Complete List of MS-DOS Commands 08/11/21 20:56

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Complete List of MS-DOS Commands

Here's every single MS-DOS command there ever was
by Tim Fisher Updated on February 16, 2021 reviewed by Michael Barton Heine Jr

DOS commands are the commands available in MS-DOS that are used to interact
with the operating system and other command line based software.

Unlike in Windows, DOS commands are the primary way in which you use the
operating system. Windows and other modern OSs use a graphics-based system
WINDOWS
designed for touch or a mouse.
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Note: If you use Windows (like Windows 10, 8, 7, etc.), then you have
no need for DOS commands because you don't have MS-DOS. Check
below the table at the bottom of this page for more information.

A Complete List of MS-DOS Commands

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Below is a complete list of MS-DOS commands, commonly referred to as just DOS

commands, available as of MS-DOS 6.22:

MS-DOS Command List

Command Description

Append The append command can be used by programs to open files in

another directory as if they were located in the current directory.

Assign The assign command is used to redirect drive requests to a

different drive. This command can also show drive assignments
and reset drive letters to their original assignments.

Attrib The attrib command is used to change the attributes of a single

file or a directory.

Break The break command sets or clears extended CTRL+C checking on

DOS systems.

Call The call command is used to run a script or batch program from
within another script or batch program. The call command has no
effect outside of a script or batch file. In other words, running the
call command at the MS-DOS prompt will do nothing.

Cd The cd command is the shorthand version of the chdir command.

Chcp The chcp command displays or configures the active code page
number.

Chdir The chdir command is used to display the drive letter and folder
that you are currently in. Chdir can also be used to change the
drive and/or directory that you want to work in.

Chkdsk The chkdsk command, often referred to as check disk, is used to

identify and correct certain hard drive errors.

Choice The choice command is used within a script or batch program to

provide a list of choices and return the value of that choice to the
program.

Cls The cls command clears the screen of all previously entered

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commands and other text.

Command The command command starts a new instance of the

command.com command interpreter.

Copy The copy command copies one or more files from one location to
another.

Country The country command is used in the CONFIG.SYS file to tell MS-
DOS to use country-specific text conventions during processing.

Ctty The ctty command is used to change the default input and output
devices for the system.

Date The date command is used to show or change the current date.

Dblspace The dblspace command is used to create or configure

DoubleSpace compressed drives.

Debug The debug command starts Debug, a command line application

used to test and edit programs.

Defrag The defrag command is used to defragment a drive you specify.

The defrag command is the command line version of Microsoft's
Disk Defragmenter.

Del The del command is used to delete one or more files. The del
command is the same as the erase command.

Deltree The deltree command is used to delete a directory and all the files
and subdirectories within it.

Device The device command is used in the CONFIG.SYS file to load

device drivers into memory.

Devicehigh The devicehigh command is used in the CONFIG.SYS file to load

device drivers into upper memory.

Dir The dir command is used to display a list of files and folders
contained inside the folder that you are currently working in. The
dir command also displays other important information like the
hard drive's serial number, the total number of files listed, their
combined size, the total amount of free space left on the drive,
and more.

Diskcomp The diskcomp command is used to compare the contents of two

floppy disks.

Diskcopy The diskcopy command is used to copy the entire contents of one
floppy disk to another.

Dos The dos command is used in the CONFIG.SYS file to specify the
memory location for DOS.

Doskey The doskey command is used to edit command lines, create

macros, and recall previously entered commands.

Dosshell The dosshell command starts DOS Shell, a graphical file

management tool for MS-DOS. The dosshell command was only
available up to MS-DOS 6.0 but most MS-DOS 6.22 installations

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were upgrades from previous versions so the dosshell command

is usually still available.

Drvspace The drvspace command is used to create or configure DriveSpace

compressed drives. DriveSpace, executed using the drvspace
command, is an updated version of DoubleSpace. DriveSpace is
an updated version of DoubleSpace, executed using the dblspace
command.

Echo The echo command is used to show messages, most commonly

from within script or batch files. The echo command can also be
used to turn the echoing feature on or off.

Edit The edit command starts the MS-DOS Editor tool, which is used to
create and modify text files.

Edlin The edlin command starts the Edlin tool, which is used to create
and modify text files from the command line. Edlin was only
available up to MS-DOS 5.0 so unless your version of MS-DOS
6.22 was upgraded from 5.0, you likely won't see the edlin
command.

Emm386 The emm386 command is used to give MS-DOS access to more

than 640 KB of memory.

Exe2bin The exe2bin command is used to convert .EXE files to binary

format.

Erase The erase command is used to delete one or more files. The erase
command is the same as the del command.

Exit The exit command is used to end the command.com session that
you're currently working in.

Expand The expand command is used to extract the files and folders
contained in Microsoft Cabinet (CAB) files.

Fasthelp The fasthelp command provides more detailed information on any

of the other MS-DOS commands.

Fastopen The fastopen command is used to add a program's hard drive

location to a special list stored in memory, potentially improving
the program's launch time by removing the need for MS-DOS to
locate the application on the drive.

Fc The fc command is used to compare two individual or sets of files

and then show the differences between them.

Fcbs The fcbs command is used in the CONFIG.SYS file to specify the
number of file-control blocks for file sharing.

Fdisk The fdisk command is used to create, manage, and delete hard
drive partitions.

Files The files command is used in the CONFIG.SYS file to specify the
maximum number of files that can be open at the same time.

Find The find command is used to search for a specified text string in
one or more files.

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For The for command is used to run a specified command for each
file in a set of files. The for command is most often used within a
batch or script file.

Format The format command is used to format a drive in the file system
that you specify.

Goto The goto command is used in a batch or script file to direct the
command process to a labeled line in the script.

Graphics The graphics command is used to load a program that can print
graphics.

Help The help command provides more detailed information on any of

the other Command Prompt or MS-DOS commands.

If The if command is used to perform conditional functions in a

batch file.

Include The include command is used in the CONFIG.SYS file to allow

you to use the commands from one CONFIG.SYS block within
another.

Install The install command is used in the CONFIG.SYS file to load

memory-resident programs into conventional memory.

Interlnk The interlnk command is used to connect two computers via a

serial or parallel connection to share files and printers.

Intersvr The intersvr command is used to start the Interlnk server and to
copy Interlnk files from one computer to another.

Join The join command is used to attach a drive letter to a directory

located on another drive. It's similar to the subst command which
associates a drive letter with a local directory.

Keyb The keyb command is used to configure a keyboard for a specific

language.

Label The label command is used to manage the volume label of a disk.

Lastdrive The lastdrive command is used in the CONFIG.SYS file to set the
maximum number of drives that can be accessed.

Lh The lh command is the shorthand version of the loadhigh

command.

Loadfix The loadfix command is used to load the specified program in the
first 64K of memory and then runs the program.

Loadhigh The loadhigh command is used to load a program into high

memory and is usually used from within the autoexec.bat file.

Md The md command is the shorthand version of the mkdir

command.

Mem The mem command shows information about used and free
memory areas and programs that are currently loaded into
memory in the MS-DOS subsystem.

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Memmaker The memmaker command is used to start MemMaker, a memory

optimization tool.

Menucolor The menucolor command is used in the CONFIG.SYS file to set

text colors.

Menudefault The menudefault command is used in the CONFIG.SYS file to set

the startup configuration that will be used if no key is pressed
within the specified timeout period.

Menuitem The menuitem command is used in the CONFIG.SYS file to create

a startup menu from which you can select a group of
CONFIG.SYS commands to be processed upon reboot.

Mkdir The mkdir command is used to create a new folder.

Mode The mode command is used to configure system devices, most

often COM and LPT ports.

More The more command is used to display the information contained

in a text file. The more command can also be used to paginate the
results of any other Command Prompt or MS-DOS command.

Move The move command is used to move one or files from one folder
to another. The move command is also used to rename
directories.

Msav The msav command starts Microsoft Antivirus.

Msbackup The msbackup command starts Microsoft Backup, a tool used to

back up and restore one or more files.

Mscdex The mscdex command is used to provide CD-ROM access to MS-

DOS.

Msd The msd command starts Microsoft Diagnostics, a tool used to

display information about your computer.

Nlsfunc The nlsfunc command is used to load information specific to a

particular country or region.

Numlock The numlock command is used in the CONFIG.SYS file to specify

the state of the NumLock key.

Path The path command is used to display or set a specific path

available to executable files.

Pause The pause command is used within a batch or script file to pause
the processing of the file. When the pause command is used, a
"Press any key to continue…" message displays in the command
window.

Power The power command is used to reduce the power consumed by a

computer by monitoring software and hardware devices.

Print The print command is used to print a specified text file to a

specified printing device.

Prompt The prompt command is used to customize the appearance of the

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prompt text in Command Prompt or MS-DOS.

Qbasic The qbasic command starts QBasic, the MS-DOS based

programming environment for the BASIC programming language.

Rd The rd command is the shorthand version of the rmdir command.

Rem The rem command is used to record comments or remarks in a

batch or script file.

Ren The ren command is the shorthand version of the rename

command.

Rename The rename command is used to change the name of the

individual file that you specify.

Replace The replace command is used to replace one or more files with
one or more other files.

Restore The restore command is used to restore files that were backed up
using the backup command. The backup command was only
available up to MS-DOS 5.00 but the restore command was
included by default with later versions of MS-DOS to provide a
way to restore files that were backed up in previous versions of
MS-DOS.

Rmdir The rmdir command is used to delete an existing or completely

empty folder.

Scandisk The scandisk command is used to start Microsoft ScanDisk, a disk

repair program.

Set The set command is used to display, enable, or disable

environment variables in MS-DOS or from the Command Prompt.

Setver The setver command is used to set the MS-DOS version number
that MS-DOS reports to a program.

Share The share command is used to install file locking and file sharing
functions in MS-DOS.

Shell The shell command is used in the CONFIG.SYS file to specify the
command interpreter that DOS should use.

Shift The shift command is used to change the position of replaceable

parameters in a batch or script file.

Smartdrv The smartdrv command installs and configures SMARTDrive, a

disk caching utility for MS-DOS.

Sort The sort command is used to read data from a specified input,
sort that data, and return the results of that sort to the Command
Prompt screen, a file, or another output device.

Stacks The stacks command is used in the CONFIG.SYS file to set the
number and size of stack frames.

Submenu The submenu command is used in the CONFIG.SYS file to create

a multi-level menu from which you can select startup options.

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Subst The subst command is used to associate a local path with a drive
letter. The subst command is a lot like the net use command in
Windows except a local path is used instead of a shared network
path. The subst command replaced the assign command
beginning with MS-DOS 6.0.

Switches The switches command is used in the CONFIG.SYS file to

configure DOS in a special way, like to tell DOS to emulate
different hardware configurations.

Sys The sys command is used to copy the MS-DOS system files and
command interpreter to a disk. The sys command is used most
often to create a simple bootable disk or hard drive.

Time The time command is used to show or change the current time.

Tree The tree command is used to graphically display the folder

structure of a specified drive or path.

Type The type command is used to display the information contained in

a text file.

Undelete The undelete command is used to undo a deletion performed with

the MS-DOS delete command.

Unformat The unformat command is used to undo the formatting on a drive

performed by the MS-DOS format command.

Ver The ver command is used to display the current MS-DOS version
number.

Verify The verify command is used to enable or disable the ability of

Command Prompt, or MS-DOS, to verify that files are written
correctly to a disk.

Vol The vol command shows the volume label and a serial number of
a specified disk, assuming this information exists.

Vsafe The vsafe command is used to start VSafe, a basic virus protection
system for MS-DOS.

Xcopy The xcopy command can copy one or more files or directory trees
from one location to another. The xcopy command is generally
considered a more "powerful" version of the copy command
though the robocopy command trumps even xcopy.

Windows vs. DOS Commands

The commands in Windows are available from the Command Prompt and are
called Command Prompt commands or CMD commands, but they are not DOS
commands.

Instead, check out our List of Windows CMD Commands for all of the command
line options you have available to you in Windows. We also have a command
comparison table to show which commands are available in different Microsoft
operating systems.

If you're interested, there are also Windows-specific lists, which you can find in

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these Windows 8 commands, Windows 7 commands, and Windows XP

commands documents.

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