Basic Linux and Windows commands you need to know
These commands will help you to do main things in your command line. And you may compare Windows and Linux commands in the same place.
CORE COMMANDS
Linux Key/Command
|
Windows Key/Command
|
Description
|
| |
C: |
Change disk |
| cd |
cd (work as pwd in linux) |
Home directory |
| cd [folder] |
cd [folder] or chdir [folder] |
Change directory e.g. cd documents |
| cd / |
cd / |
Root of drive |
| cd - |
|
Previous directory |
| ls |
dir |
Short listing |
| ls -l |
|
Long listing |
| ls -a |
|
Listing incl. hidden files |
| ls -lh |
|
Long listing with Human readable file sizes |
| ls -R |
|
Entire content of folder recursively |
| sudo [command] |
|
Run command with the security privileges of the superuser (Super User DO) |
| open [file] |
notepad [file] |
Opens a file ( as if you double clicked it ) |
| top |
|
Displays active processes. Press q to quit |
| nano [file] |
|
Opens the file using the nano editor |
| vim [file] |
|
Opens the file using the vim editor |
| clear |
cls |
Clear screen |
| reset |
reset {session} |
Resets the terminal display |
| |
assoc |
Displays or modifies file name extension associations. Used alone, displays a list of all the current file name associations |
FILE MANAGEMENT
Linux Key/Command
|
Windows Key/Command
|
Description
|
| touch [file] |
|
Create new file |
| pwd |
cd |
Full path to working directory |
| . |
. |
Current folder, e.g. ls . |
| .. |
.. |
Parent/enclosing directory, e.g. ls .. |
| ls -l .. |
dir .. |
Long listing of parent directory |
| cd ../../ |
cd ..\..\ |
Move 2 levels up |
| cat |
type [file] |
Concatenate to screen |
| rm [file] |
del [file] |
Remove a file, e.g. rm data.tmp |
| rm -i [file] |
del -i [file] |
Remove with confirmation |
| rm -r [dir] |
rmdir [dir] |
Remove a directory and contents |
| rm -f [file] |
|
Force removal without confirmation |
| cp [file] [newfile] |
copy [file] [newfile] |
Copy file to file |
| cp [file] [dir] |
cp [file] [dir] |
Copy file to directory |
| mv [file] [new filename] |
ren [filename] [newname] |
Move/Rename, e.g. mv file1.ad /tmp |
| pbcopy < [file] |
sfk toclip |
Copies file contents to clipboard |
| pbpaste |
sfk fromclip |
Paste clipboard contents |
| pbpaste > [file] |
|
Past clipboard contents into file, pbpaste > paste-test.txt |
