CMD Linux-Like Toolkit (Windows)

A tiny set of batch scripts that make Windows CMD feel a bit more like Linux. I made these back when I started using wsl and in vs code terminals so feel free to modify them as you like to suit your system and needs :)

Commands

• touch — Create a file if it doesn’t exist, or update its modified time.

  touch file.txt
  touch a.txt b.txt c.txt

• ls — List files with a few familiar flags:

  • -a (show hidden/system)
  • -l (long listing: owner, timestamp)
  • -al / -la (combine)
  • -R (recursive)

      ls
      ls -l
      ls -a
      ls -al C:\Windows
      ls -R .

• cat — Print one or more files. With no args, reads from stdin (end with Ctrl+Z then Enter).

  cat file.txt
  cat a.txt b.txt
  type some_command_output | cat

• clear — Clear the console.

  clear

• ll (optional) — Shortcut for ls -al in the current directory.

  ll

• pwd — print working directory
  pwd

• mv — move/rename; -f to overwrite
  mv old.txt new.txt
mv -f file.txt C:\dest\

• cp — copy files; use -r for directories, -f to overwrite
  cp a.txt b.txt
cp -r srcDir C:\destDir\
  (Uses robocopy for directories.)

• rm — remove files; -r for directories; -f to force/suppress prompts
  rm file.txt
rm -r folder
rm -rf build

  Safety: refuses to operate on drive roots like C:\.

Installation

1. Create a folder for your scripts (recommended):

   C:\cmd-aliases\
   

2. Save these files into that folder:

   • touch.bat
   • ls.bat
   • cat.bat
   • clear.bat
   • (optional) ll.bat

3. Add the folder to your PATH (one-time):

   setx PATH "%PATH%;C:\cmd-aliases"

   Open a new CMD window after this step so the updated PATH is picked up.

4. Test:

   touch hello.txt
   ls -al
   cat hello.txt
   clear

Notes & Tips

• These scripts are designed for CMD. PowerShell users can create native functions/aliases instead.
• touch.bat uses PowerShell under the hood (available on Windows 10/11) to reliably update the modification time without altering file contents.
• ls.bat is intentionally minimal. Windows dir doesn’t exactly match Unix ls output formatting, but the common flags above are mapped to sensible dir switches.

Uninstall

• Remove the .bat files and (optionally) remove C:\cmd-aliases from your PATH via System Properties → Environment Variables.