10/11

For more Windows command line utilities, see Windows & POSIX CLI Reference