FileHint
JAEN

.bat

High risk

Windows Batch Script

A Windows batch script run by the Command Prompt. Double-clicking executes the commands inside — and therefore can do anything a user can.

MIME types

  • application/x-bat
  • application/bat
  • text/plain

Category

executable

Aliases

.cmd

What opens this file

  • Command Prompt
  • PowerShell
  • VS Code (editing)

How to open by OS

Windows

  • Double-click to run, or invoke from CMD.

Mac

  • Not directly; possible via Wine.

Linux

  • Not directly runnable.

Ios

  • Cannot run.

Android

  • Cannot run.

Safety notes

  • A .bat in an attachment or extracted ZIP can chain into PowerShell or WSH to download and execute malware faster than most AVs react.

Common mistakes

  • Skipping @echo off at the top floods the console with every command — breaks readability for automation scripts.
  • UTF-8 encoded files can mangle non-ASCII characters. Use Shift_JIS (for Japanese) or prepend chcp 65001.

Related extensions

References