How to use Windows Terminal and what it is useful for

Scratch the surface of Windows (and macOS), and you’ll find a command-line console underneath, a lingering remnant of how these applications began: as easy-to-use graphic wrappers built on top of text, monochrome links.

If you’re old like me, you may remember that you had to launch applications and games on your computer by typing text commands, rather than pointing and clicking. Modern methods are much simpler, of course, but the old methods are still available – and still useful for many tasks, as the list below shows.

First, Windows kept the Command Prompt utility as a reminder of its MS-DOS roots. That was later joined by PowerShell (Command Prompt with more), and in the latest versions of Windows 11, Command Prompt and PowerShell are now both wrapped in a tool called Windows Terminal.

Windows Terminal supports all Command Prompt commands, and you can launch them from the Start menu. Simple:

• Search The port.
• Right click on the program icon and select Use as an administrator to ensure that all features are available to you.

Now that you have Windows Terminal open, here are some commands that might make it worth your time. To use them, type the displayed text and hit Come in.

1. Shut down your computer after some time

Shutting down your computer through the Start menu isn’t difficult, of course, but Terminal offers you a few other options, such as a timed shutdown. The command above instructs to shutdown (“/s”) rather than restart, after a time (“/t”) of 600 seconds. Simply adjust the time as needed.

Another useful option is “shutdown -r -o” (without quotes), which restarts (“-r”) your computer and displays the Advanced Startup Options menu — very useful for troubleshooting. Just type “shutdown” yourself to see other flags you can use.

2. See the visibility of your folders

Type “tree” and hit Come in to see a visual representation of folders and subfolders in your system – very useful to see how your Windows drive is organized. You can enter a drive and folder path (eg. “C:Programs”) to focus the list on a specific drive location and use the “/f” flag to see the listed files and folders.

3. Troubleshoot network problems

The “ipconfig” command is often used to troubleshoot network problems. Run it by itself, and you’ll see your router’s current IP address, but you add the “/flushdns” flag, and the connection between your computer and the websites you visit is reconfigured (via a DNS server), which can help if websites aren’t loading as they should.

You can also use “ipconfig/release” and then “ipconfig/relew” to get a new IP address for your computer — which may solve connection problems between your Windows device and your router or your device and the Internet.

4. Get more information about your system

The classic “systeminfo” command will tell you everything you want to know about your system and then some: it will return your Windows 11 version and CPU model, the amount of RAM and storage installed, all active network connections currently detected. , and how long your PC took to boot in the past.

5. Scan your Windows 11 drive for errors

The “chkdsk” command has long been a favorite of IT professionals, and you will see it appearing in troubleshooting guides. It checks your system disk for errors and can fix some important ones. For example, if you have trouble accessing files and folders, or starting your PC, chkdsk may be able to help.

There are many flags you can use, too. The command itself checks for errors, but add a space and “/r” at the end, and the utility will try and fix those errors while getting all the data it can. Use “chkdsk /? to see other options.

The “task list” command gives you more or less the same information as Task Manager, showing which applications are putting the most strain on your system. Using the process ID numbers (or PIDS) that they display, you can forcefully kill applications using “taskkill/pid /f” — which can be useful for heavy software.

7. Analyze the power conditions of your computer

This is another classic command line command, which, with the “/a” flag, will restore all sleep modes supported by your computer (such as hibernate and fast boot). You can also get a detailed battery report via “powercfg/batteryreport” — which is stored in the default folder of the current user account.

Dig deeper and there’s more: “powercfg /devicequery s1_supported” lists all devices connected to your system that can wake it from standby, for example. Change that “s1” if you need to analyze a different standby state – the codes will be listed when you run the first command “powercfg /a”.

8. Check the integrity of the Windows 11 system

Like many other command line commands, this one is really useful when it comes to troubleshooting. It checks the integrity of key operating system files and applies repairs where necessary. If you see bugs and crashes everywhere in Windows 11, this is one of the first steps that many troubleshooting guides will recommend.

9. Get advanced networking experience

Another simple name that hides a bunch of useful diagnostic tools: Use “netstat” alone and it will tell you about all the devices your computer is connected to, from printers to smart speakers (use Ctrl+C if you want to Stop).

As with many other commands, you can modify the command in several ways (use “netstat /?” for a full list). You can, for example, use “netstat -b” to see which applications are currently communicating with the web, which can help identify programs that are using the Internet more than they should be.