PAUSE

Section: Misc. Reference Manual Pages (utility )
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NAME

PAUSE - Displays a message and waits for a keystroke

PAUSE [/K=keys] [/Q] [/R] [message]

PAUSE suspends whatever you have going on at the moment (like a batch file) and displays a message, waiting for a keypress.

PAUSE can be set to wait for a particular set of keys to be pressed, and can also return the key pressed via the ERRORLEVEL variable.

If you redirect the input to PAUSE you defeat its purpose. That would be a silly thing to do.

/K=keys - Forces PAUSE to wait until the key of one of the specified characters is pressed. If any other key is pressed, PAUSE will sound a beep.

/Q - Prevents PAUSE from beeping when the /K switch is used.

/R - PAUSE returns the ASCII value of the key pressed. This is available through the ERRORLEVEL variable. For example, 'A' would return 65.

message - Message to be displayed on the screen. If no message is specified, a generic message will be supplied.

James Hall

To suspend execution of a batch file until any key is pressed:

PAUSE

To suspend execution of a batch file with the message "Y/N?" while returning the value of the key pressed:

PAUSE /R Y/N?

To suspend execution of a batch file until 'A' 'B' or 'C' is pressed, along with a message to that effect:

PAUSE /K=ABCabc Press A B or C:

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Time: 19:44:26 GMT, February 07, 2023