Windows → Linux

Find the Linux equivalent of a Windows command

Select a command to open its complete guide. Each guide includes a description, common use cases, copyable Linux commands, options, examples and important warnings.

Browse 200 commandsWindows-to-Linux mappings, examples and copy buttons
Compare 50 Linux distrosTechnical data, use cases, trade-offs and official downloads
dir → ls ipconfig → ip addr tasklist → ps aux findstr → grep

Browse

All command guides

200 commands

dir→ls -la List directory contents Lists files and folders in the current (or specified) directory. Open full guide → cd→cd Change directory Navigates between directories. Same command name, but with important differences in path notation. Open full guide → copy→cp Copy files and folders Copies files or entire directory trees to another location. Open full guide → move→mv Move or rename files Moves files to a new location, or renames them. In Linux, renaming IS moving. Open full guide → del / erase→rm Delete files and folders Removes files or directories. Be very careful — Linux has no Recycle Bin by default. Open full guide → mkdir→mkdir Create new directories Creates one or more new directories. Same name, but with a useful extra flag. Open full guide → type→cat Display file contents Shows the contents of a text file in the terminal. Also used to combine files. Open full guide → ipconfig→ip addr show Show network configuration Displays IP addresses, network interfaces, and connection details. Open full guide → ping→ping Test network connectivity Sends ICMP echo requests to test if a host is reachable. Same name, but runs forever by default on Linux. Open full guide → tracert→traceroute Trace network route to host Shows each network hop between your machine and a destination, helping diagnose where connections slow down or fail. Open full guide → netstat→ss -tuln Show network connections Displays active network connections, listening ports, and socket statistics. Open full guide → chkdsk→fsck Check filesystem integrity Scans and repairs filesystem errors on a disk or partition. Open full guide → format→mkfs.ext4 Format a disk/partition Creates a new filesystem on a disk partition, erasing all existing data. Open full guide → diskpart / fdisk→fdisk / parted Manage disk partitions Creates, deletes, and modifies disk partitions. Use with extreme care. Open full guide → tasklist→ps aux List running processes Shows all currently running processes, like the Processes tab in Task Manager. Open full guide → taskkill→kill / killall Stop/terminate a process Ends a running process by its process ID (PID) or name. Open full guide → cls→clear Clear the terminal screen Clears all text from the terminal window. Open full guide → echo→echo Print text to terminal Displays a line of text. Also used in scripts for variable output. Open full guide → set→export / env View or set environment variables Lists or modifies environment variables available in the current session. Open full guide → find→find Search for files and directories Searches for files matching given criteria anywhere in the filesystem. Open full guide → findstr→grep Search text within files Searches for text patterns inside files. One of the most-used Linux commands. Open full guide → systeminfo→uname -a Display system information Shows OS version, hardware details, memory, and system configuration. Open full guide → shutdown→shutdown Shutdown or restart the system Powers off, reboots, or schedules a shutdown of the Linux system. Open full guide → whoami→whoami Show current username Displays the username of the currently logged-in user. Open full guide → runas→sudo Run command as administrator Executes a command with elevated privileges (as root/superuser). Open full guide → ren / rename→mv / rename Rename files Renames a file or batch-renames multiple files matching a pattern. Open full guide → attrib→chmod / chown Change file permissions/attributes Controls who can read, write, or execute a file. Linux uses a more powerful permission model than Windows. Open full guide → xcopy→rsync -av Advanced copy with sync & progress Copies directories with more control than cp — supports sync, progress display, resume, and remote copying. Open full guide → tree→tree Display directory tree Shows the directory structure as a visual tree. May need to be installed on Linux. Open full guide → pushd / popd→pushd / popd Save and restore directory location Saves your current directory to a stack so you can jump back to it later after navigating elsewhere. Open full guide → more→less Page through large files Displays large text files one screen at a time, allowing you to scroll up and down. Open full guide → nslookup→dig / nslookup Look up DNS records Queries DNS servers to resolve hostnames to IP addresses and inspect DNS records. Open full guide → ftp→scp / sftp Transfer files over network Transfers files between computers over a network. Linux has several options with different security levels. Open full guide → net use→mount / smbclient Connect to network shares Mounts a network share (Windows SMB/CIFS share or NFS) so you can access it like a local folder. Open full guide → netsh wlan show profiles→nmcli Manage Wi-Fi connections Lists, connects to, and manages wireless network profiles. Open full guide → winget install / choco install→sudo apt install Install software packages Installs programs and tools from an online repository — like an App Store for the terminal. Open full guide → winget uninstall→sudo apt remove Uninstall software packages Removes installed packages from the system. Open full guide → Windows Update→sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade Update the system and all software Downloads and installs updates for the OS and all installed packages. Open full guide → where→which / whereis Find where a command is installed Locates the full path of an executable command or program. Open full guide → services.msc / net start→systemctl Manage system services Starts, stops, restarts, and checks the status of background services (like Windows Services). Open full guide → eventvwr / Event Viewer→journalctl View system logs Reads logs from the systemd journal — the Linux equivalent of Windows Event Viewer. Open full guide → sc query→systemctl list-units List all services and their status Shows all installed services and whether they are running, stopped, or failed. Open full guide → net user→useradd / usermod Create and manage user accounts Adds new users, changes user properties, and manages user accounts on the system. Open full guide → net localgroup→groupadd / groups Manage user groups Creates groups, adds users to groups, and lists group memberships. Open full guide → net user username /passwordreq→passwd Change user passwords Sets or changes a user account password. Open full guide → sort→sort Sort lines of text Sorts the lines of a text file or input alphabetically, numerically, or by other criteria. Open full guide → fc→diff Compare two files Compares two files and shows the differences between them line by line. Open full guide → wc (word count — no Windows equiv)→wc Count words, lines, characters Counts lines, words, and characters in a file or piped input. Very useful in scripts. Open full guide → clip / clip.exe→xclip / xsel Copy output to clipboard Pipes command output directly into the clipboard so you can paste it elsewhere. Open full guide → msconfig / Task Scheduler→crontab -e Schedule recurring tasks Runs commands or scripts automatically on a schedule — like Windows Task Scheduler. Open full guide → msinfo32 / dxdiag→lshw / inxi Full hardware information Displays detailed hardware inventory — CPU, RAM, motherboard, GPU, and more. Open full guide → perfmon / Resource Monitor→vmstat / iostat Monitor system performance Shows real-time statistics on CPU, memory, disk I/O, and system activity. Open full guide → date /t & time /t→date Display or set date and time Shows the current date and time, or sets the system clock. Open full guide → doskey /history→history View command history Shows previously run commands. Linux keeps a much longer history than Windows. Open full guide → cmd /k (set title)→alias Create command shortcuts (aliases) Creates short nicknames for long commands. Add them to ~/.bashrc to make them permanent. Open full guide → start (open file/URL)→xdg-open Open files with default application Opens a file, folder, or URL with the appropriate default application — like double-clicking in the file manager. Open full guide → break→Ctrl+C Interrupt a running command Stops a currently running command or script. Ctrl+C sends SIGINT to the foreground process. Open full guide → pause→read -p Pause a script and wait for keypress Halts a script and waits for the user to press a key before continuing. Used frequently in batch files. Open full guide → rem / ::→# Add comments to scripts Adds human-readable comments to shell scripts that are ignored during execution. Open full guide → exit→exit Exit the shell or return an exit code Closes the current shell session or exits a script, optionally with a numeric return code. Open full guide → if→if [ condition ]; then ... fi Conditional branching in scripts Tests a condition and executes different code depending on whether it is true or false. Open full guide → for→for ... in ...; do ... done Loop over a list or range Repeats a block of commands for each item in a list, range, or set of files. Open full guide → while (goto loop)→while [ condition ]; do ... done Loop while a condition is true Repeatedly executes commands as long as a condition remains true. Open full guide → goto→functions / break / continue Control flow — replace GOTO with functions Bash has no GOTO. Use functions, break, continue, or restructure logic with loops and conditionals. Open full guide → shift→shift Shift script argument positions Shifts positional parameters ($1, $2...) left by one. Used to process command-line arguments in scripts. Open full guide → %errorlevel%→$? Check command success or failure exit code Reads the exit status of the last command. 0 means success; any non-zero value means failure. Open full guide → set /a (arithmetic)→$(( expression )) Perform arithmetic calculations Evaluates mathematical expressions in scripts or at the command line. Open full guide → title→echo -ne "\033]0;My Title\007" Set the terminal window title Changes the title text shown in the terminal emulator's title bar. Open full guide → path→echo $PATH / export PATH View or modify the command search path Shows or modifies the list of directories the shell searches when you type a command. Open full guide → rd / rmdir→rmdir / rm -r Remove directories Deletes empty directories (rmdir) or directories with all their contents (rm -r). Open full guide → copy con→cat > filename Create a file from keyboard input Lets you type content directly into a new file from the terminal, without opening an editor. Open full guide → verify / certutil -hashfile→sha256sum Verify file integrity with checksums Generates or checks checksums to verify that files have not been corrupted or tampered with. Open full guide → mklink→ln -s Create symbolic and hard links Creates symbolic links (shortcuts) or hard links pointing to files or directories. Open full guide → cacls / icacls→getfacl / setfacl Advanced file access control lists (ACL) Views and sets fine-grained file permissions beyond the basic owner/group/other model. Open full guide → openfiles→lsof List open files and which process uses them Shows which files, sockets, and devices are currently open and by which processes. Open full guide → label→e2label / tune2fs -L Set or view disk volume label Assigns a human-readable name (label) to a disk partition for easier identification. Open full guide → wbadmin / disk image→dd Create raw byte-for-byte disk images Creates a complete raw copy of an entire disk or partition — useful for backups, imaging, and forensics. Open full guide → diskpart clean / clean all→wipefs / shred Wipe or sanitise a disk Removes filesystem signatures from a disk or securely overwrites all data to prevent recovery. Open full guide → dir /s /b (recursive list)→find . -type f List all files recursively Recursively lists every file in a directory tree, one per line — no directories, just files. Open full guide → dir /od (sort by date)→find . -mtime -1 Find recently modified files Locates files modified within a specific time window. Open full guide → findstr /r (regex)→grep -E Search using extended regular expressions Searches text using extended regular expressions for complex pattern matching. Open full guide → type (first lines)→head Display the first lines of a file Shows only the first N lines of a file — useful for quickly previewing large files. Open full guide → type (end of file / logs)→tail Display the last lines of a file Shows the last N lines of a file. With -f, follows the file in real-time — essential for watching logs. Open full guide → findstr /v (invert)→tac Print file in reverse line order Outputs a file with lines in reverse order — last line first. The name is 'cat' backwards. Open full guide → sort /unique→sort | uniq Filter duplicate adjacent lines Removes or counts duplicate lines. Must be used after sorting — it only removes adjacent duplicates. Open full guide → findstr (character replace — n/a)→tr Translate or delete characters Replaces, deletes, or squeezes individual characters in text — a character-level find and replace. Open full guide → for /f (field parsing)→cut Extract columns or fields from text Cuts out sections of each line — by delimiter-separated field number or character position. Open full guide → type (awk — no equiv)→awk Process and extract columns from structured text A powerful text-processing tool that splits lines into fields and lets you extract, transform, and report on structured text. Open full guide → type file | clip (base64 — no equiv)→base64 Encode or decode Base64 Converts binary data to Base64 text encoding and back. Common in APIs, certificates, and email attachments. Open full guide → ipconfig /flushdns→systemd-resolve --flush-caches Flush the DNS resolver cache Clears locally cached DNS records, forcing fresh lookups on the next DNS request. Open full guide → ipconfig /release and /renew→dhclient Release and renew DHCP lease Releases the current DHCP IP address and requests a new one from the DHCP server. Open full guide → net view→smbclient -L / nmap -sn View computers and shares on the network Lists computers visible on the local network and shared resources on a specific host. Open full guide → net time / w32tm→timedatectl View and sync system time via NTP Shows time synchronisation status and synchronises the system clock with an NTP time server. Open full guide → getmac→ip link show Display MAC addresses of network interfaces Shows the hardware (MAC) address of each network interface card. Open full guide → netsh int ip set address (static IP)→nmcli con mod Configure a static IP address Assigns a permanent static IP address to a network interface using NetworkManager. Open full guide → netsh advfirewall (firewall rules)→ufw Manage firewall rules Controls which network traffic is allowed through the system's firewall. Open full guide → pathping→mtr Combined ping and traceroute with statistics Continuously monitors each network hop showing real-time packet loss and latency per hop. Open full guide → nmap (Nmap for Windows)→nmap Network port scanner and host discovery Scans networks and hosts to discover open ports, running services, OS versions, and security issues. Open full guide → logoff→logout / pkill -KILL -u username Log off the current user session Ends the current user session, closing all running processes owned by that user. Open full guide → hibernate→systemctl hibernate Hibernate — save state to disk and power off Saves the current RAM state to disk and powers off. On next boot, the session resumes exactly where you left off. Open full guide → cleanmgr (Disk Cleanup)→apt clean / journalctl --vacuum-size Free up disk space Removes temporary files, old package caches, and other items that can safely be deleted to recover disk space. Open full guide → msconfig / systemd-analyze→systemd-analyze Analyse system boot performance Shows total boot time and which services took the longest to start. Open full guide → regsvr32 (register DLL)→sudo ldconfig Update shared library cache Updates the dynamic linker cache after installing new shared libraries (.so files) — the Linux equivalent of registering a DLL. Open full guide → net session / query user→who / w / last See who is currently logged in Lists currently logged-in users, what they are doing, and recent login history. Open full guide → sc create / sc delete→systemd unit files in /etc/systemd/system/ Create a custom systemd service Defines a new system service by creating a unit file, then enables and starts it. Open full guide → wmic bios get serialnumber→sudo dmidecode Read BIOS and hardware serial numbers Reads hardware information from the system BIOS/UEFI including serial numbers, model numbers, and firmware versions. Open full guide → powercfg /batteryreport→acpi / upower Battery status and health Shows battery charge level, time remaining, and health information on laptops. Open full guide → wmic temperature / Core Temp→sensors Read CPU and hardware temperatures Displays temperature readings from CPU, GPU, and motherboard sensors. Open full guide → winver / About Windows→neofetch / fastfetch Display OS info with ASCII art logo Shows system information in a visually attractive format — distro, kernel, uptime, CPU, RAM, and more. Open full guide → uptime (Task Manager → Performance)→uptime Show how long the system has been running Displays how long the system has been running since the last boot, along with current CPU load averages. Open full guide → devmgmt.msc (Device Manager)→lspci / lsusb / lshw View hardware devices and drivers Lists hardware devices, their drivers, and status — the Linux equivalent of Device Manager. Open full guide → taskmgr (Task Manager)→htop / btop Interactive process and resource monitor Opens a real-time interactive view of CPU, memory, disk, and network usage with process management. Open full guide → wmic memorychip get→sudo dmidecode -t memory Display physical RAM module details Shows information about physical RAM modules including size, speed, type, and which slots are populated. Open full guide → wmic startup / msconfig Startup→systemctl list-unit-files --state=enabled List programs set to run at startup Shows all services and programs configured to start automatically when the system boots. Open full guide → dpkg -i / msiexec /i→apt install ./package.deb Install a manually downloaded .deb package Installs a local .deb package file you have downloaded manually, rather than from a repository. Open full guide → gpupdate /force→puppet / ansible / chef Apply configuration management policies Applies centralised configuration policies — the Linux equivalent of Group Policy Update. Open full guide → regedit (Windows Registry)→/etc/ and ~/.config/ System and application configuration storage Linux stores all configuration in plain text files rather than a registry. System config is in /etc/, user config is in ~/.config/ and dotfiles. Open full guide → assoc / ftype (file extension to program)→xdg-mime Manage file type associations Views or changes which application opens files of a particular type. Open full guide → Compress-Archive→zip -r archive.zip folder/ Create a ZIP archive Compresses files or folders into a standard ZIP archive. Open full guide → Expand-Archive→unzip archive.zip Extract a ZIP archive Extracts files from a ZIP archive into the current directory or a chosen destination. Open full guide → tar.exe -cf→tar -cf archive.tar folder/ Create a TAR archive Combines files and directories into a TAR archive without necessarily compressing them. Open full guide → tar.exe -xf→tar -xf archive.tar Extract a TAR archive Extracts TAR, tar.gz, tar.xz and other tar-based archives. Open full guide → compact /c→gzip file.log Compress individual files Compresses individual files using gzip or xz to reduce their stored size. Open full guide → compact /u→gunzip file.log.gz Decompress individual files Restores files previously compressed with gzip or xz. Open full guide → 7z a→7z a archive.7z folder/ Create a 7-Zip archive Creates 7z, ZIP and other supported archive formats with the 7-Zip command-line tool. Open full guide → 7z x→7z x archive.7z Extract a 7-Zip archive Extracts 7z, ZIP, RAR and many other archive formats while preserving directory paths. Open full guide → PowerShell New-Item -ItemType File→touch filename.txt Create an empty file Creates a new empty file or updates an existing file timestamp. Open full guide → PowerShell Get-Item→stat filename.txt Inspect file metadata Displays detailed metadata such as file size, permissions, timestamps, owner and inode number. Open full guide → PowerShell Resolve-Path→realpath path/to/file Resolve an absolute path Converts a relative path or symbolic link into its normalized absolute path. Open full guide → fsutil file createnew→truncate -s 100M test.img Create a file of a chosen size Creates an empty or preallocated file with a specific size. Open full guide → subst→sudo mount --bind /source /mountpoint Map a directory to another path Makes an existing directory tree accessible at a second mount point. Open full guide → takeown→sudo chown user:group path Change file ownership Changes the user or group that owns a file or directory. Open full guide → robocopy→rsync -avh source/ destination/ Synchronize directory trees Copies and synchronizes directories efficiently, transferring only changed content when possible. Open full guide → PowerShell Set-Content→printf "%s " "text" > file.txt Replace file contents Writes new content to a file, replacing the previous contents. Open full guide → PowerShell Add-Content→printf "%s " "text" | tee -a file.txt Append content to a file Adds new text to the end of an existing file without replacing its current contents. Open full guide → PowerShell Get-FileHash→sha256sum filename.iso Calculate a file checksum Calculates a cryptographic checksum used to verify downloads and detect file changes. Open full guide → PowerShell Test-Path→test -e path Check whether a path exists Tests whether a file, directory or other path exists for use in shell scripts. Open full guide → dir /b→ls -1 List names only Prints one file or directory name per line without detailed metadata. Open full guide → arp -a→ip neigh show Show the neighbor table Displays recently discovered IP-to-MAC address mappings for devices on local networks. Open full guide → route print→ip route show Show the routing table Displays routes used to decide where network traffic should be sent. Open full guide → hostname→hostnamectl Show or change the computer name Displays the current host name and, with administrator privileges, changes the persistent system host name. Open full guide → netsh interface show interface→ip link show List network interfaces Displays network interfaces and whether each link is up or down. Open full guide → netsh wlan show interfaces→nmcli device show Inspect the active Wi-Fi connection Shows wireless interfaces, connection state, SSID, signal and other Wi-Fi information. Open full guide → netsh wlan show networks→nmcli device wifi list Scan for nearby Wi-Fi networks Lists visible wireless networks, channels, signal strength and security information. Open full guide → Test-NetConnection→nc -vz host port Test a TCP port or web endpoint Checks whether a remote host and port accept connections, or whether an HTTP endpoint responds. Open full guide → Resolve-DnsName→dig example.com Query DNS records Looks up DNS records such as A, AAAA, MX, TXT and NS entries. Open full guide → PowerShell Invoke-WebRequest→curl -LO URL Download or request web content Makes HTTP requests, downloads files and inspects server responses. Open full guide → bitsadmin /transfer→wget -c URL Download a file non-interactively Downloads files from HTTP, HTTPS or FTP sources from a script or terminal session. Open full guide → telnet→nc host port Open a basic TCP connection Connects to a TCP host and port for simple protocol testing and troubleshooting. Open full guide → ssh→ssh user@host Open a secure remote shell Connects securely to a remote Linux, Unix or SSH-enabled system. Open full guide → scp→scp file user@host:/path/ Copy files over SSH Transfers files or directories securely between local and remote systems. Open full guide → pktmon→sudo tcpdump -i any Capture network packets Captures packets from network interfaces for troubleshooting and protocol analysis. Open full guide → netsh winhttp show proxy→env | grep -i proxy Inspect proxy settings Shows proxy environment variables used by command-line applications and package managers. Open full guide → diskmgmt.msc→gparted Manage disks graphically Provides a graphical interface for viewing disks, creating partitions, formatting volumes and managing mounts. Open full guide → fsutil volume diskfree→df -h Show free filesystem space Displays used and available capacity for mounted filesystems. Open full guide → PowerShell Get-Volume→lsblk -f List volumes and filesystems Shows block devices, filesystem types, labels, UUIDs and mount points. Open full guide → PowerShell Get-PhysicalDisk→lsblk -d -o NAME,MODEL,SIZE,ROTA,TRAN Inspect physical drives Displays physical disks, model names, sizes, transport types and health information. Open full guide → defrag→sudo fstrim -av Optimize storage maintenance Discards unused SSD blocks or defragments an ext4 filesystem when appropriate. Open full guide → manage-bde→sudo cryptsetup luksOpen /dev/sdb1 secure Manage encrypted volumes Creates, opens and closes LUKS-encrypted Linux block devices. Open full guide → mountvol→findmnt View or manage mount points Lists mounted filesystems and attaches or detaches a filesystem from the directory tree. Open full guide → wmic diskdrive get status→sudo smartctl -H /dev/sda Check drive health Reads SMART health status and diagnostics reported by a physical disk. Open full guide → PowerShell Get-Process→ps aux Find running processes Lists running processes or searches for processes by name. Open full guide → PowerShell Stop-Process→kill PID Stop a process Requests that a process exit or forcefully terminates it when necessary. Open full guide → PowerShell Start-Process→nohup command > output.log 2>&1 & Start a detached process Launches a program in the background and optionally keeps it running after the terminal closes. Open full guide → timeout /t→sleep 5 Pause a script Waits for a specified amount of time before continuing. Open full guide → start /b→command & Run a command in the background Starts a command without blocking the shell from accepting additional input. Open full guide → start /wait→wait PID Wait for background jobs Pauses a shell script until one or more background processes finish. Open full guide → wmic process get processid→ps -eo pid,comm,args List process IDs and commands Displays process IDs together with executable names and complete command lines. Open full guide → winget search→apt search package Search available packages Searches configured software repositories for packages matching a name or description. Open full guide → winget list→pacman -Q List installed packages Displays packages currently installed through the system package manager. Open full guide → winget upgrade --all→sudo pacman -Syu Upgrade installed packages Downloads and installs available updates from configured package repositories. Open full guide → winget source update→sudo apt update Refresh repository metadata Downloads the latest package lists and repository metadata without necessarily installing updates. Open full guide → choco outdated→checkupdates Check for available updates Lists installed packages for which newer repository versions are available. Open full guide → Add-AppxPackage→flatpak install flathub APP_ID Install a sandboxed desktop application Installs a desktop application from a Flatpak repository such as Flathub. Open full guide → Get-AppxPackage→flatpak list --app List sandboxed applications Lists installed Flatpak applications and runtimes. Open full guide → Remove-AppxPackage→flatpak uninstall APP_ID Remove a sandboxed application Uninstalls a Flatpak application and optionally cleans unused runtimes. Open full guide → Microsoft Store→flatpak search QUERY Browse desktop applications Provides a central catalog of Linux desktop applications distributed as Flatpaks. Open full guide → msiexec /x→sudo pacman -R package Uninstall a package Removes software installed through the distribution package manager. Open full guide → PowerShell Get-Service→systemctl list-units --type=service List system services Shows loaded services and their current active, inactive or failed state. Open full guide → PowerShell Start-Service→sudo systemctl start SERVICE Start a service Starts a systemd service immediately for the current boot. Open full guide → PowerShell Stop-Service→sudo systemctl stop SERVICE Stop a service Stops a running systemd service for the current boot. Open full guide → PowerShell Restart-Service→sudo systemctl restart SERVICE Restart a service Stops and starts a systemd service so configuration or runtime state is reloaded. Open full guide → PowerShell Set-Service -StartupType→sudo systemctl enable SERVICE Configure startup behavior Controls whether a systemd service starts automatically during boot. Open full guide → PowerShell Get-LocalUser→getent passwd List local and directory users Lists user accounts known through local files and configured identity services. Open full guide → PowerShell Get-LocalGroup→getent group List groups Lists local and directory-backed groups known to the system. Open full guide → PowerShell New-LocalUser→sudo useradd -m USER Create a user account Creates a new local Linux user and optionally a home directory and login shell. Open full guide → PowerShell Add-LocalGroupMember→sudo usermod -aG GROUP USER Add a user to a group Adds an existing user to a supplementary group. Open full guide → net user username /active:no→sudo usermod -L USER Lock a user account Locks password-based login for a local account without deleting the account or its files. Open full guide → net user username /active:yes→sudo usermod -U USER Unlock a user account Re-enables password authentication for a previously locked account. Open full guide → runas /user→sudo -u USER command Run a command as another user Executes one command or opens a login shell using another user account. Open full guide → PowerShell Select-String→grep PATTERN FILE Search text patterns Finds lines matching a string or regular expression in files or piped input. Open full guide → PowerShell Get-Content -Wait→tail -f FILE Follow a growing file Prints new lines as they are appended to a log or other text file. Open full guide → PowerShell Measure-Object→wc FILE Count lines, words and bytes Counts lines, words, bytes or characters in text files and streams. Open full guide → PowerShell Compare-Object→diff -u old.txt new.txt Compare text files Shows line-by-line differences or compares two already sorted lists. Open full guide → PowerShell ForEach-Object→xargs COMMAND Run a command for each input item Consumes a list or stream and runs another command for each item. Open full guide → PowerShell Where-Object→awk CONDITION Filter records Keeps only lines or fields that satisfy a textual or numeric condition. Open full guide → PowerShell Out-File→command > output.txt Write command output to a file Saves standard output to a file, either replacing or appending to it. Open full guide → PowerShell Tee-Object→command | tee output.txt Display and save output Copies piped output both to the terminal and to one or more files. Open full guide → PowerShell ConvertFrom-Json→jq EXPRESSION file.json Read and query JSON Parses JSON and selects fields, array elements or transformed output. Open full guide → PowerShell ConvertTo-Json→jq -n OBJECT Create or transform JSON Builds JSON values or reshapes existing JSON data from the command line. Open full guide →

Getting started

How to use Windows commands on Linux

Search by the command you already know

Enter a Windows command such as ipconfig, tasklist or findstr. Win2Linux shows the closest Linux command and explains important behavioral differences.

Check your Linux distribution

Core shell tools are broadly available, but package managers and service commands can vary between Debian, Ubuntu, Fedora, Arch Linux and other distributions.

Review commands before running them

Paths, usernames, network interfaces and disk device names are examples. Commands using sudo, deletion, formatting or partitioning deserve extra verification.

Quick answers

Windows-to-Linux command FAQ

Are Linux commands case-sensitive?

Yes. Command names, options and file paths are generally case-sensitive. For example, Documents and documents can refer to different directories.

Do I need sudo for every command?

No. Use sudo only when a task requires administrator privileges, such as changing system files, managing services or installing system packages.

Will every command work on every Linux distribution?

Most standard shell commands work widely. Package-management, networking and service-management tools can differ, so each guide should be read in the context of your distribution.