List of MS-DOS Commands

Here’s a table of some of the essential and commonly used commands MS-Dos for Commands
for quick reference:

Command Syntax Description

ges the current

CD CD [drive:][path]Change directory to the
specified folder.

Displays a list of
files and
DIR DIR [drive:][path]
subdirectories in a
directory.

Copies files from

COPY COPY [destination] one location to
another.

Deletes one or
DEL DEL [drive:][path]
more files.

Renames a file or
REN REN [drive:][path][filename1] [filename2]
directory.

Creates a new
MKDIR MKDIR [drive:][path]
directory.

Removes an
RMDIR RMDIR [drive:][path]
existing directory.

filename Displays
TYPE TYPE [drive:][path] the contents of a
text file.

EDIT EDIT [drive:][path]filename Opens the MS-

DOS text editor for
Command Syntax Description

editing a specified
file.

CHKDSK [volume:][[path]filename] [/F] [/V] [/R] [/X] [/I] Scans and fixes
CHKDSK
[/C] [/L[:size]] [/B] errors on a disk.

Prepares a storage
FORMAT volume [/FS:file-system] [/V:label] [/Q]
FORMAT medium for data
[/L[:size]] [/A:size] [/C] [/X]
storage.

Copies files and

directories,
XCOPY XCOPY [destination] [/E] [/C] [/H] [/R] [/Y]
including
subdirectories.

Graphically
displays the folder
TREE TREE [drive:][path]
structure of a drive
or path.

Displays or sets
DATE DATE [MM-DD-YYYY]
the system date.

Displays or sets
TIME TIME [HH: MM: SS]
the system time.

Provides help
information for
HELP HELP [command]
MS-DOS
commands.

Exits the MS-DOS

EXIT EXIT command prompt
or a batch file.
Command Syntax Description

Sets or clears file

attributes (Read-
Only, Archive,
ATTRIB [+ R|-R] [+A|-A] [+ H|-H] [+ S|-S] System, Hidden),
ATTRIB
[d:][path]filename [/S] managing file
visibility and
access in MS-
DOS.

MODE [device] [BAUD=b] [PARITY=p] [DATA=d] Configures system

MODE
[STOP=s] devices.

Copies the
DISKCOPY [drive1:][path1][filename1]
DISKCOPY contents of one
[drive2:][path2][filename2]
disk to another.

Displays the
MEM[/program|/debug|/classify|/free|/module(name)] amount of used
MEM
[/page] and free memory
in the system.

Scans and fixes

SCANDISK SCANDISK [/SURFACE] [/AUTOFIX] [/CHECKONLY]
disk errors.

Restores a deleted
UNDELETE UNDELETE [drive:][path][filename]
file.

Redirects requests
ASSIGN ASSIGN [drive1:=[drive2:]] for drive letters to
a different drive.

Manages disk
FDISK FDISK
partitions.
Command Syntax Description

Backs up files and

BACKUP BACKUP [destination] [/S]
directories.

Restores files and

RESTORE RESTORE [destination] [/S] directories from a
backup.

Provides CD-ROM
MSCDEX MSCDEX [/D: driver /L:drive] [/M:bufsize] [/E /S /V]
access.

Transfers system
SYS SYS [drive1:][path]
files to a disk.

Installs file-
sharing and
SHARE SHARE [/F:(space)] [/L:(locks)]
locking
capabilities.

Disk caching
SMARTDRV SMARTDRV [size] [/E /V] [/C] [/L:size]
utility.

Sets the MS-DOS

SETVER SETVER [drive:][path]filename [/B:bytes] version number for
a program.

Disables
automatic drive-
ASSIGN ASSIGN [/D]
letter
assignments.

Provides a quick
FASTHELP FASTHELP [command] [command] /? overview of MS-
DOS commands.
Command Syntax Description

Compares two
files or sets of files
FC FC [/A] [/C] [/L] [/LBn] [/N] [/OFF[LINE]] [/T] and displays the
differences
between them.

FIND [/V] [/C] [/N] [/I] [/OFF[LINE]] “string” Searches for a text
FIND
[[drive:][path]filename[ …]] string in files.

Display the
content of a text
MORE MORE [filename]
file one screen at a
time

This command
can either show or
hide the text of the
ECHO ECHO [on/off] commands you
type. Command
echoing is on by
default

Specifies the text

ECHO ECHO [<message>] to display on the
screen.

Displays or sets a
PATH PATH [[drive:][path] [;…]] search path for
executable files.

Sets or displays
SET SET [variable=[string]] environment
variables.
Command Syntax Description

Displays a disk
VOL VOL [drive:] label and serial
number.

Associates a path
SUBST SUBST [drive1: [drive2:]path]
with a drive letter.

EDLIN EDLIN [drive:][path][filename] Edits text files.

Starts the Debug

program for
testing and
DEBUG DEBUG [drive:][path][filename] debugging
assembly-
language
programs.

Provides upper
memory block
HIMEM.SYS HIMEM.SYS [/TESTMEM:off] [/HMAMIN=amount] (UMB) and high
memory area
(HMA) support.

Restores a
UNFORMAT UNFORMAT [drive:][path]
formatted disk.

Enables output of
GRAPHICS [type] [[drive:][path]filename] [/R] [/B]
GRAPHICS graphical screen
[/LCD][/PRINTBOX:STD|/PRINTBOX:LCD]
content to print

Starts the MS-

DOS-based
application for
QBASIC QBASIC [drive:][path]
creating and
running BASIC
programs.
Command Syntax Description

Configures a
KEYB KEYB [/CODEPAGE=page[,country]] [/E] keyboard for a
specific language.

Provides a prompt
CHOICE CHOICE [/C:choices] [/N] [/S] [/T:c,nn] with a list of
choices.

Compares the
DISKCOMP DISKCOMP [drive1:][drive2:] contents of two
floppy disks.

Sends a text file to

PRINT PRINT [/D:device] [filename]
a printer.

Sorts the contents

SORT SORT [drive:][path][filename]
of a text file.

Sets or displays
APPEND APPEND [[drive:]path[;…]] the search path for
data files.

Associates file
ASSOC ASSOC [.ext[=[fileType]]] extension with a
file type.

Creates, changes,
or deletes the
LABEL LABEL [drive:][label]
volume label of a
disk.

Recovers readable
information from a
RECOVER RECOVER [drive:][path][filename]
bad or defective
disk.
Command Syntax Description

Speeds up the
FASTOPEN FASTOPEN [/X] [drive:] [path] [/R]
opening of files.

Directs the
command
GOTO GOTO <label> interpreter to a
labeled line in a
batch program.

Shifts the position

of batch
SHIFT SHIFT [/n <N>]
parameters in a
batch file.

Joins a drive letter

JOIN JOIN path [drive:] and directory
path.

Manages and
SMARTDRV [size] [buffers] [doublebuffer] [/E] [/C] [/L]
SMARTDRV optimizes disk
[/V] [/B]
caching.

Executes the
commands
BATCH BATCH [filename]
specified in a
batch file.

CALL CALL [drive:][path]filename [batch-parameters]