How do I run two commands in one line in Windows CMD?

Question

I want to run two commands in a Windows CMD console.

In Linux I would do it like this

touch thisfile ; ls -lstrh

How is it done on Windows?

djdanlib · Accepted Answer · 2017-10-24T02:02:45.480

1695

Like this on all Microsoft OSes since 2000, and still good today:

dir & echo foo

If you want the second command to execute only if the first exited successfully:

dir && echo foo

The single ampersand (&) syntax to execute multiple commands on one line goes back to Windows XP, Windows 2000, and some earlier NT versions. (4.0 at least, according to one commenter here.)

There are quite a few other points about this that you'll find scrolling down this page.

Historical data follows, for those who may find it educational.

Prior to that, the && syntax was only a feature of the shell replacement 4DOS before that feature was added to the Microsoft command interpreter.

In Windows 95, 98 and ME, you'd use the pipe character instead:

dir | echo foo

In MS-DOS 5.0 and later, through some earlier Windows and NT versions of the command interpreter, the (undocumented) command separator was character 20 (Ctrl+T) which I'll represent with ^T here.

dir ^T echo foo

edited Oct 24 '17 at 02:02

answered Nov 08 '11 at 18:33

djdanlib

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Works on Win 8.0 and 8.1 as well. – MEMark Nov 25 '13 at 08:53
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@ZaLiTHkA Can we by default, just always run with `&&` then? – Fallenreaper Jul 16 '14 at 13:28
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@Fallenreaper, that does work in the straight `cmd` prompt as well, so I suppose it's not a bad habit to get into. :) – Jul 16 '14 at 22:50
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@Fallenreaper Make sure that you are aware of the practical difference between the two: See Raihan's answer below. – Moshe Katz Jul 23 '14 at 19:30
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Got ya. A && B, B only will run if A is successful, whereas A & B will run B after A, no matter what the outcome of A is. Thanks for the heads up – Fallenreaper Jul 25 '14 at 18:44
somehow I cannot make this working in one line: set myvar=myval && echo %myvar% . The myvar is not set immediately, or at least echo cannot fetch it. Only with separate call "echo %myvar%" it shows the correct value – infografnet Sep 12 '14 at 13:33
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@infografnet That's a different issue. Both commands are run, but the environment variable substitutions are evaluated before either command is actually executed. So `echo %myvar%` will be run as `echo OldValueOfMyVar`. This problem can be resolved by using the Delayed Expansion feature (only available in batch files though). So try the following inside a batch file: `setlocal EnableDelayedExpansion && set MyVar=MyVal && echo !MyVar! && endlocal`. (NOTE: The feature requires you to use `!` marks in place of the `%` symbols. – Disillusioned Oct 22 '14 at 12:59
And if you as me thought PowerShell is the same as a Terminal, then semicolon ; is the way to go in PowerShell – NicklasF Aug 23 '18 at 12:59
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Here's also a little gem... when using variable assignment on the same line, always put the "&' right after the value, i.e, no space or windows will assign the value plus the space (s). `code` Bad as variable b will contain "3 " set b=3 & echo "%b" The proper way would be: set b=3& echo "%b" `code` Note that using quotes to display the value, will show you exactly what you are getting. – AlexD Dec 20 '18 at 16:24
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@AlexD Or use double-quotes to avoid stray spaces, as in `set "b=3" & ...`. – TripeHound Oct 01 '19 at 13:15
Use `start` if you wanna run two applications at once. The command in the answer will not run the second app until the first one terminates. If the first one is a GUI app, you have to close it before running the second, which may not what you want. – zzzhhh Jun 14 '21 at 06:30
Correct. The question was regarding the Linux shell's ; operator, which runs things sequentially. If you want to run things in parallel like the Linux shell's & operator, you have to use START on Windows. There's also a way to wait for your processes to exit: https://stackoverflow.com/a/43762349/691749 And of course, PowerShell might be appropriate for more complex scenarios anyway. – djdanlib Jun 16 '21 at 20:08

score 660 · Answer 2 · edited Apr 22 '20 at 09:50

660

A quote from the documentation:

Source: Microsoft, Windows XP Professional Product Documentation, Command shell overview
Also: An A-Z Index of Windows CMD commands

Using multiple commands and conditional processing symbols

You can run multiple commands from a single command line or script using conditional processing symbols. When you run multiple commands with conditional processing symbols, the commands to the right of the conditional processing symbol act based upon the results of the command to the left of the conditional processing symbol.

For example, you might want to run a command only if the previous command fails. Or, you might want to run a command only if the previous command is successful.

You can use the special characters listed in the following table to pass multiple commands.

& [...]
command1 & command2
Use to separate multiple commands on one command line. Cmd.exe runs the first command, and then the second command.

&& [...]
command1 && command2
Use to run the command following && only if the command preceding the symbol is successful. Cmd.exe runs the first command, and then runs the second command only if the first command completed successfully.

|| [...]
command1 || command2
Use to run the command following || only if the command preceding || fails. Cmd.exe runs the first command, and then runs the second command only if the first command did not complete successfully (receives an error code greater than zero).

( ) [...]
(command1 & command2)
Use to group or nest multiple commands.

; or ,
command1 parameter1;parameter2
Use to separate command parameters.

edited Apr 22 '20 at 09:50

Jean-François Corbett

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answered Nov 08 '11 at 18:36

Raihan

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Try `cmd /c "echo foo & echo bar"`. – Raihan Nov 01 '13 at 17:44
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`vagrant up && vagrant ssh` worked without quotation marks on Windows 10. – furman87 Oct 29 '15 at 00:12
Thanks! I didn't know about singe `&` - makes it asynchronous and run both in parallel. I was stuck because I was using `&&` with is synchronous and only continues if the first succeeds! – TetraDev Jun 01 '16 at 18:37
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documentation link broken, new location https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb490954.aspx – nkef Jun 26 '17 at 12:14
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@TetraDev `&` does not make the commands asynchronous or parallel. `command1 & command2` will run `command2` _after_ `command1` has completed. The success or failure of `command1` is irrelevant. – bornfromanegg Sep 13 '17 at 09:50
In addition you can structure your code by using temporal variable. Consider `command1 && set succeeded=Yes` `if succeeded EQU Yes (..)` – Ivan_Bereziuk Jul 04 '19 at 08:53
Also, mixing `&` with if statements can be a little tricky. To run a command after an if statement which does not have an else statement, use `(if condition command1) & command2`. Do not try to use `if condition (command1) & command2` because command2 will not run. – GreenRaccoon23 Mar 12 '20 at 18:17
(command1 & command2) does not work.. e.g. start (dir cd) – joedotnot Jan 03 '21 at 07:32

score 85 · Answer 3 · edited Jul 15 '17 at 17:09

85

& is the Bash equivalent for ; ( run commands) and && is the Bash equivalent of && (run commands only when the previous has not caused an error).

edited Jul 15 '17 at 17:09

Peter Mortensen

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answered Nov 08 '11 at 18:37

manojlds

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this is also true for csh, tcsh and many more shells. I've never seen `;` before in Linux – phuclv May 21 '14 at 10:05
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@LưuVĩnhPhúc in sh-style shells, `;` means to run the first command, wait for it to finish, then run the second command. `&` means to run the first command, put it to background, and run the second command. So both programs launch simultaneously. Note that these aren't combining symbols, they are trailing symbols to the first command; you can launch a single command in background with `progname &` without having a second command. – M.M Dec 17 '14 at 00:46

score 26 · Answer 4 · answered Nov 12 '13 at 06:39

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If you want to create a cmd shortcut (for example on your desktop) add /k parameter (/k means keep, /c will close window):

cmd /k echo hello && cd c:\ && cd Windows

answered Nov 12 '13 at 06:39

TroodoN-Mike

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score 26 · Answer 5 · answered Nov 08 '11 at 18:34

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You can use & to run commands one after another. Example: c:\dir & vim myFile.txt

answered Nov 08 '11 at 18:34

scrappedcola

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score 20 · Answer 6 · edited Mar 13 '16 at 11:14

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You can use call to overcome the problem of environment variables being evaluated too soon - e.g.

set A=Hello & call echo %A%

edited Mar 13 '16 at 11:14

Stephan

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answered Mar 13 '16 at 11:06

SSi

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This works only if the variable is not already set, in which case the `echo` prints out the _old_ value, not the new value. At least, this is what I observe on my Windows 7 box. – Craig M. Brandenburg Mar 21 '16 at 23:15
I use set A= first to make sure the variable is not set. – SSi May 11 '16 at 09:48
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A better method is to use delayed expansion (`setlocal EnableDelayedExpansion` in a script or `cmd /v`). For example: `timeout 5 && cmd /v /c echo !TIME! && echo %TIME%`. – Nick Feb 01 '17 at 15:02
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Use ^ after the first percent to get the new value: set A=Hello & call echo %^A% – Nicolas Mar 28 '17 at 21:00
Thanks Nick and Nicolas for you solutions! I tried to use them in more general case, when after *set* there are multiple commands separated with &, and I see it works onl with additional syntactical tricks. With Nick's solution I should escape the command separator as ^&: `set var=Hello & cmd /v /c echo firstUsage=!var! ^& echo secondUsage=!var!`. With Nicolas's solution I should repeat *call* before every subcommand: `set var=Hello & call echo firstUsage=%^var% & call echo secondUsage=%^var%` (probably one knows how to improve this). – Alexander Samoylov Feb 11 '21 at 23:52

score 10 · Answer 7 · edited Sep 23 '17 at 05:36

A number of processing symbols can be used when running several commands on the same line, and may lead to processing redirection in some cases, altering output in other case, or just fail. One important case is placing on the same line commands that manipulate variables.

@echo off
setlocal enabledelayedexpansion
set count=0
set "count=1" & echo %count% !count!

0 1

As you see in the above example, when commands using variables are placed on the same line, you must use delayed expansion to update your variable values. If your variable is indexed, use CALL command with %% modifiers to update its value on the same line:

set "i=5" & set "arg!i!=MyFile!i!" & call echo path!i!=%temp%\%%arg!i!%%

path5=C:\Users\UserName\AppData\Local\Temp\MyFile5

given example didn't work for me but below one did: `cmd /V:ON /c "set i=5 & set arg!i!=MyFile!i! & echo path!i!=%temp%\%arg!i!%"` — sactiw, May 10 '17 at 17:10

score 8 · Answer 8 · edited Dec 17 '14 at 00:44

8

cmd /c ipconfig /all & Output.txt

This command execute command and open Output.txt file in a single command

edited Dec 17 '14 at 00:44

Jeremy Collette

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answered Apr 16 '14 at 05:41

dpp.2325

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score 8 · Answer 9 · edited May 23 '17 at 12:26

So, I was trying to enable the specific task of running RegAsm (register assembly) from a context menu. The issue I had was that the result would flash up and go away before I could read it. So I tried piping to Pause, which does not work when the command fails (as mentioned here Pause command not working in .bat script and here Batch file command PAUSE does not work). So I tried cmd /k but that leaves the window open for more commands (I just want to read the result). So I added a pause followed by exit to the chain, resulting in the following:

cmd /k C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v4.0.30319\regasm.exe "%1" /codebase \"%1\" & pause & exit

This works like a charm -- RegAsm runs on the file and shows its results, then a "Press any key to continue..." prompt is shown, then the command prompt window closes when a key is pressed.

P.S. For others who might be interested, you can use the following .reg file entries to add a dllfile association to .dll files and then a RegAsm command extension to that (notice the escaped quotes and backslashes):

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.dll]
"Content Type"="application/x-msdownload"
@="dllfile"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\dllfile]
@="Application Extension"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\dllfile\Shell\RegAsm]
@="Register Assembly"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\dllfile\Shell\RegAsm\command]
@="cmd /k C:\\Windows\\Microsoft.NET\\Framework\\v4.0.30319\\regasm.exe \"%1\" /codebase \"%1\" & pause & exit"

Now I have a nice right-click menu to register an assembly.

http://lifehacker.com/get-rid-of-the-word-so-to-increase-your-credibility-1571124119 — Anthon, Dec 23 '16 at 07:51

score 5 · Answer 10 · edited Jul 15 '17 at 17:14

5

Well, you have two options: Piping, or just &:

DIR /S & START FILE.TXT

Or,

tasklist | find "notepad.exe"

Piping (|) is more for taking the output of one command, and putting it into another. And (&) is just saying run this, and that.

edited Jul 15 '17 at 17:14

Peter Mortensen

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answered Apr 29 '17 at 23:16

PyDever

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Could you edit your post to include some explanation what does `&` and `|` do and how they differ, if at all? Right now people unfamiliar with these concepts are unable to decide for themselves which one should be used in their cases. – Mirek Długosz Apr 29 '17 at 23:41
As I was. My bad. I will edit the post immediately. Appreciate it. – PyDever May 02 '17 at 06:43
Should be "findstr" instead of just "find" – Anu Shibin Joseph Raj Jul 01 '19 at 08:31

score 4 · Answer 11 · answered Dec 13 '16 at 04:41

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In order to execute two commands at the same time, you must put an & (ampersand) symbol between the two commands. Like so:

color 0a & start chrome.exe

Cheers!

answered Dec 13 '16 at 04:41

PryroTech

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score 4 · Answer 12 · edited Jul 15 '17 at 17:13

I try to have two pings in the same window, and it is a serial command on the same line. After finishing the first, run the second command.

The solution was to combine with start /b on a Windows 7 command prompt.

Start as usual, without /b, and launch in a separate window.

The command used to launch in the same line is:

start /b command1 parameters & command2 parameters

Any way, if you wish to parse the output, I don't recommend to use this. I noticed the output is scrambled between the output of the commands.

score 2 · Answer 13 · answered May 20 '20 at 07:01

2

Use & symbol in windows to use command in one line

C:\Users\Arshdeep Singh>cd Desktop\PROJECTS\PYTHON\programiz & jupyter notebook

like in linux we use,

touch thisfile ; ls -lstrh

answered May 20 '20 at 07:01

Arshdeep Kharbanda

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score 1 · Answer 14 · edited Jul 15 '17 at 17:11

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No, cd / && tree && echo %time%. The time echoed is at when the first command is executed.

The piping has some issue, but it is not critical as long as people know how it works.

edited Jul 15 '17 at 17:11

Peter Mortensen

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answered Jul 22 '16 at 08:56

notarealname

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score 1 · Answer 15 · edited Jul 15 '17 at 17:16

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One more example: For example, when we use the gulp build system, instead of

gulp - default > build

gulp build - build build-folder

gulp watch - start file-watch

gulp dist - build dist-folder

We can do that with one line:

cd c:\xampp\htdocs\project & gulp & gulp watch

edited Jul 15 '17 at 17:16

Peter Mortensen

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answered May 07 '17 at 14:09

Mile Mijatović

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score 1 · Answer 16 · answered Nov 06 '20 at 21:03

With windows 10 you can also use scriptrunner:

ScriptRunner.exe -appvscript demoA.cmd arg1 arg2 -appvscriptrunnerparameters -wait -timeout=30 -rollbackonerror -appvscript demoB.ps1 arg3 arg4 -appvscriptrunnerparameters -wait -timeout=30 -rollbackonerror

it allows you to start few commands on one line you want you can run them consecutive or without waiting each other, you can put timeouts and rollback on error.

score 1 · Answer 17 · answered Feb 22 '22 at 11:37

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In windows, I used all the above solutions &, && but nothing worked Finally ';' symbol worked for me

npm install; npm start

answered Feb 22 '22 at 11:37

Vikas Chauhan

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Bk01 · Answer 18 · 2020-11-25T22:19:54.277

Try to create a .bat ot .cmd file with those lines using doskey key and $T which is equivalent to & to do several command line in just one line :

touch=echo off $T echo. ^> $* $T dir /B $T echo on

It'll create an empty file.

Example:

touch myfile

In cmd you'll get something like this:

But as mentioned previously by others, it is really advised to use & operator to do many command line in one line from CMD prompt.

Enjoy =)

score -1 · Answer 19 · edited Sep 23 '17 at 10:19

-1

When you try to use or manipulate variables in one line beware of their content! E.g. a variable like the following

PATH=C:\Program Files (x86)\somewhere;"C:\Company\Cool Tool";%USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\WindowsApps;

may lead to a lot of unhand-able trouble if you use it as %PATH%

The closing parentheses terminate your group statement
The double quotes don't allow you to use %PATH% to handle the parentheses problem
And what will a referenced variable like %USERPROFILE% contain?

edited Sep 23 '17 at 10:19

answered Aug 11 '17 at 22:22

V15I0N

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What has this to do with running two commands in one line in Windows CMD? – Peter Mortensen Dec 19 '17 at 00:56

score -1 · Answer 20 · edited Nov 06 '19 at 16:56

-1

Yes there is. It's &.

&& will execute command 2 when command 1 is complete providing it didn't fail.

& will execute regardless.

edited Nov 06 '19 at 16:56

answered Apr 19 '19 at 03:29

هادی کشاورز Hadi Keshavarz

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score -2 · Answer 21 · edited Nov 06 '19 at 16:04

-2

It's simple: just differentiate them with && signs. Example:

echo "Hello World" && echo "GoodBye World".

"Goodbye World" will be printed after "Hello World".

edited Nov 06 '19 at 16:04

answered Jun 05 '17 at 15:06

Rajan Dhanowa

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Independent of the fact, that there are already old answers that shows the same, it's still not quite correct. `&&` is a **conditional** operator, the next command is only executed when the first command succeded (errorlevel=0) – jeb Jun 07 '17 at 08:04
of course. it's self evident if the person wanna run two commands those two will be correct and thus everything will go good – Rajan Dhanowa Jun 07 '17 at 18:19
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Rajan: he means "the next command is only executed if the first command succeeds". – Ivan Jun 23 '17 at 15:44
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"_Goodbye World will be printed after Hello World_" provided printing `Hello World` did not fail. as @jeb has said, `&&` is conditional. `&` runs commands regardless if the previous was successful or not. – Pranav A. Aug 19 '17 at 23:55

score -7 · Answer 22 · edited Aug 27 '21 at 08:14

-7

Use && between commands.
For example: cls && echo 'hello' && dir c:

edited Aug 27 '21 at 08:14

Destroyica

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answered Feb 09 '21 at 02:24

anrsaad

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There is a 9 years old answer, describing the same, but with explanations. Btw. `&&` does not always execute the next command, only when the first command executes successfully – jeb Feb 09 '21 at 06:56

How do I run two commands in one line in Windows CMD?

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