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

Syntax

pause

Parameters

Remarks

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

• You can insert thepause command before a section of the batch file that you might not want to process. Whenpause suspends processing of the batch program, you can press CTRL+C and then pressY 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:Begincopy a:*.*echo Put a new disk into Drive Apausegoto 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, thepause 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—thegoto begin command sends the command interpreter to the Begin label of the batch file.

Related links

• Command-Line Syntax Key