Batch file commands: Windows/DOS

For the ease of learning, we have listed all the batch file commands with relevant
examples and explanations below. Please click on the commands to know the
details.

List of batch file commands

ASSOC ATTRIB CD CHKDSK CHOICE

CLS CMD COMP CONVERT COPY

DATE DEL DIR DISKPART DRIVERQUERY

ECHO EXIT EXPAND FC FIND

FORMAT HELP IPCONFIG LABEL MD

MORE MOVE NET PAUSE PING

RD REM REN SET SHUTDOWN

SORT START SYSTEMINFO TASKKILL TASKLIST

TIME TITLE TREE TYPE VER

VOL XCOPY

Note: Batch file commands are not case sensitive

ASSOC
The batch command ASSOC associates a file extension with a file type, or list all
associations.

Example

@echo OFF

ASSOC | find ".txt"

pause

Output

.txt = textfile

As shown in above output, it displays the file association for .txt extension.

If only ASSOC is written and executed, it will display all the file associations for
every extension, instead of just .txt extension.

ATTRIB
The batch command ATTRIB is used to display the file attributes or set an
attribute to a file in the working directory.

Example

Now let us suppose we have a file note.txt in our working directory. We will
display its file attributes and then make it hidden and read only by
adding 'ah' and 'r' attributes to it. And finally, we will remove some attributes we
added as well.

@echo OFF

:: To display attribute of note.txt

ATTRIB note.txt
:: To make it read only by adding 'r'

ATTRIB +r note.txt

ATTRIB note.txt

:: To make it hidden by adding 'ah'

ATTRIB +ah note.txt

ATTRIB note.txt

:: To remove attribute read only

ATTRIB -r note.txt

ATTRIB note.txt

Output

A note.txt

A R note.txt

A R AH note.txt

A AH note.txt

Here in this output, A means Archived, R means Read only and AH

means Hidden file.
CD
The batch command CD helps in navigating through different directories and
changing directories or displaying current directory.

Example

@echo OFF

:: CD without any parameters displays the current working directory

CD

:: Changing to the parent directory one level up

CD..

CD

:: Changing the path to Programs

CD\Programs

CD

pause

Output

C:\Users\abc

C:\Users

C:\Programs

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CHKDSK
The batch command CHKDSK is used for checking error in the disk.

Example

@echo OFF

CHKDSK

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CHOICE
The batch command CHOICE provides a list of options to the user.

Example

@echo OFF

ECHO You want coffee?

ECHO Enter Y for yes

ECHO Enter N for no

CHOICE /c YN /m "Yes or No"

Output

Now that script will produce following output.

You want coffee?

Enter Y for yes

Enter N for no
Yes or No [Y,N]?

Now the console waits for your input and once you enter your answer it will
terminate.

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CLS
The batch command CLS clears the screen.

Example

@echo OFF

CLS

pause

This command just clears all the logs in command prompt screen.

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CMD
The batch command CMD invokes a new command prompt window.

Example

@echo OFF

CMD

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COMP
The batch command COMP compares the size of two files and checks if they are
different in size.
Example

@echo OFF

COMP C:\abc.txt C:\xyz.txt

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CONVERT
The batch command CONVERTS the volumes or drives from one format to
another i.e from FAT to NTFS.

Example

@echo OFF

CONVERT D:\

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COPY
The batch command COPY is used for copying files from one location to another.

Example

@echo OFF

:: For copying from one drive to another -xyz.txt from D:\ to E:\

COPY D:\xyz.txt E:\

:: If file has whitepace between name - use double quote

COPY "D:\my file.txt" E:\

click here to go back to list of commands

DATE
The batch command DATE displays the current date in the system.

Example

@echo OFF

echo %DATE%

Output

Fri 07/07/2017

This command DATE displays system date in command prompt as shown above.

DEL
The batch command DEL is used for deleting files.

Example

@echo OFF

:: To delete a single file xyz.txt

DEL D:\xyz.txt

:: To delete all the files of .txt extensions and ask for confirmation before deleting

DEL /p/s D:\*.txt

:: Remove \p to delete without confirmation

DEL /s D:\*.txt

Note: DEL command only deletes files, not directories.

DIR
The batch command DIR lists all the contents of directories.

Example

@echo OFF

:: To list all the contents of current directory

DIR

:: To list all the hidden files of working directory

DIR /ah

:: To list all files with .php extensions

DIR *.php

DISKPART

The batch command DISKPART shows the properties of a disk partition.

Example
@echo OFF

DISKPART

This script will ask for users permission to check the properties of disk partition
and if allowed, will display following output in the console depending on disk
properties.

DRIVERQUERY
The batch command DRIVERQUERY displays all the drivers installed and their
properties.

Example

@echo OFF

DRIVERQUERY

Output
This output shows the fraction of drivers list with their properties and installed
date. DRIVERQUERY command shows all the drivers list, which is huge.

ECHO
The batch command ECHO is used for echoing commands on/off and printing
message to the console.

Example

@echo OFF

echo Hello

Output

Hello

This command ECHO displays Hello in the console as shown above.

Besides printing message, echo is also used for deciding whether or not to display
the command itself. Like in this example as well, in the first line we have turned
OFF echo, which makes sure that commands themselves are not printed.

If that echo wasn’t turned off, then the output would have been like:

C:\> echo Hello

Hello

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EXIT

The batch command EXIT terminates and exits the console.

Example

@echo OFF

echo HI

EXIT

In this example, as soon as HI is printed in the console, EXIT command will

terminate the program and close the output console.

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EXPAND
The batch command EXPAND extracts the contents of .cab file.

Example

@echo OFF
EXPAND xyz.cab

This script will extract all the contents of xyz.cab file to the same location
where xyz.cab is located.

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FC
The batch command FC finds the difference between the two files and displays
them to console.

Example

@echo OFF

FC D:\a.txt D:\b.txt

This script will find the difference in the content of both files and list out all of
them.

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FIND
The batch command FIND search the given file to find the desired string and if
located, it displays the corresponding line in which the string exists.

Example

@echo OFF

FIND "find me" example.txt

This script will search for the string “find me” in example.txt file and if it exists in
example.txt, it will display the corresponding line on the console.

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FORMAT
The batch command FORMAT is used for formatting a drive of format FAT 16/32
or NTFS in Windows.

Example

@echo OFF

FORMAT E:\

This script will format E drive and overwrite previous contents.

HELP
This might be the one of the most important batch file commands because with
this HELP command we can know about all the other commands used in batch file
or command prompt.

Example

@echo OFF

HELP

Now this will display all the available commands with their functionalities in the
console.
Since the list of commands is so much more, we have sliced the list and shown few
here.

Now that we have a list of batch file commands, we can also view details of their
syntax and functionalities in following way:

@echo OFF

:: Just type help and the command you want to know about

HELP copy

Now this will display details of the copy command.

As you can see, it HELP COPY displays all the details about COPY command.

IPCONFIG
The batch command IPCONFIG displays Windows IP configuration.

Example

@echo OFF

IPCONFIG

This script will generate following output.

P.S: We have hidden iPV6 address in above output.

LABEL
The batch command LABEL displays the label of a drive or volume and is also is
used for adding, setting or removing a disk label.

Example

@echo OFF

LABEL

Now this will display the label of your working directory and you can set, remove
or add another label.

For example, my working directory is D: and has label ‘apps’. So, it will generate
following output:
click here to go back to list of commands

MD
The batch command MD creates a new directory or folder in the working
directory.

Example

@echo OFF

MD abc

This program will create a new directory abc in current working location.

MORE
The batch command MORE displays the content of a file one by one.

Example

@echo OFF

MORE D:\example.txt

This program will display the contents of example.txt line by line, one at a time.

MOVE
This batch command moves files from one directory to another, rename the
directories and move the directories as well.

Example

@echo OFF
:: To move xyz.txt from dir1 to dir2

MOVE C:\dir1\xyz.txt C:\dir2

:: To rename directory dir1 to dir2

MOVE C:\Program\dir1 C:\Program\dir2

:: To move directory dir1 from D:\ to D:\music

MOVE D:\dir1 D:\music\

In this way, MOVE command can be used to move files, directories and rename
directories.

NET
The batch command NET is used for many network functionalities depending upon
the commands used.

Example

To display the users:

@echo OFF

NET users

This will generate following output:

Like users, there are many other commands:

 net accounts
 net computer
 net config
 net continue
 net file
 net group
 net help
 net name
 net pause
 net print
 net send
 net session
 net share
 net start
 net statistics
 net stop
 net time
 net use
 net view

PATH
The batch command PATH displays the path variable or it can be used to set path
variable.

Example

@echo OFF

ECHO %PATH%
This program will display the path of the current working directory.

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PAUSE

The batch command PAUSE is used for holding the output screen till user enters a
variable or a value.

Example

@echo OFF

ECHO hi

pause

This program will print hi in the console and show the message ‘Press any key to
continue..’ and wait for the input from the user.

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PING

The batch command PING is used for sending ICMP/IP packets to the designated
address over the network.

Example

@echo OFF

PING 127.0.1.1

Output
This script will send packets to address 127.0.1.1 and output will be displayed as
follows:

Pinging 127.0.1.1 with 32 bytes of data:

Reply from 127.0.1.1: bytes = 32 time<1ms TTL = 128

Reply from 127.0.1.1: bytes = 32 time<1ms TTL = 128

Ping statistics for 127.0.1.1:

Packets: Sent = 2, Received = 2, Lost = 0 (0% loss),

Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:

Minimum = 0ms, Maximum = 0ms, Average = 0ms

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RD

The batch command RD is used for removing the empty directories, directories
with contents or files inside cannot be removed with RD command.

Example

@echo OFF

:: To remove directory xyz from C:\>

RD C:\xyz
:: To remove multiple directories from working location

RD dir1 dir2

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REM

The batch command REM signifies comments in the batch script.

Example

@echo OFF

REM This is a comment

Anything written after REM is interpreted as a comment and is not executed in

batch programs.

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REN

The batch command REN is used for renaming files and directories.

Example

@echo OFF

:: To rename x.php to y.php

REN C:\x.php C:\y.php

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SET

The batch command SET displays the list of environment variables of the system.

Example

@echo OFF

SET

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SHUTDOWN

The batch command SHUTDOWN when invoked, shuts down the computer.

Example

@echo OFF

SHUTDOWN

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SORT

The batch command SORT is used to sort the content of the file alphabetically.

Example

@echo OFF

SORT D:\example.txt
This script will sort the content of example.txt alphabetically either in ascending or
descending order.

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START

The batch command START is used to open a file or start a new program.

Example

@echo OFF

START paint.exe

This program will start the application paint if it is in the working location, else
you will have to explicitly indicate the path of that program as well.

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SYSTEMINFO

The batch command SYSTEMINFO displays all the configuration of the computer
and operating system.

Example

@echo OFF

SYSTEMINFO

This will generate following output depending upon the computer:

Of course, the details will be much more than this, but please try and look on your
PC.

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TASKKILL

The batch command TASKKILL is used to terminate a running task

Example

If you were to terminate the notepad running in your PC, then following script is
used.

@echo OFF

TASKKILL /im notepad.exe

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TASKLIST

The batch command TASKLIST lists all the running tasks in the console.
Example

@echo OFF

TASKLIST

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TIME

The batch command TIME is used to display or set the system time.

Example

@echo OFF

ECHO %TIME%

Output

18:01:22:06

The current time is displayed in the console.

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TITLE

The batch command TITLE sets new title for output console.

Example

@echo OFF

TITLE New Console

This script will set the title of output console to ‘New Console’. Thus the output
console will look like:

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TREE

The batch command TREE displays the tree diagram of the subdirectories to the
last level.

Example

I have a folder movies. SO, if I were to run TREE in that movie folder, it will
create a tree of movies inside that folder and also the subdirectories where there is
movie file and subtitle file.

@echo OFF

TREE D:\movies

Output

This script will generate following output.

click here to go back to list of commands

TYPE

The batch command TYPE is used for displaying the content of a file to an output
console.

Example

@echo OFF

TYPE C:\notes.txt

pause

This program will display all the contents of notes.txt to the console.

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VER

The batch command VER displays the version of Windows or MS-DOS.

Example

@echo OFF

VER

pause

Output

Microsoft Windows [Version 10.0.14393]

click here to go back to list of commands

VOL

The batch command VOL displays the current volume label of Windows.

Example

@echo OFF

VOL

Output

Microsoft Windows [Version 10.0.14393]

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XCOPY

The batch command XCOPY is similar to COPY command but COPY command
copies single file whereas XCOPY command copies entire directories including
subdirectories.

Example

@echo OFF

XCOPY D:\test.txt to E:\

This script will copy test.txt from D drive to E drive.