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I want to create a few batch files to automate a program.

My question is when I create the batch file, what is the current directory? Is it the directory where the file is located or is it the same directory that appears in the command prompt, or something else?

MervS
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Aaron de Windt
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9 Answers9

1100

From within your batch file:

  • %cd% refers to the current working directory (variable)
  • %~dp0 refers to the full path to the batch file's directory (static)
  • %~dpnx0 and %~f0 both refer to the full path to the batch directory and file name (static).

See also: What does %~dp0 mean, and how does it work?

Community
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JRL
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    @Јοеу - `%0` could give the name of the current subroutine, but `%~dp0` will **always** give the full path to the executing batch file. – dbenham Jun 12 '13 at 11:19
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    Actually, it looks like %~dp0 gives the full path to the *directory* that the executing batch file is in. %~dpnx0 (which is equivalent to %~f0) gives the full path to the batch file. See http://www.robvanderwoude.com/parameters.php for more details. – deadlydog Jul 11 '13 at 20:08
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    See also good detailed answers of a similar question: [Get list of passed arguments in Windows batch script (.bat)](http://stackoverflow.com/q/357315/938111) – oHo Sep 23 '13 at 15:37
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    Unfortunately when run as a process from .net %~dp0 is the working directory not the batch files directory, Found this out the hard way. – trampster Jan 29 '18 at 22:44
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    As a more explicit example, when right-clicking on a `.cmd` file and running as administrator, `%cd%` gives `C:\WINDOWS\system32` and `%~dp0` gives the batch file directory with trailing slash. – icc97 Feb 27 '18 at 09:10
  • I didn't searched much, but %~dpnx0 was not working on my system (classical Windows 10). But %~dp0 was ok. – AFract Mar 08 '21 at 11:22
  • What about one batch STARTing or CALLing another? Do either of those affect `%~dp0`, `%~dpnx0`, or `%~f0`? I would assume these values are grabbed when the command window/cmd process starts, so START would change it and CALL would not, but we all know what happens when one *assumes*, especially with Windows. – Twisted Code May 22 '21 at 15:42
  • also is there a delayed expansion compatible version of these variables? I prefer to use delayed expansion for anything that supports it, but neither `!~dp0` nor `!~dp0!` seem to be valid – Twisted Code May 22 '21 at 17:08
27

It usually is the directory from which the batch file is started, but if you start the batch file from a shortcut, a different starting directory could be given. Also, when you'r in cmd, and your current directory is c:\dir3, you can still start the batch file using c:\dir1\dir2\batch.bat in which case, the current directory will be c:\dir3.

GolezTrol
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13

In a batch file, %cd% is the most commonly used command for the current directory, although you can set your own variable:

set mypath=%cd%
echo %mypath% (where %mypath% is the current directory that the batch file is sitting in)

So say you were wanting to open Myprog.exe. If it was in the same folder, you would use the command:

start %mypath%\Myprog.exe

That would open Myprog from the current folder.

The other option is to make a directory in C: called AutomatePrograms. Then, you transfer your files to that folder then you can open them using the following command:

start "" "C:\AutomatePrograms\Myprog1.exe"
start "" "C:\AutomatePrograms\Myprog2.exe"
start "" "C:\AutomatePrograms\Myprog3.exe"
Tom
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J. Bond
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    As noted in the top answer here, `%cd%` is variable, so running the batch file from Windows Explorer as admin will give `C:\WINDOWS\system32` which is almost certainly not what you want. `%~dp0` is more consistent. – icc97 Feb 27 '18 at 09:14
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Say you were opening a file in your current directory. The command would be:

 start %cd%\filename.filetype

I hope I answered your question.

Pablo Claus
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Ping Multiple Times
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6

It is the directory from where you run the command to execute your batch file.

As mentioned in the above answers you can add the below command to your script to verify:

> set current_dir=%cd%
> echo %current_dir%
g00glen00b
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anuj0901
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4

It is the directory from where you start the batch file. E.g. if your batch is in c:\dir1\dir2 and you do cd c:\dir3, then run the batch, the current directory will be c:\dir3.

icyrock.com
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1

Just my 2 cents. The following command fails if called from batch file (Windows 7) placed on pendrive:

xcopy /s /e /i %cd%Ala C:\KS\Ala

But this does the job:

xcopy /s /e /i %~dp0Ala C:\KS\Ala
Darek Adamkiewicz
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  • This is the switch that I was looking for to determine the parent directory path of my bat file without that batch file name: `%~dp0` – Ammar Mohammad Aug 03 '19 at 12:49
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%__CD__% , %CD% , %=C:%

There's also another dynamic variable %__CD__% which points to the current directory but alike %CD% it has a backslash at the end. This can be useful if you want to append files to the current directory.

With %=C:% %=D:% you can access the last accessed directory for the corresponding drive. If the variable is not defined you haven't accessed the drive on the current cmd session.

And %__APPDIR__% expands to the executable that runs the current script a.k.a. cmd.exe directory.

npocmaka
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0

Your bat file should be in the directory that the bat file is/was in when you opened it. However if you want to put it into a different directory you can do so with cd [whatever directory]

czpy
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