Simple Intro to the Windows Command Line (PowerShell)

This is a minimal, practical cheat sheet for everyday tasks. It assumes PowerShell (the default on modern Windows).
(If you are in Command Prompt (cmd.exe), some commands differ see notes below.)

0) Open a terminal

Windows Terminal (recommended): Start menu → “Windows Terminal”
PowerShell: Start menu → “PowerShell”

1) Core ideas

Your location (current folder)

Show current folder:
```
pwd
```
List files:
```
ls
```

Paths

. means “this folder”
.. means “parent folder”
\ is the Windows path separator (PowerShell also accepts / in many cases)

Examples:

cd .
cd ..
cd C:\Users\YourName\Downloads

Autocomplete

Press Tab to autocomplete paths/commands.
Use Up arrow to cycle command history.

2) Navigate folders

Change folder:
```
cd <path>
```

Examples:

cd Documents
cd .. 
cd C:\Windows

Go back to your home folder:
```
cd ~
```

3) Create, copy, move, delete

Create a folder

mkdir <foldername>

Create an empty file

New-Item <filename> -ItemType File

Copy

cp <source> <destination>

Move / rename

mv <source> <destination>

If you do not know the and , you can use the autocomplete feature to find them. You can also drag and drop the files from the File Explorer into the terminal window to find the paths.

Delete (be careful)

Delete a file:
```
rm <filename>
```
Delete a folder and everything inside:
```
rm <foldername> -Recurse
```

Tip: If you are unsure, run ls first and double-check the path.

4) View file contents

Print a text file:
```
cat <filename>
```
View long output one screen at a time:
```
cat <filename> | more
```

5) Search (basic)

Find files/folders by name (current folder and below):
```
Get-ChildItem -Recurse -Filter "*partialname*"
```

Search inside files for text:

Select-String -Path .\* -Pattern "text"

Quick safety rules

If you do not know what a command does, do not run it :)
Be extra careful with delete commands (rm, especially with -Recurse).
Quote paths with spaces:
```
cd "C:\Users\Your Name\My Folder"
```

A tiny practice routine (2 minutes)

mkdir cli-practice
cd cli-practice
New-Item notes.txt -ItemType File
ls
echo "hello" >> notes.txt
cat notes.txt
cd ..
rm cli-practice -Recurse