Shift

Using the shift command-line option with command extensions

When command extensions are enabled (that is, the default), the shift command supports the /n command-line option, which tells the command to start shifting at the nth argument, where n can be a value from zero to eight. For example,

SHIFT /2

would shift %3 to %2, %4 to %3, and so on, and leave %0 and %1 unaffected.

How the shift command works

The shift command changes the values of the batch parameters %0 through %9 by copying each parameter into the previous one. In other words, the value of %1 is copied to %0, the value of %2 is copied to %1, and so on. This is useful for writing a batch file that performs the same operation on any number of parameters.

Working with more than 10 batch parameters

You can also use the shift command to create a batch file that can accept more than 10 batch parameters. If you specify more than 10 parameters on the command line, those that appear after the tenth (%9) will be shifted one at a time into %9.

Using %* with shift 

Shift has no affect on the %* batch parameter.

Shifting parameters back

There is no backward shift command. After you carry out the shift command, you cannot recover the first batch parameter (%0) that existed before the shift.