Print command

Updated: 11/12/2023 by Computer Hope

The print command allows users to print a text file to a line printer, in the background.

Note

If you need to print a file that cannot be opened from a command line (e-mail, picture, document, etc.), you must use a different program. See: How to print a document, picture, or another file.

Availability

Print is an external command that is available for the following Microsoft operating systems. Print was introduced in MS-DOS 2.0 as print.com and later was changed to print.exe in MS-DOS 5.0 and all later versions of MS-DOS and Windows.

Windows Vista and later syntax

PRINT [/D:device] [[drive:][path]file name[...]]

/D:device

Specifies a print device.

Windows XP and earlier syntax

print /d:device /b:size /u:ticks1 /m:ticks2 /s:ticks3 /q:size /t drive:\path\ file name /c /p

Options:

/d:device	Name of the printer device. Printer Ports: LPT1, LPT2 or LPT3. Serial Ports: COM1, COM2, COM3 or COM4.
/b:size	Sets size (in bytes) of the internal buffer. Default=512 with a range of 512 to 16384.
/u:ticks1	Maximum number of clock ticks PRINT is to wait for a printer to become available. Default=1 with a range of 1 to 255.
/m:ticks2	Maximum number of clock ticks PRINT can take to print a character. Default=2 with a range of 1 to 255.
/s:ticks3	Maximum number of clock ticks allocated for background printing. Default=8 with a range of 1 to 255.
/q:qsize	Maximum number of files allowed in print queue. Default=10 with a range of 1 to 255.
/t	Removes files from the print queue.
drive:\path\ file name	Location and file name of the file to be printed.
/c	Removes files from the print queue.
/p	Adds files to the print queue.

Print examples

Note

The print command is only able to print ASCII text. The /d, /b, /u, /m, /s, and /q switches can only be used once. If you require a different value, the computer must be restarted.

print c:\file.txt /c /d:lpt1

Prints the file.txt file to the parallel port lpt1.