"Offering free computer help, hints, and tips to the Internet populace." Now with over 3,820 tips!

DOS and Batch Files

Turning off Batch File Output

SUMMARY: Make batch files run silently under Dos or Windows.

There are two ways to turn off the output from batch files. Entering the line @ECHO OFF at the beginning of a batch file should turn off the display of commands. Some DOS commands will ignore this statement, however, and continue to display text. If so, redirect the batch file's output to a text file or 'NUL.' For example, to hide the contents of batch file RUN1ST.BAT, use this to execute the batch file.

RUN1ST.BAT > NUL

You need to experiment with this. Some commands or programs may react adversely to this output redirection, and some programs may ignore the redirection.

Print This Tip