The msg command lets you send messages to other users on a network.

Availability

Msg is an external command and is available for the following Microsoft operating systems.

  • Availability

  • Msg syntax

  • Msg examples

  • Windows Vista

  • Windows 7

  • Windows 8

  • Windows 10

  • Windows 11

Msg syntax

Microsoft Windows 10 syntax

MSG {username | sessionname | sessionid | @filename | *} [/SERVER:servername] [/TIME:seconds] [/V] [/W] [message]

Msg examples

msg hope Hi Computer Hope!

Send a message to the user “hope” with the message “Hi Computer Hope!”

The msg command is only available in Pro or Business editions of the following Windows versions.

msg hope /V /W Can you see this?

Sends a message to the user “hope” saying, “Can you see this?” and waits until the user clicks the Ok button (a response) and then returns to the command line.

You can send messages to your username. For example, you could use the msg command in a batch file to send yourself a message when something is triggered or when the batch file is completed.

  • See the net send command for information on using the net command to send messages to other computers in earlier versions of Windows.