11/20/2017 Redirecting Error Messages from Command Prompt: STDERR/STDOUT

Redirecting Error Messages from

Command Prompt:
STDERR/STDOUT

Summary

When redirecting output from an application using the ">" symbol, error
messages still print to the screen. This is because error messages are often
sent to the Standard Error stream instead of the Standard Out stream.

Output from a console (Command Prompt) application or command is often

sent to two separate streams. The regular output is sent to Standard Out
(STDOUT) and the error messages are sent to Standard Error (STDERR). When
you redirect console output using the ">" symbol, you are only redirecting
STDOUT. In order to redirect STDERR you have to specify "2>" for the
redirection symbol. This selects the second output stream which is STDERR.

EXAMPLE

The command "dir file.xxx" (where file.xxx does not exist) will display the
following output:

Volume in drive F is Candy Cane Volume Serial Number is 34EC-0876

File Not Found

If you redirect the output to the NUL device using "dir file.xxx > nul", you will
still see the error message:

File Not Found

To redirect the error message to NUL, use the following command:

dir file.xxx 2> nul

Or, you can redirect the output to one place, and the errors to another.

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/110930/redirecting-error-messages-from-command-prompt-stderr-stdout 1/3
11/20/2017 Redirecting Error Messages from Command Prompt: STDERR/STDOUT

dir file.xxx > output.msg 2> output.err

You can print the errors and standard output to a single file by using the "&1"
command to redirect the output for STDERR to STDOUT and then sending the
output from STDOUT to a file:

dir file.xxx 1> output.msg 2>&1

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/110930/redirecting-error-messages-from-command-prompt-stderr-stdout 2/3
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