15/12/2022, 13:37 In DOS, how can I modify my prompt or the screen color?

ARCHIVED: In DOS, how can I modify my

prompt or the screen color?
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support this software.

You can use the prompt command to personalize the DOS prompt. The format of the command is:

prompt text

where text is a line of text that specifies the format of the prompt.

Changing Prompt Information

Place the following special codes in the text string to produce special information or characters:

Code Result

$_ Enter/Linefeed

$$ Dollar sign

$b | (pipe)

$d Current date

$e ASCII escape code (code 27)

$g > (greater-than sign)

$h Backspace

$l < (less-than sign)

$n Current drive

$p Current drive and path

$q = (equal sign)

$t Current time

$v DOS version number

Code Result

$_contentEnter/Linefeed
Skip to

Skip to
$$search Dollar sign
Skip to login

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15/12/2022, 13:37 In DOS, how can I modify my prompt or the screen color?

Code Result

$b | (pipe)

$d Current date

$e ASCII escape code (code 27)

$g > (greater-than sign)

$h Backspace

$l < (less-than sign)

$n Current drive

$p Current drive and path

$q = (equal sign)

$t Current time

$v DOS version number

For example, a typical use of the prompt command is:

prompt $p$g

This produces a prompt that consists of the current drive and path followed by a greater-than sign. Once you have
found a prompt that you like, you should include the prompt command that produces it as an entry in your
AUTOEXEC.BAT file, located in the root directory.

Changing Colors
If you wish to produce text of different colors, you will need to install the ANSI screen driver. Make sure that the file
ANSI.SYS exists on your hard drive and is correctly referenced in an entry in your CONFIG.SYS file, similar to the
following:

DEVICE = C:\DOS\ANSI.SYS

The above example assumes that the ANSI.SYS file is located in your DOS directory on the C: drive. Replace the
drive letter and/or path information as necessary on your own computer.

Note: ANSI.SYS replacements such as NANSI.SYS or FCONSOLE.DEV may also work, but may be incompatible with
some software.

You can change the colors of the text in the DOS prompt (and the color attributes of the screen) using the following
escape sequence:

$e[xx;yy;zzm

where xx = attribute code, yy = foreground color code, and zz = background color code.

A table of the color codes follows:

Code Color

Skip to content
0 Turn Off Attributes
Skip to search
1 High Intensity
Skip to login

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15/12/2022, 13:37 In DOS, how can I modify my prompt or the screen color?

Code Color

2 Normal Intensity

4 Underline (mono only)

5 Blink

7 Reverse Video

8 Invisible

30 Black

31 Red

32 Green

33 Yellow

34 Blue

35 Magenta

36 Cyan

37 White

40 Black

41 Red

42 Green

43 Yellow

44 Blue

45 Magenta

46 Cyan

47 White

Code Color

0 Turn Off Attributes

1 High Intensity

2 Normal Intensity

4 Underline (mono only)

5 Blink

7 Reverse Video

8 Invisible

30
Skip to content Black

Skip to search
31 Red
Skip to login

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15/12/2022, 13:37 In DOS, how can I modify my prompt or the screen color?

Code Color

32 Green

33 Yellow

34 Blue

35 Magenta

36 Cyan

37 White

40 Black

41 Red

42 Green

43 Yellow

44 Blue

45 Magenta

46 Cyan

47 White
For example, the following command will result in a bright red C:\> prompt and bright yellow text on a blue
background.

C:\> prompt $e[1;31;44m$p$g$e[1;33;44m

Including color specifications in the prompt command changes not only the color of the prompt, but also the color of
other text that you type or display. In the above example, the prompt will appear red, but other text will show up as
yellow on blue.

Sample Prompts
For some interesting prompts, cut and paste as entries in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file one of the following command lines
that begin with the prompt command:

GO IU!:
prompt $e[5;37GOm$e[5;31mIU$e[0;33m$p$g

Merry Christmas:
prompt $e[1;5;37m *$_$e[0;32;40m 1$_ $e[1;31;42m u $_$e[33;42m
x o $e[30;40m$e[K$_ _$_$e[31m MERRY$_CHRISTMAS!$_$e[37m$p$g

Jack o' Lantern:

prompt $e[1;32;40m Z$_$e[33;43m $e[40m$e[K$_$e[43m $_
__ $e[37;40m$e[37;40m$e[K$_ BOO!$_$_$e[35m $p$g$e[37m
Skip to content

Skip to search

Skip to login

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15/12/2022, 13:37 In DOS, how can I modify my prompt or the screen color?

Choo choo train:

prompt
$e[44;37;5m$e[16C$e[0;44;1;31m$_111$e[36m111$e[31m111$e[3
5m11 1\]$_$e[32;5mx x x x x x x$e[0;1;44;37m$e[1A$p$g

This is document aamm in the Knowledge Base.

Last modified on 2018-01-18 08:50:34.

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