Equivalent WATCH Command in Windows

Introduction

In Linux, the watch command is extremely handy for running a command on a regular basis and displaying the results. This is particularly useful if you need to keep track of any changes in the output of a command that is run repeatedly. The watch command has no direct equivalent in Windows, however the while loop in Windows PowerShell or the for loops in a Windows command-line prompt (CMD) can achieve the same result.

Using WATCH

Create a file called watch.bat inside C:\Windows\System32\ folder.

@ECHO OFF
:loop
  cls
  %*
  timeout /t 5
goto loop

For example, prefixing the docker ps command with watch works like this:

watch docker ps

Or you can use a top-like utility for monitoring CUDA on a GPU by the following command:

watch nvidia-smi

References

1. https://opensource.com/article/21/9/linux-watch-command
2. https://gist.github.com/gythialy/2800bcbec09df4664b3c
3. https://blog.miniasp.com/post/2011/08/30/Implement-watch-command-for-Windows