Master the cURL command-line tool. Learn how to send HTTP GET, POST, PUT, and DELETE requests, inspect headers, download files, authenticate with APIs, and use our printable cheat sheet.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q1. What is cURL and what does it stand for?
cURL stands for "Client URL" (or "see URL"). It is an open-source command-line tool created by Daniel Stenberg in 1997 to fetch and send data across various network protocols including HTTP, HTTPS, FTP, FTPS, SFTP, SCP, and SMTP.
Q2. Is cURL pre-installed on Windows 10 and 11?
Yes. Starting with Windows 10 build 17063, curl.exe is built into the Windows system directory (C:\Windows\System32\curl.exe). Note: In older Windows PowerShell sessions, curl was an alias for Invoke-WebRequest; use curl.exe to run the native binary.
Q3. What is the difference between -o and -O in cURL?
Lowercase -o <filename> saves the downloaded file with a custom name you specify (e.g. curl -o image.png https://example.com/file). Uppercase -O writes the output to a local file named exactly like the remote file name in the URL (e.g. curl -O https://example.com/file.zip).
Q4. How do I follow redirects in cURL?
Use the -L or --location flag. If the server responds with a 301, 302, or 307 redirect status code, cURL will automatically follow the Location: header until it reaches the final resource.
Q5. How do I suppress progress bars in cURL scripts?
Use -s or --silent to hide the meter and error messages. To hide the meter but still display fatal error messages, combine it with -S: curl -sS https://api.example.com.