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pause

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Suspends the processing of a batch program, displaying the prompt, Press any key to continue . . .

Syntax

pause

Parameters

Parameter Description
/? Displays help at the command prompt.

Remarks

  • If you press CTRL+C to stop a batch program, the following message appears, Terminate batch job (Y/N)?. If you press Y (for yes) in response to this message, the batch program ends and control returns to the operating system.

  • You can insert the pause command before a section of the batch file that you might not want to process. When pause suspends processing of the batch program, you can press CTRL+C and then press Y to stop the batch program.

Examples

To create a batch program that prompts the user to change disks in one of the drives, type:

@echo off
:Begin
copy a:*.*
echo Put a new disk into Drive A
pause
goto begin

In this example, all the files on the disk in Drive A are copied to the current directory. After the message prompts you to put a new disk in Drive A, the pause command suspends processing so that you can change disks and then press any key to resume processing. This batch program runs in an endless loop—the goto begin command sends the command interpreter to the Begin label of the batch file.