Even though batch files are like vintage when it comes to operating systems, they are one of the best ways to get things done. If you are in a kind of work that asks you to run some pre-defined commands every day, the console windows are annoying, especially when you are sure they are perfect and will not make any mistake. This guide will learn how you can run Batch Files silently in background mode and hide the Console Window.
If you have a simple batch (.BAT) file that you want to run, you can create another batch file and type in the command mentioned below:
START /MIN CMD.EXE /C mysecondbatchfile.bat
There are two ways to execute it.
- Run it from within the command prompt.
- Create a shortcut on your desktop, and point it towards the bat file. Make sure to change the Properties of the shortcut as Start minimized.
Run batch files silently using a Scheduled Task
Windows has tons of features that are not used. The Task Scheduler is one of them. This feature allows you to run tasks in the background, periodically or every day. You can easily schedule a Batch file to run automatically using Scheduled Task with options available out of the box.
Here is the procedure to use it.
- Type “Task Scheduler” in the Cortana box, and you should see the app listed. You can also choose to type “taskschd.msc” into the Run prompt (Win + R) to open it.
- On the last pane on the right-hand side, look for an option that says Create Basic Task. Click on it to open.
- It launches a wizard which will ask you
- Name of Task with a description
- When do you want to start the task? You can choose between Daily, Weekly, Monthly, OneTime, When the computer starts and so on.
- Next, select a program, and it will offer to choose a program or script, add arguments, start in details, and so on.
- Using this, you can add everything a bat file would need. In the end, select open properties window for further configuration.
- In the properties window, you can choose to run the program even when is the user is logged out to make sure your program is working round the clock. Make sure to choose Hidden.
- Add admin privilege permission by selecting the “Run with highest privileges” box. Click OK when done,
- To test, the task works exactly as you need it to, right-click and selecting Run.
Run Batch Files silently & hide the console window using freeware
1] Hidden Start or HStart
It’s a lightweight command-line utility that allows you to run console applications and batch files without any window, in the background. It can even handle UAC privilege elevation and also run multiple commands in parallel or in sync. The program offers a user interface that makes it easy to set things.
- Drag, and drop the batch file onto the interface.
- Choose options including hiding console windows, UAC, and so on.
- You can also test it using test mode.
- You can also add command-line options if needed.
- Directly created shortcut and autostart entry from the interface
You can download it from here from ntwind.com
2] SilentCMD
If you are comfortable with the command line, i.e., typing and using a command prompt, SilentCMD offers tons of features and does our job as well. You can type in SilentCMD [path to .bat file] [arguments], and it gets the job done, quietly. Additionally, you can log in the output and errors into a text file.
SilentCMD [BatchFile [BatchArguments]] [Options]
Options:
/LOG:file :: output status to LOG file (overwrite existing log)
/LOG+:file :: output status to LOG file (append to existing log)
/DELAY:seconds :: delay the execution of batch file by x secondsYou can download it from Github.
How to Make an executable file from a Batch Script?
Executables are probably the best way to run batch files along with an option to hide your script from everyone else. There are many options available to make an executable file from a Batch Script and making an EXE is very simple. However, if your antivirus catches it, make sure to mark it safe as you are only using it for personal use.
Check out our detailed posts on the following subjects:
- How to convert BAT to EXE file
- You can script batch programs and compile them into an EXE file with Batch Compiler.
- Convert VBS to EXE using an Online tool or VBScript converter software.
Incidentally, Slimm Bat To Exe Converter offers three types of modes including express, windowless, and custom. You can download it from Softpedia.
These should be enough to create and run Batch Files silently on your Windows 11/10 PC. However, always test before running them quietly. You never want to lose your data because you didn’t test something properly.
Read: How to run Batch file as Administrator without prompt in Windows 11
What is @echo in a batch file?
Echo is the command that can display or suppress the output of commands that are executed from the BAT file. When you plan to run a natch file silently, use @echo off at the start of the file. You can also use it o display a message using echo <message>
Do BAT files need admin permission to execute?
BAT files only process or run commands; they do not need admin permission. However, if any of the commands that it tries to run requires admin permission, it will prompt you with UAC. That said, if you run the BAT file with admin permission, all the subsequent commands should execute with the same permission.
How to Run Batch Files silently in background on Windows 11/10
- Run it from within the command prompt.
- Create a shortcut on your desktop, and point it towards the bat file. Make sure to change the Properties of the shortcut as Start minimized.
- How do I run a command in the background?
- What is the difference between a bat and CMD file?
- What does @echo off mean in cmd?
- What is difference between nohup and &?
- How do I run a command in the background using nohup?
- How do I make a batch file run at startup Windows 10?
- How do I run a batch file in Windows 10?
- How do I run a script in CMD?
How do I run a command in the background?
Use bg to Send Running Commands to the Background
You can easily send these commands to the background by hitting the Ctrl + Z keys and then using the bg command. Ctrl + Z stops the running process, and bg takes it to the background.
What is the difference between a bat and CMD file?
BAT files help in starting the big programs in the Windows system and also for the maintenance. CMD has a programming language to run the scripts and is a command interpreter. BAT is a scripting language that has an interpreter. CMD does not run a sequence of commands and hence we can say that CMD is safer than BAT.
What does @echo off mean in cmd?
echo off. When echo is turned off, the command prompt doesn’t appear in the Command Prompt window. To display the command prompt again, type echo on. To prevent all commands in a batch file (including the echo off command) from displaying on the screen, on the first line of the batch file type: @echo off.
What is difference between nohup and &?
nohup catches the hangup signal (see man 7 signal ) while the ampersand doesn’t (except the shell is confgured that way or doesn’t send SIGHUP at all). Normally, when running a command using & and exiting the shell afterwards, the shell will terminate the sub-command with the hangup signal ( kill -SIGHUP <pid> ).
How do I run a command in the background using nohup?
To run a nohup command in the background, add an & (ampersand) to the end of the command. If the standard error is displayed on the terminal and if the standard output is neither displayed on the terminal, nor sent to the output file specified by the user (the default output file is nohup. out), both the ./nohup.
How do I make a batch file run at startup Windows 10?
Run Batch File on Startup
Press the ⊞ Win + R keyboard shortcut to launch the “Run” dialog. Click “OK” and paste your batch file or the shortcut to the . bat file, that needs to be run on a Windows startup.
How do I run a batch file in Windows 10?
Command Prompt
Open Start. Search for Command Prompt, right-click the top result, and select the Run as administrator option. Type the following command to run a Windows 10 batch file and press Enter: C:\PATH\TO\FOLDER\BATCH-NAME. bat In the command, make sure to specify the path and name of the script.
How do I run a script in CMD?
You can run the commands stored in a CMD file in Windows by double-clicking the file or executing it in the Command Prompt (CMD. EXE) utility.
If you like programming shell scripts for Windows, you might want to run your command prompt scripts in the background silently without actually opening the command prompt windows. This easily possible with a few lines of vbscript.
Why Run It Silently?
A silent prompt is great for scheduled tasks that won’t annoy you with a prompt or even prevent you from running 3D applications such as games. It’s also a great way for administrators to run some tasks in the background or hide activity regular users are not supposed to see. There are a bunch of reasons why they are necessary at times.
Using VBScript To Run CMD Script Silently
Here’s a little snippet of one of my command prompt scripts:
rundll32.exe %SystemRoot%\system32\shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL %SystemRoot%\system32\desk.cpl desk,@Themes /Action:OpenTheme /file:"C:\Windows\Resources\Themes\landscapes.theme"
Let’s say you don’t want Windows 7 to open a command prompt window and run it silently, you can write a vbscript for that:
1. Step Open a notepad editor
2. Step Insert the following code:
Set WshShell = CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
cmds=WshShell.RUN("E:\scripts/themescript.bat", 0, True)
Set WshShell = Nothing
The 0 makes the shell script run silently.
3. Step Save your notepad file. When you save it add the extension .vbs and select All files from the dropdown as seen below:
4. Step You can now schedule that cmd script and it will not open a command prompt window
This is very handy if you don’t want to be annoyed with dozens of command prompt windows when your scheduled tasks are running.
You might also want to know how to open the command prompt in Windows 8
Many times systems engineers come across the need to suppress the console window of a cmd prompt while setting up various batch and script automations to be run in silent mode.
Below is the list of various options available to control the cmd console window and you need to choose the option as per your requirements:
- Hidden Start (a complete solution to control console windows and also supports x64bit)
- Start (helps control spawned process console)
- PowerShell –WindowStyle Hidden
- WshShell.Run WindowStyle = 0
- Javaw.exe is a console/window less Java.exe that runs Java programs as hidden process
—————————
Hidden Start v3.2 (64-bit)
—————————
Run from command line:
hstart64.exe /[PARAMETERS] /[PRIORITY] [COMMAND LINES]
PARAMETERS:
/NOCONSOLE – start console applications without any windows
/ELEVATED or /RUNAS – start applications in elevated mode (Vista)
/NONELEVATED – start applications in non-elevated mode (Vista)
/UAC – run Hstart executable in elevated mode (Vista)
/SHELL – run apps, open docs and URLs in the Windows Shell
/D=PATH – set the starting directory for executed applications
/DELAY=N – delay N seconds before command execution
/WAIT – wait for the application to terminate (run synchronously)
/WAITINPUT – wait for the user input to set the priority class
/MSG=TEXT – show the message after command execution
/TITLE=TEXT – set the title of the message
/ERRMSG=TEXT – show the error message if an error detected
/ERRTITLE=TEXT – set the title of the error message
/SILENT – silent mode, no error messages will be displayed
/TEST – test mode, see what parameters are passed to Hstart
PRIORITY classes:
/[HIGH | ABOVENORMAL | NORMAL | BELOWNORMAL | IDLE]
Don’t forget about quotes when using complex COMMAND LINES:
hstart64.exe /NOCONSOLE /D=»C:Dir 1″ «»C:Dir 2test.bat» -param»
—————————
OK
—————————
C:>start /?
Starts a separate window to run a specified program or command.
START [«title»] [/D path] [/I] [/MIN] [/MAX] [/SEPARATE | /SHARED]
[/LOW | /NORMAL | /HIGH | /REALTIME | /ABOVENORMAL | /BELOWNORMAL]
[/AFFINITY <hex affinity>] [/WAIT] [/B] [command/program]
[parameters]
«title» Title to display in window title bar.
path Starting directory.
B Start application without creating a new window. The
application has ^C handling ignored. Unless the application
enables ^C processing, ^Break is the only way to interrupt
the application.
I The new environment will be the original environment passed
to the cmd.exe and not the current environment.
MIN Start window minimized.
MAX Start window maximized.
SEPARATE Start 16-bit Windows program in separate memory space.
SHARED Start 16-bit Windows program in shared memory space.
LOW Start application in the IDLE priority class.
NORMAL Start application in the NORMAL priority class.
HIGH Start application in the HIGH priority class.
REALTIME Start application in the REALTIME priority class.
ABOVENORMAL Start application in the ABOVENORMAL priority class.
BELOWNORMAL Start application in the BELOWNORMAL priority class.
AFFINITY The new application will have the specified processor
affinity mask, expressed as a hexadecimal number.
WAIT Start application and wait for it to terminate.
command/program
If it is an internal cmd command or a batch file then
the command processor is run with the /K switch to cmd.exe. This means that the window will remain after the command
has been run.
If it is not an internal cmd command or batch file then
it is a program and will run as either a windowed application or a console application.
parameters These are the parameters passed to the command/program.
NOTE: The SEPARATE and SHARED options are not supported on 64-bit platforms.
If Command Extensions are enabled, external command invocation
through the command line or the START command changes as follows:
non-executable files may be invoked through their file association just
by typing the name of the file as a command. (e.g. WORD.DOC would
launch the application associated with the .DOC file extension).
See the ASSOC and FTYPE commands for how to create these
associations from within a command script.
When executing an application that is a 32-bit GUI application, CMD.EXE
does not wait for the application to terminate before returning to
the command prompt. This new behavior does NOT occur if executing
within a command script.
When executing a command line whose first token is the string «CMD »
without an extension or path qualifier, then «CMD» is replaced with
the value of the COMSPEC variable. This prevents picking up CMD.EXE
from the current directory.
When executing a command line whose first token does NOT contain an
extension, then CMD.EXE uses the value of the PATHEXT
environment variable to determine which extensions to look for
and in what order. The default value for the PATHEXT variable
is:
.COM;.EXE;.BAT;.CMD
Notice the syntax is the same as the PATH variable, with
semicolons separating the different elements.
When searching for an executable, if there is no match on any extension,
then looks to see if the name matches a directory name. If it does, the
START command launches the Explorer on that path. If done from the
command line, it is the equivalent to doing a CD /D to that path.
C:>
C:>powershell /?
PowerShell[.exe] [-PSConsoleFile <file> | -Version <version>]
[-NoLogo] [-NoExit] [-Sta] [-NoProfile] [-NonInteractive]
[-InputFormat {Text | XML}] [-OutputFormat {Text | XML}]
[-WindowStyle <style>] [-EncodedCommand <Base64EncodedCommand>]
[-File <filePath> <args>] [-ExecutionPolicy <ExecutionPolicy>]
[-Command { – | <script-block> [-args <arg-array>]
| <string> [<CommandParameters>] } ]
PowerShell[.exe] -Help | -? | /?
-PSConsoleFile
Loads the specified Windows PowerShell console file. To create a console
file, use Export-Console in Windows PowerShell.
-Version
Starts the specified version of Windows PowerShell.
-NoLogo
Hides the copyright banner at startup.
-NoExit
Does not exit after running startup commands.
-Sta
Start the shell using a single-threaded apartment.
-NoProfile
Does not use the user profile.
-NonInteractive
Does not present an interactive prompt to the user.
-InputFormat
Describes the format of data sent to Windows PowerShell. Valid values are
«Text» (text strings) or «XML» (serialized CLIXML format).
-OutputFormat
Determines how output from Windows PowerShell is formatted. Valid values
are «Text» (text strings) or «XML» (serialized CLIXML format).
-WindowStyle
Sets the window style to Normal, Minimized, Maximized or Hidden.
-EncodedCommand
Accepts a base-64-encoded string version of a command. Use this parameter
to submit commands to Windows PowerShell that require complex quotation
marks or curly braces.
-File
Execute a script file.
-ExecutionPolicy
Sets the default execution policy for the session.
-Command
Executes the specified commands (and any parameters) as though they were
typed at the Windows PowerShell command prompt, and then exits, unless
NoExit is specified. The value of Command can be «-«, a string. or a
script block.
If the value of Command is «-«, the command text is read from standard
input.
If the value of Command is a script block, the script block must be enclosed
in braces ({}). You can specify a script block only when running PowerShell.exe
in Windows PowerShell. The results of the script block are returned to the
parent shell as deserialized XML objects, not live objects.
If the value of Command is a string, Command must be the last parameter
in the command , because any characters typed after the command are
interpreted as the command arguments.
To write a string that runs a Windows PowerShell command, use the format:
&
quot;& {<command>}»
where the quotation marks indicate a string and the invoke operator (&)
causes the command to be executed.
-Help, -?, /?
Shows this message. If you are typing a PowerShell.exe command in Windows
PowerShell, prepend the command parameters with a hyphen (-), not a forward
slash (/). You can use either a hyphen or forward slash in Cmd.exe.
EXAMPLES
PowerShell -PSConsoleFile SqlSnapIn.Psc1
PowerShell -version 1.0 -NoLogo -InputFormat text -OutputFormat XML
PowerShell -Command {Get-EventLog -LogName security}
PowerShell -Command «& {Get-EventLog -LogName security}»
# To use the -EncodedCommand parameter:
$command = ‘dir «c:program files» ‘
$bytes = [System.Text.Encoding]::Unicode.GetBytes($command)
$encodedCommand = [Convert]::ToBase64String($bytes)
powershell.exe -encodedCommand $encodedCommand
C:>
InvokeHiddenProcess.vbs
C:>type InvokeHiddenProcess.vbs
Set WshShell = WScript.CreateObject(«WScript.Shell»)
cmd = «cmd /k Test.bat»
Return = WshShell.Run(cmd, 0, True)
set WshShell = Nothing
C:>
C:>type Test.bat
echo «helloo» > testing.txt
C:>type testing.txt
«helloo»
C:>
Javaw.exe
javaw [ options ] class [ argument … ]
javaw [ options ] -jar file.jar [ argument … ]
options
Command-line options.
class
Name of the class to be invoked.
file.jar
Name of the jar file to be invoked. Used only with -jar.
argument
Argument passed to the main function.
For more detailed arguments list refer to Sun Java’s Javaw – the Java application launcher.
There are a few ways to run a batch file silently, depending on your needs.
If you just need to run the batch file quietly in the background without any visible window, you can use the Windows Task Scheduler. Create a new task, give it a name and description, and set the task to run whether the user is logged on or not. Then, under the Triggers tab, create a new trigger and set it to run the task Daily or Weekly at a time when you know the computer will be turned on. Finally, under the Actions tab, add a new action and browse to the location of your batch file.
If you need to run the batch file and have it interact with other programs or files, you can use the Windows Script Host. To do this, open Notepad and type the following:
Set WshShell = WScript.CreateObject(«WScript.Shell«)
WshShell.Run ««»» & WScript.Arguments(0) & ««»», 0, False
Save the file as a .vbs file and then double-click it to run it. When you run the .vbs file, you can specify the batch file as a parameter
How do I make a batch file run silently?
How do I run CMD EXE silently?
There are a few ways to run CMD EXE silently:
1. Use the /S switch: This will tell CMD EXE to run silently, without displaying any window.
2. Use the /Q switch: This will tell CMD EXE to run quietly, without displaying any window or message.
3. Use the /D switch: This will tell CMD EXE to run in debug mode. This will disable all input and output, so CMD EXE will not display any window or message.
4. Use the /T switch: This will tell CMD EXE to run in test mode. This will disable all input and output, so CMD EXE will not display any window or message.
How do I run a batch file that is hidden?
There are a few ways to run a batch file that is hidden. One way is to use the Command Prompt. To do this, open the Command Prompt and type in «cmd /c start /min /wait «. This will run the batch file in a minimized window. Another way is to use the Windows Scheduler. To do this, open the Scheduler and create a new task. In the task, browse to the batch file and select it. Then, in the task settings, select «Run whether user is logged on or not» and «Hidden«.
How do I run a batch file without opening CMD?
There are a few ways to run a batch file without opening CMD. One way is to use the Windows Task Scheduler. You can schedule a task to run a batch file at a specific time or interval. Another way is to use a third-party software like Batchrun. Batchrun lets you create a batch file without having to write any code. You can simply drag and drop your commands into the software.
How do I run a batch file in the background?
There are a few ways to run a batch file in the background:
1. Use the start command. For example, to run a batch file named «MyBatchFile.bat» in the background, you would use the following command:
start /b MyBatchFile.bat
2. Use the call command. For example, to run a batch file named «MyBatchFile.bat» in the background, you would use the following command:
call MyBatchFile.bat
3. Use the PowerShell Start-Process cmdlet. For example, to run a batch file named «MyBatchFile.bat» in the background, you would use the following command:
Start-Process -NoNewWindow -FilePath «MyBatchFile.bat«
4. Use the Task Scheduler. For example, to run a batch file named «MyBatchFile.bat» in the background, you would use the following command:
schtasks /create /tn «My Task» /tr «MyBatchFile.bat» /sc ONCE /st 00:00
What does @echo off do?
The @echo off command tells the Command Prompt to not display the commands that are being executed. This can be useful if you want to hide what you are doing from other people who are using the same computer.
Can you run an exe silently?
Yes, you can run an exe silently by using the command line argument /silent.
What is quiet mode cmd?
Quiet mode is a setting that can be applied to many command-line programs that tells the program to run without printing any output. This can be useful if you want to run a program without any visual output, or if you want to suppress any error messages that the program might generate.
How do I run a command prompt in the background?
There are a few ways to run a command prompt in the background. One way is to use the «start» command. For example, if you wanted to run the command «ping google.com» in the background, you would use the following command:
start /b ping google.com
Another way to run a command prompt in the background is to use the «cmd» command. For example, if you wanted to run the command «ping google.com» in the background, you would use the following command:
cmd /c start /b ping google.com
You can also use the «tasklist» command to view all the tasks that are running in the background.
How do I run a batch file locally?
To run a batch file locally, you will need to open the Command Prompt application. Once the Command Prompt is open, you will need to navigate to the folder that contains the batch file. To do this, you will use the «cd» command. Once you are in the correct folder, you will need to type in the name of the batch file and hit enter. The batch file will then run.
Can I run a shell script in background?
Yes, you can run a shell script in the background by using the & operator. For example, if you have a script called myscript.sh, you can run it in the background by typing ./myscript.sh &.
How do I run a running script in the background?
There are a few ways to run a running script in the background. One way is to use the «nohup» command. This will allow the script to continue running even after you close the terminal window. Another way is to use the «screen» command. This will create a new terminal session that you can detached from and reconnect to later.
How do I run a process in the background in CMD?
To run a process in the background in CMD, you will need to use the «start» command. For example, if you wanted to run the «notepad» program in the background, you would type «start notepad» at the CMD prompt.
What does @echo do in a batch file?
The @echo command is used in a batch file to display a message on the screen. The message can be anything you want, and it will be displayed on the screen when the batch file is run.