Windows batch file starting directory when 'run as admin'

Question

I have a batch file which is in a directory and must be run from there as well because it updates files within this directory.
This works perfectly fine, except when the user runs the batch file as administrator (required on Vista). Then the starting directory is C:\Windows\System32.

Is there any way to still be able to know from which directory the batch file was run?
I dont want the user to enter the directory manually.

https://stackoverflow.com/q/47234901/340790 points out the general problem here, that there are lots of answers all saying to modify the command script, and _no_ answers explaining how to get the actual shortcut to work properly and have the initial working directory where the shortcut actually says it to be. It's worth noting that this working directory problem in shortcuts applies to more than scripts. It apples to executables and DLLs invoked via `rundll32` as well. See it applying to `cmd` at https://stackoverflow.com/q/18756671/340790 for example. — JdeBP, Mar 11 '21 at 08:39

Martin · Accepted Answer · 2011-02-08T12:55:40.470

Try to access the batch files path like this:

echo %~dp0

For more information see the following quote from the command for /? that describes how the above command works:

You can now use the following optional syntax:

    %~I         - expands %I removing any surrounding quotes (")
    %~fI        - expands %I to a fully qualified path name
    %~dI        - expands %I to a drive letter only
    %~pI        - expands %I to a path only
    %~nI        - expands %I to a file name only
    %~xI        - expands %I to a file extension only
    %~sI        - expanded path contains short names only
    %~aI        - expands %I to file attributes of file
    %~tI        - expands %I to date/time of file
    %~zI        - expands %I to size of file
    %~$PATH:I   - searches the directories listed in the PATH
                   environment variable and expands %I to the
                   fully qualified name of the first one found.
                   If the environment variable name is not
                   defined or the file is not found by the
                   search, then this modifier expands to the
                   empty string

The modifiers can be combined to get compound results:

    %~dpI       - expands %I to a drive letter and path only
    %~nxI       - expands %I to a file name and extension only
    %~fsI       - expands %I to a full path name with short names only
    %~dp$PATH:I - searches the directories listed in the PATH
                   environment variable for %I and expands to the
                   drive letter and path of the first one found.
    %~ftzaI     - expands %I to a DIR like output line

@stucampbell try the command 'for /?' to get a detailed description of how this works (scroll down to page 4) — Martin, Feb 08 '11 at 11:26
@Donny V it does work on Windows 8.1 - I tried it. Keep in mind that this will only work if you are running it within a batch file. — Martin, Jun 16 '15 at 04:32

score 63 · Answer 2 · answered Feb 08 '11 at 12:59

63

Better than cd is pushd which will

change drive letter if starting from D:\...
assign a drive letter if on a UNC network path

So pushd %~dp0 is good.

Good practice is then to call popd when done.

answered Feb 08 '11 at 12:59

Benoit

76,634
23
210
236

Great solution for systems with multiple volumes, and works in Windows 7, 8, 8.1, and 10, +1 – Bit Fracture Aug 15 '15 at 03:24
`pushd "..." && ( ... & popd )` to chain it with `popd` on a single line (`&` needs for single line) – Andry Nov 04 '22 at 15:03

score 48 · Answer 3 · edited Jan 31 '16 at 21:26

48

This should solve your problem by setting the working directory for the batch file back to the current directory:

Include these two lines at the top of your .bat script:

@setlocal enableextensions
@cd /d "%~dp0"

Found at: http://www.codeproject.com/Tips/119828/Running-a-bat-file-as-administrator-Correcting-cur

edited Jan 31 '16 at 21:26

Community

1
1

answered May 15 '15 at 10:13

NMrt

730
8
15

3

This is perfect. Solved my "file not found" issue when running the bat file as administrator. – Aloha Jul 07 '17 at 04:35

score 5 · Answer 4 · answered Jun 22 '20 at 11:39

5

To fix this problem, include these two lines at the top of your .bat script:

@setlocal enableextensions
@cd /d "%~dp0"

answered Jun 22 '20 at 11:39

Majid Azarniush

643
1
6
13

score 1 · Answer 5 · answered Feb 01 '20 at 07:02

1

@setlocal enableextensions

@cd /d "%~dp0"

answered Feb 01 '20 at 07:02

Syed Abdul Haseeb

11
1

score 1 · Answer 6 · answered Jun 01 '09 at 18:55

1

I use:

cd %0..

at the beginning of the batch file to change directory to the directory where the batch file was started in.

-Mathew

answered Jun 01 '09 at 18:55

Mathew

317
1
3
8

2

That won't change drive letter. – Jorge Fuentes González May 02 '14 at 16:59
This is actually the best solution, just change it to `cd %0/../` – St3ve R0nix Jan 16 '20 at 14:06

score 0 · Answer 7 · answered Nov 20 '15 at 18:46

You can CD directly from the file name by adding the parent (not tested in windows 8.x, but has worked "forever" as far as I can remember).

CD %FILENAME%\..

and CD will change drives as well using /D, which is shown above but not explicitly mentioned so might be missed. CD /D %FILENAME%\..

(FOR /? IF /? SET /? CALL /? GOTO /? all provide highly useful reading if you use cmd.exe, I reread them once in a while.)

score -1 · Answer 8 · answered Oct 25 '10 at 12:29

-1

A working solution here:

http://www.vistax64.com/vista-general/79849-run-administrator-changes-default-directory.html

FOR /F %%I IN ("%0") DO SET BATDIR=%%~dpI

ECHO The batch file is located in directory %BATDIR%

answered Oct 25 '10 at 12:29

domotor

1

4

You can use `%~dp0` directly. No need to invoke `for` here. – Joey Oct 27 '10 at 11:37

Windows batch file starting directory when 'run as admin'

8 Answers8

Linked

Related