I need a CMD command in Windows to switch to an already open application. Something like Alt + Tab. But if Alt + Tab, he may switch to another application that is not right.
If I have three open applications, I would like the command you switch to a specific.
You can use nircmd from nirsoft to do this.
Example:
nircmd win activate title "Calculator"
Notes:
NirCmd is a small command-line utility that allows you to do some useful tasks without displaying any user interface. By running NirCmd with simple command-line option, you can write and delete values and keys in the Registry, write values into INI file, dial to your internet account or connect to a VPN network, restart windows or shut down the computer, create shortcut to a file, change the created/modified date of a file, change your display settings, turn off your monitor, open the door of your CD-ROM drive, and more...
Source nircmd
I am not affiliated with nirsoft in any way, I am just an end user of the software.
The solution with 1 line of initialisation and 1 line calling. The calling is %tmp%\switch.vbs ... used twice below.
Title %vTitle%
:: preparation (initialisation)
@echo WScript.CreateObject("WScript.Shell").AppActivate(WScript.Arguments.Item(0))>%tmp%\switch.vbs
:: some cmd lines exposing other windows
:: ...
:: just as an example to start the notepad
start "" notepad
:: use 1: focus back on this cmd window
%tmp%\switch.vbs %vTitle%
:: ...
:: use 2: focus to an application with <application name>
%tmp%\switch.vbs "<application name>"
Other possible solution: AutoIt:
Solution found at: Application to automatically switch between two applications in Windows
:)
Win CMD, batch files & DOS are command line (CLI) utilities, and if you're looking at switching application windows, you need scripts that work with GUI.
VBScript comes "installed by default in every desktop release of Microsoft Windows since Windows 98" and "gained support from Windows system administrators seeking an automation tool more powerful than the batch language".
JScript has been supported since then too, and has syntax similar to Javascript, "Microsoft's dialect of the ECMAScript".
Either VBS or JS codes can be inserted into & run from batch files, and hosted by either cscript (console) or wscript (window).
To "switch to an already open application" via Win CMD:
Save this as switch.vbs
Dim WshShell
Set WshShell = WScript.CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
Dim ARGS
set ARGS=WScript.Arguments
WshShell.AppActivate(ARGS.Item(0))
WshShell.SendKeys("~")
WScript.Echo(ARGS.Item(0) + " activated")
WScript.Quit(0)
Then switch.vbs "<application name>"
or
Save this as switch.bat
@if (@a==@a) @end /*
cscript //E:JScript //nologo "%~f0" %*
REM --- Insert other batch codes here ---
exit /b
*/
// --- JScript codes below this line ----
var WshShell = WScript.CreateObject("WScript.Shell");
var ARGS = WScript.Arguments;
WshShell.AppActivate(ARGS.Item(0));
WshShell.SendKeys("~");
WScript.Echo(ARGS.Item(0) + " activated");
WScript.Quit(0);
Then run switch.bat "<application name>"
If you don't want to create a separate file like above solutions or download external programs like nircmd or nirsoft to run from Win CMD (ie. a solution that can be effected from Win CMD only ), then either echo to temp file then delete after calling, or store all commands in a variable then command the variable.
Tested in Win 10
Here is a cmd one-liner with no external dependency. It is designed to start or bring-to-front Microsoft Edge, which has multiple processes and we have to find the correct one first (the one with a MainWindowHandle).
powershell -command "$edgeProcess = Get-Process -Name msedge -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue | Where-Object { $_.MainWindowHandle -ne 0 }; if ($edgeProcess) { (New-Object -ComObject wscript.shell).AppActivate($edgeProcess.Id) } else { Start-Process msedge }"
