# Basic WSL Commands > Run these commands in PowerShell or in the windows command line. - Run Linux commands from the Windows command line. ```Markdown wsl ls -alh # this will run the ls command in the current directory. wsl sudo apt update # this updates the package lists for upgrades # for packages that need upgrading. ``` - Mix Linux and Windows commands ``` Markdown wsl ls -la | findstr "hello" # this will use the ls command to list the contents of a dir # and then pipe the output to the findstr command in windows. dir | wsl grep "hello" ``` - Open Windows software from Linux ```Markdown notepad.exe # this will open notepad notepad.exe "C:\folder\hello.txt" # open a file in notepad explorer.exe . # this will open the explorer in the current directory. ``` - Launch WSL from the windows command line ```Markdown wsl # or wsl.exe # this will open WSL inside the current directory exit # this will close WSL ``` - List installed distributions ```Markdown wsl --list # this will list all the installed distributions wsl --list --running # this will list all the running distributions ``` - Set a default distribution ```Markdown wsl -s , wsl --setdefault # exmaple # wsl -s Ubuntu ``` - Unregister and reinstall a distribution Unregister means uninstall here.
While the distribution can be installed from the store it can not be uninstalled from the store. ```Markdown wsl --unregister ``` To reinstall, find the distribution in the Microsoft store and select "Launch". - Set WSL 2 as your default version ```Markdown wsl --set-default-version 2 ``` - Know which distribution is running what version of WSL ```Markdown wsl --list --verbose ``` - Set your distribution to use WSL 1 or WSL 2 ```Markdown wsl --set-version # example # wsl --set-version Ubuntu 2 ``` - WSL 2 your default architecture ```Markdown wsl --set-default-version 2 ```