The command: "START" is on Windows 12, 11, 10, .. , MS Server 2025, 2022, 2019, .. available
The examples for the command "START"
The
`START` command in Windows Command Prompt is used to open a new window for running a command or program. Here are some examples of using the
`START` command:
Example 1: Opening a new window for an application:
START notepad.exe
Description: This example opens a new window with the text editor Notepad (
`notepad.exe`).
Example 2: Opening a webpage in the default web browser:
START https://www.example.com
Description: Here the default web browser is opened and the specified website (
`https://www.example.com`) is loaded.
Example 3: Opening a program with specific parameters:
START "My Program" "C:\Programs\MyProgram.exe" /parameter1 /parameter2
Description: In this example, the
"My Program" program is started with the specified parameters. The application name is enclosed in quotation marks to ensure that spaces in the application name are processed correctly.
Example 4: Waiting for the open window to close:
START /WAIT notepad.exe
Description: The
`/WAIT` option causes the command prompt to wait until the open window is closed before continuing.
Example 5: Opening a file with the default program:
START filename.txt
Description: The command opens the file
"filename.txt" with the default program associated with the file extension.
Example 6: Opening an application in the background:
START /B notepad.exe
Description: The
`/B` option causes the application to start in the background (without display).
Example 7: Specifying a title for the open window:
START "My Window Title" notepad.exe
Description: Here the title of the opened window is set to
"My Window Title".
Example 8: Running a command in a separate window:
START CMD /C "echo Hello, World!"
Description: The command opens a new window and executes the specified command (
`echo Hello, World!`) in it.
It is important to note that the
`START` syntax and options may vary depending on the Windows version. You can use
`START /?` in the command prompt to get help and a list of available options for your specific version of Windows.
"START" Excerpt from Microsoft Windows Help
Microsoft Windows [Version 10.0.19045.3693]
(c) Copyright 1985-2023 Microsoft Corp.
C:\\WINDOWS>
Starts a separate window to run a specified program or command.
START ["title"] [/Dpath] [/I] [/MIN] [/MAX] [/SEPARATE | /SHARED]
[/LOW | /NORMAL | /HIGH | /REALTIME | /ABOVENORMAL | /BELOWNORMAL]
[/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
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
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.
Important information, tips for the "START" command
There are a few important aspects to note when using the
`START` command in the Windows Command Prompt:
1.
Paths with spaces: If the path or file name contains spaces, it is advisable to enclose the path or file name in quotation marks. This helps avoid problems with path interpretation.
START "My Program" "C:\Programs\My Program\myprogram.exe"
2.
Wait for closing: If you want the command prompt to wait for the open window to close, you can use the
`/WAIT` option.
START /WAIT notepad.exe
3.
Start in background: The
`/B` option starts the application in the background (without display). This can be useful if you don't want the window to be visible during execution.
START /B notepad.exe
4.
Window Title: You can specify a custom title for the opened window. This is especially helpful if you open multiple windows with different titles.
START "My Window" notepad.exe
5.
Executing Commands: You can also use the
`START` command to execute commands, especially if you want to open a new command window (
`CMD`) with specific commands.
START CMD /C "echo Hello, World!"
6.
File Type Association: If you want to open a file, you can simply specify the file name and Windows will try to open the file with the default program for that file extension.
START example.txt
It is important to consider the specific needs of your application and the available options of the
`START` command. You can type
`START /?` in the command prompt to see a list of available options and more details.
