open program minimized via command prompt

Question

I have a windows 8.1 machine and I want to open a program with minimized window. For a program like notepad, I just use the following command:

start /min "" "C:\Windows\notepad.exe"

and then a new notepad window starts in minimized mode.

The problem is that not all programs do this. When I want to start for instance MS Word in minimized mode I use:

start /min "" "C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\Office12\WINWORD.EXE"

but then a new Word windows starts up in MAXIMIZED mode.

Is there a way to start it minimized?

You can use external application (like http://www.commandline.co.uk/cmdow/index.html ) to minimize any window after running. — Ilya, Apr 14 '14 at 10:19
Back then, the commands I posted didn't do what I wanted, but now they do. I don't know why. Maybe some kind of update? — barbar, Apr 06 '15 at 09:25

score 49 · Answer 1 · answered Apr 03 '15 at 06:55

49

I tried this commands in my PC.It is working fine....

To open notepad in minimized mode:

start /min "" "C:\Windows\notepad.exe"

To open MS word in minimized mode:

start /min "" "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office14\WINWORD.EXE"

answered Apr 03 '15 at 06:55

Jayaraj

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Works fine for Windows 10. Thanks! – DriLLFreAK100 Oct 23 '18 at 13:25
this answer should be the first displayed (even if there was an accepted answered) since the votes shows that it's obviously a better answer than the others. – ashleedawg Jan 21 '19 at 10:55
Insight on opening a currently open and minimized program to the foreground without making it full-screen? – jon.bray.eth Nov 12 '20 at 19:35
This may work for WINWORD.exe, but does not work for every application out there. For instance, this does not work for vmware.exe (vmware workstation). – Dave Mar 26 '22 at 15:27

score 4 · Answer 2 · answered Jul 21 '15 at 05:23

4

Try this

Go to the properties of the shortcut that points to the program (ALT ENTER or right click->properties); if there is no shortcut to it, you can make it by dragging and dropping the program while holding CTRL SHIFT;
Click in the Normal window dropdown, and choose minimized;
Save and run the shortcut.

answered Jul 21 '15 at 05:23

Allan Denis

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Oh, sorry, pal. I just realized that you're looking for a CLI solution. Anyway, I hope this GUI way helps you somehow. :P – Allan Denis Jul 21 '15 at 05:25

score 2 · Answer 3 · answered Nov 17 '15 at 02:16

You could try using the third-party tool called NirCmd. It is a genuine, free command line utility. If or when you have it, use this code in a batch file:

title Open Word
nircmd win hide title "Open Word"
start "C:\Program" "Files" "(x86)\Microsoft" "Office\Office12\WINWORD.exe
nircmd wait 20
nircmd win min foreground
exit

This program, in order, changes its title, hides itself according to its title, starts Word, waits 20 milliseconds as a buffer for Word to settle, minimizes Word by assuming it is now the top window, and then exits itself. This program should work as intended as long as their are no key presses or clicks in that ~50 millisecond time window, which shouldn't be hard.

As for installing nircmd on your computer, use this link, and click "Download NirCmd" at the bottom of the page. Save the .zip folder to a normal directory (like "My Documents"), extract it, and copy "nircmd.exe" to %systemroot%\system32, and there you go. Now you have nircmd included with your command line utilities.

score 1 · Answer 4 · edited Apr 03 '15 at 06:40

1

Try:

start  "" "C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\Office12\WINWORD.EXE" --new-window/min

I had the same problem, but I was trying to open chrome.exe maximized. If I put the /min anywhere else in the command line, like before or after the empty title, it was ignored.

edited Apr 03 '15 at 06:40

Dmitriy

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answered Apr 03 '15 at 06:37

yendao42

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That doens't work on my pc. But I retried my original command (the one I posted in the question). It didn't work then, but now it does. Maybe due to some update? – barbar Apr 06 '15 at 09:24
This is great on Windows 7! `C:\Windows\System32\taskmgr.exe --new-window/min` – John Jun 21 '16 at 19:48

score 0 · Answer 5 · answered Nov 20 '19 at 08:22

0

Local Windows 10 ActiveMQ server :

@echo off
start /min "" "C:\Install\apache-activemq\5.15.10\bin\win64\activemq.bat" start

answered Nov 20 '19 at 08:22

dobrivoje

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score 0 · Answer 6 · edited Dec 31 '21 at 07:18

Its actually not so simple.

It depends what you're trying to do and how the program behaves/interacts with Windows and UAC.

Certain programs will not start from a shortcut (for whatever reason that Windows determines). I have such a case with ViceVersa. I wanted to run the scheduler (VVScheduler) and no way could I get it to run via a shortcut in the user startup folder"s". Even with UAC disabled. Just would not start. Even tried adding it direct to the registry, no luck. So I was confined to using a batch file to run it at startup.

In my case I was unable to get it to open minimized, I tired the various syntax options offered in this post, none worked for me. I've resorted to just clicking the "-" on the VVScheduler window after startup.

score -2 · Answer 7 · edited May 07 '20 at 18:10

-2

For the people which are looking for the opposite (aka fullscreen), it's very simple. Because you just have to replace the settings /min by /max.

Now the program will be open at the "maximized" size ! In the case, perhaps you will need an example : start /max explorer.exe.

edited May 07 '20 at 18:10

Dragonthoughts

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8
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answered May 07 '20 at 15:13

Wagner_SOFC

117
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score -4 · Answer 8 · answered Jul 16 '20 at 21:42

-4

The answer is simple. Just look at the image.

answered Jul 16 '20 at 21:42

ADM-IT

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open program minimized via command prompt

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