for

Runs a specified command for each file, within a set of files. Windows commands reference

On Windows

Windows

from the Windows commands reference, CC BY 4.0

for {%% | %}<variable> in (<set>) do <command> [<commandlineoptions>]

(*.doc)

(*.doc *.txt *.me)

(jan*.doc jan*.rpt feb*.doc feb*.rpt)

(ar??1991.* ap??1991.*)

for /d {%%|%}<variable> in (<set>) do <command> [<commandlineoptions>]

for /r [[<drive>:]<path>] {%%|%}<variable> in (<set>) do <command> [<commandlineoptions>]

for /l {%%|%}<variable> in (<start#>,<step#>,<end#>) do <command> [<commandlineoptions>]

for /f [<parsingkeywords>] {%%|%}<variable> in (<set>) do <command> [<commandlineoptions>]

for /f [<parsingkeywords>] {%%|%}<variable> in (<literalstring>) do <command> [<commandlineoptions>]

for /f [<parsingkeywords>] {%%|%}<variable> in ('<command>') do <command> [<commandlineoptions>]

for /f [usebackq <parsingkeywords>] {%%|%}<variable> in (<set>) do <command> [<commandlineoptions>]

To use for in a batch file, use the following syntax

for {%%|%}<variable> in (<set>) do <command> [<commandlineoptions>]

To display the contents of all the files in the current directory that have the extension .doc or .txt by using the replaceable variable %f, type

for %f in (*.doc *.txt) do type %fIdentify

To parse a file, ignoring commented lines, type

for /f "eol=; tokens=2,3* delims=," %i in (myfile.txt) do @echo %i %j %kIdentify

To parse the output of a command by placing set between the parentheses, type

for /f "usebackq delims==" %i in (set) do @echo %iIdentify

To display the name of each subdirectory (not the files) within a directory, type

for /d %D in ("C:\Users\*") do @echo %~nxDIdentify

To step through a range of numbers, type

for /l %N in (1,2,9) do @echo %NIdentify

To perform a recursive loop of all files in a directory, including subdirectories and echo their full path, when they were last modified, and their file size, type

for /r "C:\My Dir\" %A in (*.*) do echo %~ftzAIdentify

{%% | %}<variable>Required. Represents a replaceable parameter. Use a single percent sign (%) to carry out the for command at the command prompt. Use double percent signs (%%) to carry out the for command within a batch file. Variables are case sensitive, and they must be represented with an alphabetical value such as %a, %b, or %c.

(<set>)Required. Specifies one or more files, directories, or text strings, or a range of values on which to run the command. The parentheses are required.

<command>Required. Specifies the command that you want to carry out on each file, directory, or text string, or on the range of values included in set.

<commandlineoptions>Specifies any command-line options that you want to use with the specified command.

/?Displays help at the command prompt.

Several platforms

from tldr-pages, CC BY 4.0

Perform a command several times.

Iterate through command line parameters

for variable; do echo $variable; doneIdentify

Execute the given commands for each of the specified items

for variable in item1 item2 ...; do echo "Loop is executed"; doneIdentify

Iterate over a given range of numbers

for variable in {from..to..step}; do echo "Loop is executed"; doneIdentify

Iterate over a given list of files

for variable in path/to/file1 path/to/file2 ...; do echo "Loop is executed"; doneIdentify

Iterate over a given list of directories

for variable in path/to/directory1/ path/to/directory2/ ...; do echo "Loop is executed"; doneIdentify

Perform a given command in every directory

for variable in */; do (cd "$variable" || continue; echo "Loop is executed") doneIdentify

Use a C-style for loop

for ((i=0; i<10; i++)); do echo $i; doneIdentify

Windows

from tldr-pages, CC BY 4.0

Conditionally execute a command several times.

Execute given commands for the specified set

for %variable in (item_a item_b item_c) do (echo Loop is executed)Identify

Iterate over a given range of numbers

for /l %variable in (from, step, to) do (echo Loop is executed)Identify

Iterate over a given list of files

for %variable in (path\to\file1.ext path\to\file2.ext ...) do (echo Loop is executed)Identify

Iterate over a given list of directories

for /d %variable in (path\to\directory1.ext path\to\directory2.ext ...) do (echo Loop is executed)Identify

Perform a given command in every directory

for /d %variable in (*) do (if exist %variable echo Loop is executed)