Windows CMD Shell How-to guides and examples

Parameters	Command Line Arguments %1 %~f1
Array Variables	Create pseudo-array variables.
Env. Variables	Variable types, arrays and a list of all standard environment variables.
Functions	How to package blocks of code.
AND/OR Logic	Conditional Execution (If-Then-Else)
Loops	Loops and Subroutines.
Macros	Embed blocks of code in a variable.
Redirection	Spooling output to a file, piping input.
Services	List of Windows 11 Services (23H2).

Evaluate expressions

Using brackets	to Group and expand expressions.
Delayed Expansion	Variables within loops.
Escape chars	Escape characters, delimiters and quotes
SET /A	Environment variable arithmetic.
VarSubstring	Extract part of a variable (substring).
VarSearch	Search & replace part of a variable.
RANDOM	Random Numbers.
Wildcards	Match multiple files.

Shortcuts

Command-line Keyboard shortcuts	For CMD and PowerShell.
Windows Keyboard Shortcuts	General Windows keyboard shortcuts.
RUN commands	Start ➞ Run commands.
MMC Snap-ins	Admin commands.
ms-settings	Shortcuts to settings.
Shell: folder	Shortcuts to key folders.
ProfileFolders	User profile folders: Start Menu, Roaming etc.

Example Batch Files and functions

Run a script	How to create and run a batch file. Also VBS and .ps1 scripts.
Banner	Display a string of text in extra large letters.
Elevate/UAC	Run with elevated permissions (As Admin).
DateMath	Add or subtract days from any date.
DeQuote	Remove quotes from a string.
DelOlder	Delete files more than n days old.
Empty	Find out if a directory is empty
GenChr.cmd	Generate an ASCII/Unicode character.
GetDate.cmd	Get todays date (any region, any OS.)
GetTime.cmd	Get the time now.
GetGMT.cmd	Time adjusted to Greenwich Mean Time.
IsDirectory.cmd	Check if a path leads to a folder or a file.
StampMe.cmd	Rename a file with the date/time.
StrLen	Calculate the length of a string.
ToLower.cmd	Upper or Lower case a String.
tdiff.cmd	Calculate the difference in Hours/Mins between two time values.
timer.cmd	Measure the run time of a script.
Whereis.cmd	Display full path to any executable file.
xlong.cmd	Find filenames that exceed the 256 char pathname limit.

Reference

ANSI colours	Use ANSI colours in the Windows Terminal.
Autoexec	Run commands at startup.
CMD Shell	Working in the Windows CMD shell.
CMD Internal	Commands that are Internal to the CMD shell.
Compatibility	Backwards compatibility - runas admin / colour
Errorlevel	Errorlevel and Exit codes in CMD (set and detect errors)
Error Handling	Error Handling in a batch file.
Slow Browsing	Speed up network browsing.
LAN Mgr auth	NTLM authentication.
Logon Types	Windows Logon types.
Long Filenames	Long filename issues (>256 chars) and legal filename /host name/computer name characters.
OOBE	Setup Windows 11 with a local account.
Display DPI	Monitor size settings.
Share modes	An explanation of File Sharing modes.
File Shares	Organising shared files.
NoDrives	Hide mapped drives from Windows Explorer.
% vs %%	Why you need to double the %’s in a batch file.
Printing	Printer connections and print drivers.
Recovery	The Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE), Safe mode and Win PE.
Reg Tweaks	Registry tweaks and settings.
BuiltIn Groups	Built-In Users and Security Groups.
AD Groups	Local Domain groups, Global and Universal groups.
64 Bit	Detect a 64 bit / 32 bit OS or Process. Run a 64 bit program from a 32 bit process.

Related:

See also: Websites, Toolkits, Package managers, Apps, Utilities and Books for Microsoft Windows.
Batch File Scripting Techniques - Rob van der Woude.