How to have multiple colors in a Windows batch file?

windows colors batch-file character-encoding cmd

I was wondering if its possible to have different colored text on the same line in a Windows batch file, for example if it says

echo hi world

I want "hi" to be one color, and "world" to be another color. Maybe I could set the COLOR command as a variable:

set color1= color 2
set color9= color A

and then deploy them both on the same line along with 

echo hi world

but I don't know how I would do that.


Solution 1:

You can do multicolor outputs without any external programs.

@echo off
SETLOCAL EnableDelayedExpansion
for /F "tokens=1,2 delims=#" %%a in ('"prompt #$H#$E# & echo on & for %%b in (1) do rem"') do (
  set "DEL=%%a"
)
echo say the name of the colors, don't read

call :ColorText 0a "blue"
call :ColorText 0C "green"
call :ColorText 0b "red"
echo(
call :ColorText 19 "yellow"
call :ColorText 2F "black"
call :ColorText 4e "white"

goto :eof

:ColorText
echo off
<nul set /p ".=%DEL%" > "%~2"
findstr /v /a:%1 /R "^$" "%~2" nul
del "%~2" > nul 2>&1
goto :eof

It uses the color feature of the findstr command.

Findstr can be configured to output line numbers or filenames in a defined color.
So I first create a file with the text as filename, and the content is a single <backspace> character (ASCII 8).
Then I search all non empty lines in the file and in nul, so the filename will be output in the correct color appended with a colon, but the colon is immediatly removed by the <backspace>.

EDIT: One year later ... all characters are valid

@echo off
setlocal EnableDelayedExpansion
for /F "tokens=1,2 delims=#" %%a in ('"prompt #$H#$E# & echo on & for %%b in (1) do rem"') do (
  set "DEL=%%a"
)

rem Prepare a file "X" with only one dot
<nul > X set /p ".=."

call :color 1a "a"
call :color 1b "b"
call :color 1c "^!<>&| %%%%"*?"
exit /b

:color
set "param=^%~2" !
set "param=!param:"=\"!"
findstr /p /A:%1 "." "!param!\..\X" nul
<nul set /p ".=%DEL%%DEL%%DEL%%DEL%%DEL%%DEL%%DEL%"
exit /b

This uses the rule for valid path/filenames.
If a \..\ is in the path the prefixed elemet will be removed completly and it's not necessary that this element contains only valid filename characters.

Solution 2:

jeb's edited answer comes close to solving all the issues. But it has problems with the following strings:

"a\b\"
"a/b/"
"\"
"/"
"."
".."
"c:"

I've modified his technique to something that I think can truly handle any string of printable characters, except for length limitations.

Other improvements:

  • Uses the %TEMP% location for the temp file, so no longer need write access to the current directory.

  • Created 2 variants, one takes a string literal, the other the name of a variable containing the string. The variable version is generally less convenient, but it eliminates some special character escape issues.

  • Added the /n option as an optional 3rd parameter to append a newline at the end of the output.

Backspace does not work across a line break, so the technique can have problems if the line wraps. For example, printing a string with length between 74 - 79 will not work properly if the console has a line width of 80.

@echo off
setlocal

call :initColorPrint

call :colorPrint 0a "a"
call :colorPrint 0b "b"
set "txt=^" & call :colorPrintVar 0c txt
call :colorPrint 0d "<"
call :colorPrint 0e ">"
call :colorPrint 0f "&"
call :colorPrint 1a "|"
call :colorPrint 1b " "
call :colorPrint 1c "%%%%"
call :colorPrint 1d ^"""
call :colorPrint 1e "*"
call :colorPrint 1f "?"
call :colorPrint 2a "!"
call :colorPrint 2b "."
call :colorPrint 2c ".."
call :colorPrint 2d "/"
call :colorPrint 2e "\"
call :colorPrint 2f "q:" /n
echo(
set complex="c:\hello world!/.\..\\a//^<%%>&|!" /^^^<%%^>^&^|!\
call :colorPrintVar 74 complex /n

call :cleanupColorPrint

exit /b

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

:colorPrint Color  Str  [/n]
setlocal
set "str=%~2"
call :colorPrintVar %1 str %3
exit /b

:colorPrintVar  Color  StrVar  [/n]
if not defined %~2 exit /b
setlocal enableDelayedExpansion
set "str=a%DEL%!%~2:\=a%DEL%\..\%DEL%%DEL%%DEL%!"
set "str=!str:/=a%DEL%/..\%DEL%%DEL%%DEL%!"
set "str=!str:"=\"!"
pushd "%temp%"
findstr /p /A:%1 "." "!str!\..\x" nul
if /i "%~3"=="/n" echo(
exit /b

:initColorPrint
for /F "tokens=1,2 delims=#" %%a in ('"prompt #$H#$E# & echo on & for %%b in (1) do rem"') do set "DEL=%%a"
<nul >"%temp%\x" set /p "=%DEL%%DEL%%DEL%%DEL%%DEL%%DEL%.%DEL%"
exit /b

:cleanupColorPrint
del "%temp%\x"
exit /b


UPDATE 2012-11-27

This method fails on XP because FINDSTR displays backspace as a period on the screen. jeb's original answer works on XP, albeit with the limitations already noted


UPDATE 2012-12-14

There has been a lot of development activity at DosTips and SS64. It turns out that FINDSTR also corrupts file names containing extended ASCII if supplied on the command line. I've updated my FINDSTR Q&A.

Below is a version that works on XP and supports ALL single byte characters except 0x00 (nul), 0x0A (linefeed), and 0x0D (carriage return). However, when running on XP, most control characters will display as dots. This is an inherent feature of FINDSTR on XP that cannot be avoided.

Unfortunately, adding support for XP and for extended ASCII characters slows the routine down :-(

Just for fun, I grabbed some color ASCII art from joan stark's ASCII Art Gallery and adapted it for use with ColorPrint. I added a :c entry point just for shorthand, and to handle an issue with quote literals.

@echo off
setlocal disableDelayedExpansion
set q=^"
echo(
echo(
call :c 0E "                ,      .-;" /n
call :c 0E "             ,  |\    / /  __," /n
call :c 0E "             |\ '.`-.|  |.'.-'" /n
call :c 0E "              \`'-:  `; : /" /n
call :c 0E "               `-._'.  \'|" /n
call :c 0E "              ,_.-=` ` `  ~,_" /n
call :c 0E "               '--,.    "&call :c 0c ".-. "&call :c 0E ",=!q!." /n
call :c 0E "                 /     "&call :c 0c "{ "&call :c 0A "* "&call :c 0c ")"&call :c 0E "`"&call :c 06 ";-."&call :c 0E "}" /n
call :c 0E "                 |      "&call :c 0c "'-' "&call :c 06 "/__ |" /n
call :c 0E "                 /          "&call :c 06 "\_,\|" /n
call :c 0E "                 |          (" /n
call :c 0E "             "&call :c 0c "__ "&call :c 0E "/ '          \" /n
call :c 02 "     /\_    "&call :c 0c "/,'`"&call :c 0E "|     '   "&call :c 0c ".-~!q!~~-." /n
call :c 02 "     |`.\_ "&call :c 0c "|   "&call :c 0E "/  ' ,    "&call :c 0c "/        \" /n
call :c 02 "   _/  `, \"&call :c 0c "|  "&call :c 0E "; ,     . "&call :c 0c "|  ,  '  . |" /n
call :c 02 "   \   `,  "&call :c 0c "|  "&call :c 0E "|  ,  ,   "&call :c 0c "|  :  ;  : |" /n
call :c 02 "   _\  `,  "&call :c 0c "\  "&call :c 0E "|.     ,  "&call :c 0c "|  |  |  | |" /n
call :c 02 "   \`  `.   "&call :c 0c "\ "&call :c 0E "|   '     "&call :c 0A "|"&call :c 0c "\_|-'|_,'\|" /n
call :c 02 "   _\   `,   "&call :c 0A "`"&call :c 0E "\  '  . ' "&call :c 0A "| |  | |  |           "&call :c 02 "__" /n
call :c 02 "   \     `,   "&call :c 0E "| ,  '    "&call :c 0A "|_/'-|_\_/     "&call :c 02 "__ ,-;` /" /n
call :c 02 "    \    `,    "&call :c 0E "\ .  , ' .| | | | |   "&call :c 02 "_/' ` _=`|" /n
call :c 02 "     `\    `,   "&call :c 0E "\     ,  | | | | |"&call :c 02 "_/'   .=!q!  /" /n
call :c 02 "     \`     `,   "&call :c 0E "`\      \/|,| ;"&call :c 02 "/'   .=!q!    |" /n
call :c 02 "      \      `,    "&call :c 0E "`\' ,  | ; "&call :c 02 "/'    =!q!    _/" /n
call :c 02 "       `\     `,  "&call :c 05 ".-!q!!q!-. "&call :c 0E "': "&call :c 02 "/'    =!q!     /" /n
call :c 02 "    jgs _`\    ;"&call :c 05 "_{  '   ; "&call :c 02 "/'    =!q!      /" /n
call :c 02 "       _\`-/__"&call :c 05 ".~  `."&call :c 07 "8"&call :c 05 ".'.!q!`~-. "&call :c 02 "=!q!     _,/" /n
call :c 02 "    __\      "&call :c 05 "{   '-."&call :c 07 "|"&call :c 05 ".'.--~'`}"&call :c 02 "    _/" /n
call :c 02 "    \    .=!q!` "&call :c 05 "}.-~!q!'"&call :c 0D "u"&call :c 05 "'-. '-..'  "&call :c 02 "__/" /n
call :c 02 "   _/  .!q!    "&call :c 05 "{  -'.~('-._,.'"&call :c 02 "\_,/" /n
call :c 02 "  /  .!q!    _/'"&call :c 05 "`--; ;  `.  ;" /n
call :c 02 "   .=!q!  _/'      "&call :c 05 "`-..__,-'" /n
call :c 02 "    __/'" /n
echo(

exit /b

:c
setlocal enableDelayedExpansion
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

:colorPrint Color  Str  [/n]
setlocal
set "s=%~2"
call :colorPrintVar %1 s %3
exit /b

:colorPrintVar  Color  StrVar  [/n]
if not defined DEL call :initColorPrint
setlocal enableDelayedExpansion
pushd .
':
cd \
set "s=!%~2!"
:: The single blank line within the following IN() clause is critical - DO NOT REMOVE
for %%n in (^"^

^") do (
  set "s=!s:\=%%~n\%%~n!"
  set "s=!s:/=%%~n/%%~n!"
  set "s=!s::=%%~n:%%~n!"
)
for /f delims^=^ eol^= %%s in ("!s!") do (
  if "!" equ "" setlocal disableDelayedExpansion
  if %%s==\ (
    findstr /a:%~1 "." "\'" nul
    <nul set /p "=%DEL%%DEL%%DEL%"
  ) else if %%s==/ (
    findstr /a:%~1 "." "/.\'" nul
    <nul set /p "=%DEL%%DEL%%DEL%%DEL%%DEL%"
  ) else (
    >colorPrint.txt (echo %%s\..\')
    findstr /a:%~1 /f:colorPrint.txt "."
    <nul set /p "=%DEL%%DEL%%DEL%%DEL%%DEL%%DEL%%DEL%"
  )
)
if /i "%~3"=="/n" echo(
popd
exit /b


:initColorPrint
for /f %%A in ('"prompt $H&for %%B in (1) do rem"') do set "DEL=%%A %%A"
<nul >"%temp%\'" set /p "=."
subst ': "%temp%" >nul
exit /b


:cleanupColorPrint
2>nul del "%temp%\'"
2>nul del "%temp%\colorPrint.txt"
>nul subst ': /d
exit /b

Solution 3:

Actually this can be done without creating a temporary file. The method described by jeb and dbenham will work even with a target file that contains no backspaces. The critical point is that the line recognized by findstr.exe must not end with a CRLF. So the obvious text file to scan with a line not ending with a CRLF is the invoking batch itself, provided that we end it with such a line! Here's an updated example script working this way...

Changes from the previous example:

  • Uses a single dash on the last line as the searchable string. (Must be short and not appear anywhere else like this in the batch.)
  • Renamed routines and variables to be a little more object-oriented :-)
  • Removed one call level, to slightly improve performance.
  • Added comments (Beginning with :# to look more like most other scripting languages.)
@echo off
setlocal

call :Echo.Color.Init

goto main

:Echo.Color %1=Color %2=Str [%3=/n]
setlocal enableDelayedExpansion
set "str=%~2"
:Echo.Color.2
:# Replace path separators in the string, so that the final path still refers to the current path.
set "str=a%ECHO.DEL%!str:\=a%ECHO.DEL%\..\%ECHO.DEL%%ECHO.DEL%%ECHO.DEL%!"
set "str=!str:/=a%ECHO.DEL%/..\%ECHO.DEL%%ECHO.DEL%%ECHO.DEL%!"
set "str=!str:"=\"!"
:# Go to the script directory and search for the trailing -
pushd "%ECHO.DIR%"
findstr /p /r /a:%~1 "^^-" "!str!\..\!ECHO.FILE!" nul
popd
:# Remove the name of this script from the output. (Dependant on its length.)
for /l %%n in (1,1,12) do if not "!ECHO.FILE:~%%n!"=="" <nul set /p "=%ECHO.DEL%"
:# Remove the other unwanted characters "\..\: -"
<nul set /p "=%ECHO.DEL%%ECHO.DEL%%ECHO.DEL%%ECHO.DEL%%ECHO.DEL%%ECHO.DEL%%ECHO.DEL%"
:# Append the optional CRLF
if not "%~3"=="" echo.
endlocal & goto :eof

:Echo.Color.Var %1=Color %2=StrVar [%3=/n]
if not defined %~2 goto :eof
setlocal enableDelayedExpansion
set "str=!%~2!"
goto :Echo.Color.2

:Echo.Color.Init
set "ECHO.COLOR=call :Echo.Color"
set "ECHO.DIR=%~dp0"
set "ECHO.FILE=%~nx0"
set "ECHO.FULL=%ECHO.DIR%%ECHO.FILE%"
:# Use prompt to store a backspace into a variable. (Actually backspace+space+backspace)
for /F "tokens=1 delims=#" %%a in ('"prompt #$H# & echo on & for %%b in (1) do rem"') do set "ECHO.DEL=%%a"
goto :eof

:main
call :Echo.Color 0a "a"
call :Echo.Color 0b "b"
set "txt=^" & call :Echo.Color.Var 0c txt
call :Echo.Color 0d "<"
call :Echo.Color 0e ">"
call :Echo.Color 0f "&"
call :Echo.Color 1a "|"
call :Echo.Color 1b " "
call :Echo.Color 1c "%%%%"
call :Echo.Color 1d ^"""
call :Echo.Color 1e "*"
call :Echo.Color 1f "?"
:# call :Echo.Color 2a "!"
call :Echo.Color 2b "."
call :Echo.Color 2c ".."
call :Echo.Color 2d "/"
call :Echo.Color 2e "\"
call :Echo.Color 2f "q:" /n
echo(
set complex="c:\hello world!/.\..\\a//^<%%>&|!" /^^^<%%^>^&^|!\
call :Echo.Color.Var 74 complex /n

exit /b

:# The following line must be last and not end by a CRLF.
-

PS. I'm having a problem with the output of the ! character that you did not have in the previous example. (Or at least you did not have the same symptoms.) To be investigated.

Solution 4:

If you have a modern Windows (that has powershell installed), the following may work fine as well

call :PrintBright Something Something

  (do actual batch stuff here)

call :PrintBright Done!
goto :eof


:PrintBright
powershell -Command Write-Host "%*" -foreground "White"

Adjust the color as you see fit.

Solution 5:

Combining dbenham's bird and syntax with skrebbel's powershell write-host method, it seems that powershell can render complex art more quickly than dbenham's pure batch method (well, after powershell has been primed once, anyway). Minimal massaging of the strings are needed, although I haven't tested this with anything other than the bird. If you want a bright green end-of-transmission character for example, you may be out of luck. :)

This method requires echoing out to a temp file, simply because invoking powershell for each call :c takes forever, and it's much faster to queue the output for one powershell invocation. But it does have the advantage of simplicity and efficiency.

@echo off
setlocal disableDelayedExpansion
set q=^"
echo(
echo(
call :c 0E "                ,      .-;" /n
call :c 0E "             ,  |\    / /  __," /n
call :c 0E "             |\ '.`-.|  |.'.-'" /n
call :c 0E "              \`'-:  `; : /" /n
call :c 0E "               `-._'.  \'|" /n
call :c 0E "              ,_.-=` ` `  ~,_" /n
call :c 0E "               '--,.    "&call :c 0c ".-. "&call :c 0E ",=!q!." /n
call :c 0E "                 /     "&call :c 0c "{ "&call :c 0A "* "&call :c 0c ")"&call :c 0E "`"&call :c 06 ";-."&call :c 0E "}" /n
call :c 0E "                 |      "&call :c 0c "'-' "&call :c 06 "/__ |" /n
call :c 0E "                 /          "&call :c 06 "\_,\|" /n
call :c 0E "                 |          (" /n
call :c 0E "             "&call :c 0c "__ "&call :c 0E "/ '          \" /n
call :c 02 "     /\_    "&call :c 0c "/,'`"&call :c 0E "|     '   "&call :c 0c ".-~!q!~~-." /n
call :c 02 "     |`.\_ "&call :c 0c "|   "&call :c 0E "/  ' ,    "&call :c 0c "/        \" /n
call :c 02 "   _/  `, \"&call :c 0c "|  "&call :c 0E "; ,     . "&call :c 0c "|  ,  '  . |" /n
call :c 02 "   \   `,  "&call :c 0c "|  "&call :c 0E "|  ,  ,   "&call :c 0c "|  :  ;  : |" /n
call :c 02 "   _\  `,  "&call :c 0c "\  "&call :c 0E "|.     ,  "&call :c 0c "|  |  |  | |" /n
call :c 02 "   \`  `.   "&call :c 0c "\ "&call :c 0E "|   '     "&call :c 0A "|"&call :c 0c "\_|-'|_,'\|" /n
call :c 02 "   _\   `,   "&call :c 0A "`"&call :c 0E "\  '  . ' "&call :c 0A "| |  | |  |           "&call :c 02 "__" /n
call :c 02 "   \     `,   "&call :c 0E "| ,  '    "&call :c 0A "|_/'-|_\_/     "&call :c 02 "__ ,-;` /" /n
call :c 02 "    \    `,    "&call :c 0E "\ .  , ' .| | | | |   "&call :c 02 "_/' ` _=`|" /n
call :c 02 "     `\    `,   "&call :c 0E "\     ,  | | | | |"&call :c 02 "_/'   .=!q!  /" /n
call :c 02 "     \`     `,   "&call :c 0E "`\      \/|,| ;"&call :c 02 "/'   .=!q!    |" /n
call :c 02 "      \      `,    "&call :c 0E "`\' ,  | ; "&call :c 02 "/'    =!q!    _/" /n
call :c 02 "       `\     `,  "&call :c 05 ".-!q!!q!-. "&call :c 0E "': "&call :c 02 "/'    =!q!     /" /n
call :c 02 "    jgs _`\    ;"&call :c 05 "_{  '   ; "&call :c 02 "/'    =!q!      /" /n
call :c 02 "       _\`-/__"&call :c 05 ".~  `."&call :c 07 "8"&call :c 05 ".'.!q!`~-. "&call :c 02 "=!q!     _,/" /n
call :c 02 "    __\      "&call :c 05 "{   '-."&call :c 07 "|"&call :c 05 ".'.--~'`}"&call :c 02 "    _/" /n
call :c 02 "    \    .=!q!` "&call :c 05 "}.-~!q!'"&call :c 0D "u"&call :c 05 "'-. '-..'  "&call :c 02 "__/" /n
call :c 02 "   _/  .!q!    "&call :c 05 "{  -'.~('-._,.'"&call :c 02 "\_,/" /n
call :c 02 "  /  .!q!    _/'"&call :c 05 "`--; ;  `.  ;" /n
call :c 02 "   .=!q!  _/'      "&call :c 05 "`-..__,-'" /n
call :c 02 "    __/'" /n

if exist "%temp%\color.psm1" (
    powershell -command "&{set-executionpolicy remotesigned; Import-Module '%temp%\color.psm1'}"
    del "%temp%\color.psm1"
)

echo(

exit /b

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

:c <color pair> <string> </n>
setlocal enabledelayedexpansion
set "colors=0-black;1-darkblue;2-darkgreen;3-darkcyan;4-darkred;5-darkmagenta;6-darkyellow;7-gray;8-darkgray;9-blue;a-green;b-cyan;c-red;d-magenta;e-yellow;f-white"
set "p=%~1"
set "bg=!colors:*%p:~0,1%-=!"
set bg=%bg:;=&rem.%
set "fg=!colors:*%p:~-1%-=!"
set fg=%fg:;=&rem.%

if not "%~3"=="/n" set "br=-nonewline"
set "str=%~2" & set "str=!str:'=''!"

>>"%temp%\color.psm1" echo write-host '!str!' -foregroundcolor '%fg%' -backgroundcolor '%bg%' %br%
endlocal

Result:

enter image description here

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