# Newbi First Steps in Julia for Windows

**URL:** <https://discourse.julialang.org/t/newbi-first-steps-in-julia-for-windows/14349>\
**Category:** New to Julia\
**Created:** [August 31, 2018, 6:27am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/newbi-first-steps-in-julia-for-windows/14349 "2018-08-31T06:27:25Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![TheMexican](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/57b2e6/32.png) [@TheMexican](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/TheMexican)\
**Post date:** [August 31, 2018, 6:27am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/newbi-first-steps-in-julia-for-windows/14349/1 "2018-08-31T06:27:25Z")

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In REPL on Shell mode I type “Dir” and I get an error. I thought I could use any of the Windows Shell commands? I can use cd.

How do you clear the screen in Julia REPL. On Mac I believe is Command + K but in Windows is ??

Thanks Guys

Julia on Windows 10 64bit Version 1.0

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**Author:** ![carstenbauer](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/carstenbauer/32/4981_2.png) [@carstenbauer](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/carstenbauer)\
**Post date:** [August 31, 2018, 6:48am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/newbi-first-steps-in-julia-for-windows/14349/2 "2018-08-31T06:48:26Z")

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CTRL+L should clear your screen.

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**Author:** ![HCrepaz](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/hcrepaz/32/4531_2.png) [@HCrepaz](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/HCrepaz)\
**Post date:** [August 31, 2018, 7:04am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/newbi-first-steps-in-julia-for-windows/14349/3 "2018-08-31T07:04:46Z")

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Hi,

The REPL has a SHELL mode. You can access it by typing a semicolon at the beginning of a line: `;`  
The command prompt then changes to `shell>`  
Now type: `help` and you will get a list of all shell commands available.

[https://docs.julialang.org/en/v1/stdlib/REPL/index.html#man-shell-mode-1](https://docs.julialang.org/en/v1/stdlib/REPL/index.html#man-shell-mode-1)

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**Author:** ![uwechsler](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/uwechsler/32/5223_2.png) [@uwechsler](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/uwechsler)\
**Post date:** [August 31, 2018, 11:40am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/newbi-first-steps-in-julia-for-windows/14349/4 "2018-08-31T11:40:44Z")

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As HCrepaz said: With the `;` you can open the `shell>`.  
However, not all commands work for Windows. `cd` and `tree` are commands that work. The `dir` command doesn’t. Other articels on this topic : [stackoverflow](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/41645397/running-windows-shell-commands-in-julia), [github](https://github.com/JuliaLang/julia/issues/23597)  
You can use the solution from the stackoverflow article:  
`shell> cmd /c dir`  
Or you could do the same with the `readdir()` function in the normal REPL mode.