Copy Text in Command Prompt screen

Edited by Adrian Penaflor, Melsan, Doug Collins, Dougie and 1 other

5 Parts:
Instructions
What is the command prompt?
Tips Tricks & Warnings
Questions and Answers
Comments

This article will teach you how to copy text in the Command Prompt or DOS 'black screen' so you can forget about 'Print Screen' which can only get an image file and not the raw text. This is very useful if you want to copy information or command line codes out of your Command Prompt screen. I will show you how to copy 'raw' text in your Command Prompt screen and then maybe paste it in a Notepad or any Word processing software. Please check the steps below:

Instructions

  1. 1
    Make sure your Command Prompt is on window mode (not full screen mode.)
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  2. 2
    Click on the Command Prompt icon menu at the upper left side corner of the window.
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  3. 3
    Go to Edit and then click Mark.
    Dosscreen01.PNG
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  4. 4
    Highlight the text area that you want to copy.
    Dosscreen02.PNG
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  5. 5
    To copy the text, you can go back to the Command Prompt icon menu>Edit>Copy, or you can just simply press Enter key on your keyboard to copy it.
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  6. 6
    Try to paste it in a Notepad.
    Screen03.PNG
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What is the command prompt?

Command prompt is mistakenly called as DOS prompt or even MS-DOS. This Windows Command is a program set by Windows to emulate many actions using command line from MS-DOS but the command prompt it is not actually an MS-DOS. The purpose of the command prompt is to open files or batch files for administrative and troubleshooting certain Windows based computer issues. Command prompt can be accessed through Start then all programs and Accessories then select the command. You can also access it by typing in the search option as cmd to get the command screen up. There a lot of commands but varies per operating system. Commands are case sensitive and must be entered correctly to the command line, misspelling the command which may result to failure or much worse. See the list of commands for a Windows 7 Operating system.

Windows 7 Commands

  1. 1
    1. 2
      Append
      :
      For you to open files from a directory that are located in the current directory. This is only available for Windows 7 that has 64-bit version of the said Windows system.
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    2. 3
      Assoc
      :
      For you to display the file type from a specific file, Only that are associated to a certain file.
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    3. 4
      At
      :
      At is used to set a schedule programs to run at a specific time and the date.
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    4. 5
      Attrib
      :
      This command is for you to change attributes of a file or the directory itself.
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    5. 6
      Auditpol
      :
      This command is to show the audit policies
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    6. 7
      Bcdboot
      :
      For you to copy bootable files and transfer to the system partition or to create new BCD store.
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    7. 8
      Bcdedit
      :
      For you to edit a Boot configuration data.
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    8. 9
      Bdehdcfg
      :
      For you to manage, monitor downloading and uploading actions and to create too. This is available only to Windows 7 that is being phased out.
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    9. 10
      Bootcfg
      :
      This command has been remove since Windows Vista, but available in Windows 7 and it has no value in Boot.ini. This command is to view contents, edit and make contents in Build.ini.
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    10. 11
      Bootsect
      :
      For you to configure the boot master code to be compatible with BOOTMGR (Windows 7 Boot Manager)
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    11. 12
      Break
      :
      For you to clear or halt such command in the command prompt. Such as if you rung continuous ping, simply press Ctrl then letter C to stop.
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    12. 13
      Cacls
      :
      For you to display the list of access control of files. This has been remove or phased out by Microsoft and suggested to use icals command instead.
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    13. 14
      Call
      :
      Is to run program (Script or batch) from another program. Running this command will not do anything upon running to a command prompt.
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    14. 15
      CD
      :
      This is same as Chdir. This command does not do anything much in Windows 7.
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    15. 16
      Certeq
      :
      For you to authorized certificate functions from various certificate authority.
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    16. 17
      Certutil
      :
      For you to display certification authority and to dump or display.
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    17. 18
      Change
      :
      For you to change logon, COM port mapping and terminal servers.
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    18. 19
      Chcp
      :
      For you to change an active code (Number of page)
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    19. 20
      Chlogon
      :
      For you to disable or enable a server session.
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    20. 21
      Chgport
      :
      This is for DOS compatibility and for you to display or edit COM (Prot) Mapping
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    21. 22
      Chgusr
      :
      Same command as change user
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    22. 23
      Chkdsk
      :
      This command lets you resolve and identify HDD's errors.
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    23. 24
      Chkntfs
      :
      This will show the disk while Windows boot process.
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    24. 25
      Choice
      :
      This will let you see the list of selection and goes back to the selected program.
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    25. 26
      Cipher
      :
      This will let you view the encryptions file status on a partition that is on NTFS
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    26. 27
      Clip
      :
      This is a clipboard command that redirects its output.
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    27. 28
      Cls
      :
      This is to clear all commands that you have entered on screen.
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    28. 29
      Cmd
      :
      restarts new interpreter. To start from scratch.
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    29. 30
      Cmdkey
      :
      This command lets you view the credentials that you can remove or even create.
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    30. 31
      Cmstp
      :
      This command reinstalls the connection manager profile.
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    31. 32
      Color
      :
      This command specifies to change the text in the command prompt Window. Just Type color and enter the corresponding number for the color:  
      1. 0 = Black
      2. 1 = Blue
      3. 2= Green
      4. 3 = Aqua
      5. 4 = Red
      6. 5 = Purple
      7. 6 = Yellow
      8. 7 = White
      9. 8 = Gray
      10. 9 = Light Blue
      11. A = Light Green
      12. B = Light Aqua
      13. C = Light Red
      14. D = Light Purple
      15. E = Light Yellow
      16. F = Bright White
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    32. 33
      Command
      :
      This action is not present to Windows 7 with 64 bit. This will open a new command interpreter.
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    33. 34
      Comp
      :
      This is to open 2 sets of files to compare.
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    34. 35
      Compact
      :
      This is to view directories on a partition that has NTFS file system format.
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    35. 36
      Convert
      :
      This command lets you format or convert from FAT or FAT32 to NTFS.
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    36. 37
      Copy
      :
      Simply copies the file from one location to the other.
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    37. 38
      Cscript
      :
      This command lets you execute the scripts via MS-Script host.
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    38. 39
      Date
      :
      Simply change the date of the computer to your preferred date.
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    39. 40
      Debug
      :
      This is for debugging. This command lets you test programs
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    40. 41
      Defrag
      :
      Lets you defrag a specific drive disk.
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    41. 42
      Del
      :
      This command will let you delete files.
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    42. 43
      Diants
      :
      This command lets you compress files.
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    43. 44
      Dir
      :
      This command lets you display directories.
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    44. 45
      Diskcomp
      :
      This command will let you compare contents.
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    45. 46
      Diskcopy
      :
      This command will let you copy contents from one disk to the other.
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    46. 47
      Diskpart
      :
      This is for you to manage and remove/delete partitions of a drive.
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    47. 48
      Diskperf
      :
      This will let you manage or check disk performance.
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    48. 49
      Diskraid
      :
      This command is to edit RAID arrays
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    49. 50
      Dism
      :
      To manage Windows images
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    50. 51
      Dispdiag
      :
      To make a new computer account.
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    51. 52
      Doskey
      :
      To configure command lines
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    52. 53
      Dosx
      :
      To launch DPMI or the DOS Protected Mode Interface
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    53. 54
      Driverquery
      :
      To view drivers that are installed in the computer
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    54. 55
      Echo
      :
      This action is to show the messages o f batch files.
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    55. 56
      Edit
      :
      This is to modify text.
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    56. 57
      Edlin
      :
      Modify or create text files (Command line).
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    57. 58
      Endlocal
      :
      It changes a batch file to end localization environment.
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    58. 59
      Erase
      :
      Same as Del command
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    59. 60
      Esentutl
      :
      Manages ESE data bases (Extensible Storage Engine)
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    60. 61
      Eventcreate
      :
      make a customize event.
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    61. 62
      Exe2Bin
      :
      Convert an executable to a binary file.
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    62. 63
      Exit
      :
      Simply exits you from the command.
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    63. 64
      Extrac32
      :
      Extract CAB files.
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    64. 65
      Fast Open
      :
      This command does not exist to Windows 7 with 64-bit, this is to add program's to your HDD location.
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    65. 66
      FC
      :
      To compare 2 files and view what are their differences.
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    66. 67
      Find
      :
      To search a specific text.
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    67. 68
      Findstr
      :
      To search text patterns
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    68. 69
      Finger
      :
      To search string of text patterns.
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    69. 70
      Fltmc
      :
      Manage filters, such as load and unload.
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    70. 71
      For
      :
      A specific command for each file.
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    71. 72
      Forflies
      :
      Select 1 file (Or more) to run by a specified command.
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    72. 73
      Fsutil
      :
      Lets you set a task for some NTFS and FAT 32 file system. Such as extending, reparse and others.
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    73. 74
      Ftp
      :
      Transfer files from one computer to the other using FTP server.
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    74. 75
      Ftype
      :
      This is to define a program(Default program) and run it to a specific type of file.
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    75. 76
      Getmac
      :
      View the access control list of the network controllers.
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    76. 77
      Go to
      :
      This command is to direct a process to a labeled script.
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    77. 78
      Gpresult
      :
      View policy settings within the group
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    78. 79
      Gpupdate
      :
      Update the group policy
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    79. 80
      Graftbl
      :
      View an extended graphics
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    80. 81
      Graphics
      :
      It loads an application that has the capability to print graphics. Again, not available to Windows 7 64-bit
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    81. 82
      Help
      :
      Simply open view all starting commands
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    82. 83
      Hostname
      :
      View the current host name.
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    83. 84
      Icacls
      :
      Change or Edit access control list.
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    84. 85
      If
      :
      For functions (Conditional) to a batch file.
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    85. 86
      Ipconfig
      :
      to check network details. Such as IP address, Domain server, DNS and other.
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    86. 87
      Iscsicli
      :
      This command is used for managing iSCSI.
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    87. 88
      Kb16
      :
      For configuring keyboards language
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    88. 89
      Klist
      :
      This command is used to delete or purge Kerberos tickets. Also used to list those tickets.
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    89. 90
      Ksetup
      :
      Simply for editing Kerberos server connections.
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Tips Tricks & Warnings

  • You cannot do this while your Command Prompt screen is in full screen mode. To exit out of the full screen mode, just press Alt+Enter. Pressing Alt+Enter will bring you to full screen mode or it can exit you to full screen mode.
  • Drag and expand the Command Prompt window to get more areas to highlight.
  • You can also select all the text in the screen by going to the Command Prompt menu>Edit>Select All.

Questions and Answers

Want to copy text on full screen command window?

Want to copy text on full screen command window as window mode is not possible

To switch to the window mode, you can press "Alt" and "Enter" if you are in Windows. However, if you are referring to the mode like MS-DOS, FreeDOS, or the Recovery Mode for Windows where multitasking is not possible, then there is no way to copy and paste text. The only thing you can do is to use up and down arrows to use previous and next commands that you have submitted. You will have to type the rest.

If you have problems with any of the steps in this article, please ask a question for more help, or post in the comments section below.

Comments

Article Info

Categories : Tech

Recent edits by: Dougie, Doug Collins, Melsan

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