How is it possible to run a PowerShell script without displaying a window or any other sign to the user?
In other words, the script should run quietly in the background without any sign to the user.
Extra credit for an answer that does not use third party components :)
You can either run it like this (but this shows a window for a while):
PowerShell.exe -WindowStyle hidden { your script.. }
Or you use a helper file I created to avoid the window called PsRun.exe that does exactly that. You can download the source and exe file from Run scheduled tasks with WinForm GUI in PowerShell. I use it for scheduled tasks.
Edited: as Marco noted this -WindowStyle parameter is available only for V2 and above.
ShowWindow(..., 1)) –
Yandell cmd /c start /min "" powershell -WindowStyle Hidden -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File "C:\Users\username\Desktop\test.ps1". –
Nursling cmd /c start /min "" still flashes Powershell in the taskbar –
Tobias I found out if you go to the Task in Task Scheduler that is running the powershell.exe script, you can click "Run whether user is logged on or not" and that will never show the powershell window when the task runs.
Drawbacks: the script can not interact with the screen of the logged on user (e.g. to display notifications or any GUI element).
Prerequisites: The user must have the "Log on as Batch Job" privilege.
The answer with -WindowStyle Hidden is great but the windows will still flash.
I've never seen a window flash when calling it via cmd /c start /min "".
Your machine or setup may differ but it works well for me.
cmd /c start /min "" powershell -WindowStyle Hidden -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File "C:\Users\username\Desktop\test.ps1"
cmd /c start /min "" powershell -WindowStyle Hidden -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -Command ". 'C:\Users\username\Desktop\test me.ps1' -Arg1 'Hello' -Arg2 'World'"
Powershell content for 2. Call a file with arguments is:
Param
(
[Parameter(Mandatory = $true, HelpMessage = 'The 1st test string parameter.')]
[String]$Arg1,
[Parameter(Mandatory = $true, HelpMessage = 'The 2nd test string parameter.')]
[String]$Arg2
)
Write-Host $Arg1
Write-Host $Arg2
cmd /c start /min "" powershell -WindowStyle Hidden -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -Command ". 'C:\Users\username\Desktop\test me.ps1'; Get-Test -stringTest 'Hello World'"
Powershell content for 3. Call a file with a function and arguments is:
function Get-Test() {
[cmdletbinding()]
Param
(
[Parameter(Mandatory = $true, HelpMessage = 'The test string.')]
[String]$stringTest
)
Write-Host $stringTest
return
}
In case you need to run this in Task Scheduler then call %comspec% as the Program/Script and then code for calling the file above as the argument.
Note: All examples work when the PS1 file has spaces in its path.
run-hidden which was actually hidden (no lose focus or anything as well), although I haven't tested the other answers. Your answer was definitely less invasive than other flashes at least –
Epidaurus ps1'; -Arg1 'Hello' -Arg2 ' World'" –
Vinaya ; is required after calling the file to call the function with those params. –
Nursling cmd /c start /min "" still flashes Powershell in the taskbar –
Tobias You can use the PowerShell Community Extensions and do this:
start-process PowerShell.exe -arg $pwd\foo.ps1 -WindowStyle Hidden
You can also do this with VBScript: http://blog.sapien.com/index.php/2006/12/26/more-fun-with-scheduled-powershell/
Schedule Hidden PowerShell Tasks (Internet Archive)
More fun with scheduled PowerShell (Internet Archive)
(Via this forum thread.)
Here's a one-liner:
mshta vbscript:Execute("CreateObject(""Wscript.Shell"").Run ""powershell -NoLogo -Command """"& 'C:\Example Path That Has Spaces\My Script.ps1'"""""", 0 : window.close")
Although it's possible for this to flash a window very briefly, that should be a rare occurrence.
Here's an approach that that doesn't require command line args or a separate launcher. It's not completely invisible because a window does show momentarily at startup. But it then quickly vanishes. Where that's OK, this is, I think, the easiest approach if you want to launch your script by double-clicking in explorer, or via a Start menu shortcut (including, of course the Startup submenu). And I like that it's part of the code of the script itself, not something external.
Put this at the front of your script:
$t = '[DllImport("user32.dll")] public static extern bool ShowWindow(int handle, int state);'
add-type -name win -member $t -namespace native
[native.win]::ShowWindow(([System.Diagnostics.Process]::GetCurrentProcess() | Get-Process).MainWindowHandle, 0)
ps1 hidden from the Task Scheduler and shortcut too
mshta vbscript:Execute("CreateObject(""WScript.Shell"").Run ""powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass & 'C:\PATH\NAME.ps1'"", 0:close")
I think that the best way to hide the console screen of the PowerShell when your are running a background scripts is this code ("Bluecakes" answer).
I add this code in the beginning of all my PowerShell scripts that I need to run in background.
# .Net methods for hiding/showing the console in the background
Add-Type -Name Window -Namespace Console -MemberDefinition '
[DllImport("Kernel32.dll")]
public static extern IntPtr GetConsoleWindow();
[DllImport("user32.dll")]
public static extern bool ShowWindow(IntPtr hWnd, Int32 nCmdShow);
'
function Hide-Console
{
$consolePtr = [Console.Window]::GetConsoleWindow()
#0 hide
[Console.Window]::ShowWindow($consolePtr, 0)
}
Hide-Console
If this answer was help you, please vote to "Bluecakes" in his answer in this post.
I was having this problem when running from c#, on Windows 7, the "Interactive Services Detection" service was popping up when running a hidden powershell window as the SYSTEM account.
Using the "CreateNoWindow" parameter prevented the ISD service popping up it's warning.
process.StartInfo = new ProcessStartInfo("powershell.exe",
String.Format(@" -NoProfile -ExecutionPolicy unrestricted -encodedCommand ""{0}""",encodedCommand))
{
WorkingDirectory = executablePath,
UseShellExecute = false,
CreateNoWindow = true
};
When you scheduled task, just select "Run whether user is logged on or not" under the "General" tab.
Alternate way is to let the task run as another user.
Here's a fun demo of controlling the various states of the console, including minimize and hidden.
Add-Type -Name ConsoleUtils -Namespace WPIA -MemberDefinition @'
[DllImport("Kernel32.dll")]
public static extern IntPtr GetConsoleWindow();
[DllImport("user32.dll")]
public static extern bool ShowWindow(IntPtr hWnd, Int32 nCmdShow);
'@
$ConsoleMode = @{
HIDDEN = 0;
NORMAL = 1;
MINIMIZED = 2;
MAXIMIZED = 3;
SHOW = 5
RESTORE = 9
}
$hWnd = [WPIA.ConsoleUtils]::GetConsoleWindow()
$a = [WPIA.ConsoleUtils]::ShowWindow($hWnd, $ConsoleMode.MAXIMIZED)
"maximized $a"
Start-Sleep 2
$a = [WPIA.ConsoleUtils]::ShowWindow($hWnd, $ConsoleMode.NORMAL)
"normal $a"
Start-Sleep 2
$a = [WPIA.ConsoleUtils]::ShowWindow($hWnd, $ConsoleMode.MINIMIZED)
"minimized $a"
Start-Sleep 2
$a = [WPIA.ConsoleUtils]::ShowWindow($hWnd, $ConsoleMode.RESTORE)
"restore $a"
Start-Sleep 2
$a = [WPIA.ConsoleUtils]::ShowWindow($hWnd, $ConsoleMode.HIDDEN)
"hidden $a"
Start-Sleep 2
$a = [WPIA.ConsoleUtils]::ShowWindow($hWnd, $ConsoleMode.SHOW)
"show $a"
Create a shortcut that calls the PowerShell script and set the Run option to Minimized. This will prevent a window from flashing although you will still get a momentary blip of the script running on the Task Bar.
For easy command line usage, there is a simple wrapper app:
https://github.com/stax76/run-hidden
Example command line:
run-hidden powershell -command calc.exe
I got really tired of going through answers only to find it did not work as expected.
Solution
Make a vbs script to run a hidden batch file which launches the powershell script. Seems silly to make 3 files for this task but atleast the total size is less than 2KB and it runs perfect from tasker or manually (you dont see anything).
scriptName.vbs
Set WinScriptHost = CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
WinScriptHost.Run Chr(34) & "C:\Users\leathan\Documents\scriptName.bat" & Chr(34), 0
Set WinScriptHost = Nothing
scriptName.bat
powershell.exe -ExecutionPolicy Bypass C:\Users\leathan\Documents\scriptName.ps1
scriptName.ps1
Your magical code here.
I have created a small tool passing the call to any console tool you want to start windowless through to the original file:
https://github.com/Vittel/RunHiddenConsole
After compiling just rename the executable to "<targetExecutableName>w.exe" (append a "w"), and put it next to the original executable. You can then call e.G. powershellw.exe with the usual parameters and it wont pop up a window.
If someone has an idea how to check whether the created process is waiting for input, ill be happy to include your solution :)
MessageBox without any flash of the window on startup (requiring an EXE compiled as a Winexe, not a console app, and requiring Task Scheduler to be set to "Run only when user is logged on" so dialogs show in the current desktop session.) Thanks for implementing this, powershellw.exe has been on my wishlist for years! –
Glossitis A single vbs file solution. You first have to convert your ps script to base64 string, place it in a variable in the template shown below and save it as I vbs file. Runs without powershell popppring up.
dim EncodedCommand
EncodedCommand = "COMMAND"
pSCmd = "powershell.exe -noexit -windowstyle Hidden -executionpolicy bypass -encodedcommand " & EncodedCommand
CreateObject("WScript.Shell").Run pSCmd, 0, True
Here is a working solution in windows 10 that does not include any third-party components. It works by wrapping the PowerShell script into VBScript.
Step 1: we need to change some windows features to allow VBScript to run PowerShell and to open .ps1 files with PowerShell by default.
-go to run and type "regedit". Click on ok and then allow it to run.
-paste this path "HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Microsoft.PowerShellScript.1\Shell" and press enter.
-now open the entry on the right and change the value to 0.
-open PowerShell as an administrator and type "Set-ExecutionPolicy -ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned", press enter and confirm the change with "y" and then enter.
Step 2: Now we can start wrapping our script.
-save your Powershell script as a .ps1 file.
-create a new text document and paste this script.
Dim objShell,objFSO,objFile
Set objShell=CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
Set objFSO=CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")
'enter the path for your PowerShell Script
strPath="c:\your script path\script.ps1"
'verify file exists
If objFSO.FileExists(strPath) Then
'return short path name
set objFile=objFSO.GetFile(strPath)
strCMD="powershell -nologo -command " & Chr(34) & "&{" &_
objFile.ShortPath & "}" & Chr(34)
'Uncomment next line for debugging
'WScript.Echo strCMD
'use 0 to hide window
objShell.Run strCMD,0
Else
'Display error message
WScript.Echo "Failed to find " & strPath
WScript.Quit
End If
-now change the file path to the location of your .ps1 script and save the text document.
-Now right-click on the file and go to rename. Then change the filename extension to .vbs and press enter and then click ok.
DONE! If you now open the .vbs you should see no console window while your script is running in the background.
Wait until Powershell is executed and get the result in vbs
This is an improved version of the Omegastripes code Hide command prompt window when using Exec()
Splits the confused responses from cmd.exe into an array instead of putting everything into a hard-to-parse string.
In addition, if an error occurs during the execution of cmd.exe, a message about its occurrence will become known in vbs.
Option Explicit
Sub RunCScriptHidden()
strSignature = Left(CreateObject("Scriptlet.TypeLib").Guid, 38)
GetObject("new:{C08AFD90-F2A1-11D1-8455-00A0C91F3880}").putProperty strSignature, Me
objShell.Run ("""" & Replace(LCase(WScript.FullName), "wscript", "cscript") & """ //nologo """ & WScript.ScriptFullName & """ ""/signature:" & strSignature & """"), 0, True
End Sub
Sub WshShellExecCmd()
For Each objWnd In CreateObject("Shell.Application").Windows
If IsObject(objWnd.getProperty(WScript.Arguments.Named("signature"))) Then Exit For
Next
Set objParent = objWnd.getProperty(WScript.Arguments.Named("signature"))
objWnd.Quit
'objParent.strRes = CreateObject("WScript.Shell").Exec(objParent.strCmd).StdOut.ReadAll() 'simple solution
Set exec = CreateObject("WScript.Shell").Exec(objParent.strCmd)
While exec.Status = WshRunning
WScript.Sleep 20
Wend
Dim err
If exec.ExitCode = WshFailed Then
err = exec.StdErr.ReadAll
Else
output = Split(exec.StdOut.ReadAll,Chr(10))
End If
If err="" Then
objParent.strRes = output(UBound(output)-1) 'array of results, you can: output(0) Join(output) - Usually needed is the last
Else
objParent.wowError = err
End If
WScript.Quit
End Sub
Const WshRunning = 0,WshFailed = 1:Dim i,name,objShell
Dim strCmd, strRes, objWnd, objParent, strSignature, wowError, output, exec
Set objShell = WScript.CreateObject("WScript.Shell"):wowError=False
strCmd = "C:\Windows\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\powershell.exe -ExecutionPolicy Bypass Write-Host Hello-World."
If WScript.Arguments.Named.Exists("signature") Then WshShellExecCmd
RunCScriptHidden
If wowError=False Then
objShell.popup(strRes)
Else
objShell.popup("Error=" & wowError)
End If
powershell.exe -windowstyle hidden -noexit -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File <path_to_file>
then set the run: Minimized
should work as expected without added code for hidden window flash just slightly more delayed execution.
If your looking for a version that doesn't require any command line parameters, just code in your powershell script and works with the new windows Terminal.
I found this solution here
$ShowWindowAsyncCode = '[DllImport("user32.dll")] public static extern bool ShowWindowAsync(IntPtr hWnd, int nCmdShow);'
$ShowWindowAsync = Add-Type -MemberDefinition $ShowWindowAsyncCode -name Win32ShowWindowAsync -namespace Win32Functions -PassThru
$hwnd = (Get-Process -PID $pid).MainWindowHandle
if ($hwnd -ne [System.IntPtr]::Zero) {
# When you got HWND of the console window:
# (It would appear that Windows Console Host is the default terminal application)
$ShowWindowAsync::ShowWindowAsync($hwnd, 0)
} else {
# When you failed to get HWND of the console window:
# (It would appear that Windows Terminal is the default terminal application)
# Mark the current console window with a unique string.
$UniqueWindowTitle = New-Guid
$Host.UI.RawUI.WindowTitle = $UniqueWindowTitle
$StringBuilder = New-Object System.Text.StringBuilder 1024
# Search the process that has the window title generated above.
$TerminalProcess = (Get-Process | Where-Object { $_.MainWindowTitle -eq $UniqueWindowTitle })
# Get the window handle of the terminal process.
# Note that GetConsoleWindow() in Win32 API returns the HWND of
# powershell.exe itself rather than the terminal process.
# When you call ShowWindowAsync(HWND, 0) with the HWND from GetConsoleWindow(),
# the Windows Terminal window will be just minimized rather than hidden.
$hwnd = $TerminalProcess.MainWindowHandle
if ($hwnd -ne [System.IntPtr]::Zero) {
$ShowWindowAsync::ShowWindowAsync($hwnd, 0)
} else {
Write-Host "Failed to hide the console window."
}
}
c="powershell.exe -ExecutionPolicy Bypass (New-Object -ComObject Wscript.Shell).popup('Hello World.',0,'ОК',64)"
s=Left(CreateObject("Scriptlet.TypeLib").Guid,38)
GetObject("new:{C08AFD90-F2A1-11D1-8455-00A0C91F3880}").putProperty s,Me
WScript.CreateObject("WScript.Shell").Run c,0,false
Out of all the solutions I've tried, this is by far the best and easiest to set up. Download hiddenw.exe from here - https://github.com/SeidChr/RunHiddenConsole/releases
Let's say you want to run Powershell v5 consoleless. Simply rename hiddenw.exe to powershellw.exe. If you want to do this for cmd, then rename to cmdw.exe. If you want to do it for Powershell v7 (pwsh), then rename to pwshw.exe. You can create multiple copies of hiddenw.exe and just rename to the actual process with the letter w at the end. Then, simply add the process to your system environmental PATH, so you can call it from anywhere. Or just copy to C:\Windows. Then, just call it, like this:
powershellw .\example.ps1
I found compiling to exe was the easiest way to achieve this. Theres a number of ways to compile a script, but you can try ISE Steroids
Open "Windows PowerShell ISE", install and run ISESteroids:
Install-Module -Name "ISESteroids" -Scope CurrentUser -Repository PSGallery -Force
Start-Steroids
Then go to Tools->Turn code into EXE, select 'Hide Console Window', and then create the application. You can run this directly from task scheduler without the need for wrappers or 3rd party apps.
What I do is transform the .ps1 file into an invisible .exe file using an awesome app called Ps1 To Exe which you can download here : https://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/ps1_to_exe.html
Maybe this helps (although I hope after 12 years you have found a suitable solution... 🙂)
In other words, the script should run quietly in the background without any sign to the user.
Extra credit for an answer that does not use third party components :)
I found a way to do this by compiling a PowerShell script to a Windows executable. Third party modules are required to build the executable but not to run it. My end goal was to compile a one line PowerShell script that ejects a DVD on my system:
(New-Object -com "WMPlayer.OCX.7").cdromcollection.item(0).eject()
My target system is running Windows 7. The specific WMF update needed varies based on Windows version:
Download and install the WMF 5.1 package
The required PowerShell modules should be applicable to any Windows version. Here are the exact commands I used to install the necessary modules and compile the exe. You'll need to tweak the drive, directory and filename details for your system:
mkdir i:\tmp\wmf
cd i:\tmp\wmf
pkunzip ..\Win7AndW2K8R2-KB3191566-x64.zip
c:\windows\system32\windowspowershell\v1.0\powershell.exe
Set-ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned
.\Install-WMF5.1.ps1
<click> "Restart Now"
c:\Windows\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\powershell -version 3.0
[Net.ServicePointManager]::SecurityProtocol = [Net.SecurityProtocolType]::Tls12
Install-PackageProvider -Name NuGet -MinimumVersion 2.8.5.201 -Force
Install-Module -Name ps2exe -RequiredVersion 1.0.5
ps2exe i:\utils\scripts\ejectDVD.ps1 -noConsole
I am lazy so I use these powershell commands to create scheduled tasks that incorporate Adam Taylor's solution above. You can edit the created task later (e.g. to change from running daily to something else):
#---adjust this part---
$script = "C:\Users\user\some-script.ps1"
$time = '5:15 AM'
$user = 'user'
$title = "Some title"
#-----------------------------------
$arguments = @'
vbscript:Execute("CreateObject(""Wscript.Shell"").Run ""powershell -NoProfile -ExecutionPolicy bypass -NoLogo -Command """"& '{script}'"""""", 0 : window.close")
'@
$arguments = $arguments -replace "{script}",$script
$actions = (New-ScheduledTaskAction -Execute "mshta" -Argument $arguments)
$trigger = New-ScheduledTaskTrigger -Daily -At $time
$principal = New-ScheduledTaskPrincipal -UserId $user
$settings = New-ScheduledTaskSettingsSet -RunOnlyIfNetworkAvailable
$task = New-ScheduledTask -Action $actions -Principal $principal -Trigger $trigger -Settings $settings
Register-ScheduledTask $title -InputObject $task
on top of your commands just write the below script:
echo off
© 2022 - 2024 — McMap. All rights reserved.
-WindowStyle hiddenis a known Windows limitation with CUI applications (it only works as expected with GUI ones -- hence thepythonw.exe/javaw.exe-type solutions implemented by other projects). It is being (rather) actively discussed on GitHub, with several suggestions for potential workarounds / fixes at the PowerShell or OS level. So, it might get patched, "one day". – Saraisaraiya