What is the difference between % and %% in a cmd file?

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(Explanation in more details can be found in an archived Microsoft KB article.)

Three things to know:

  1. The percent sign is used in batch files to represent command line parameters: %1, %2, …

  2. Two percent signs with any characters in between them are interpreted as a variable:

    echo %myvar%

  3. Two percent signs without anything in between (in a batch file) are treated like a single percent sign in a command (not a batch file): %%f

Why’s that?

For example, if we execute your (simplified) command line

FOR /f %f in ('dir /b .') DO somecommand %f

in a batch file, rule 2 would try to interpret

%f in ('dir /b .') DO somecommand %

as a variable. In order to prevent that, you have to apply rule 3 and escape the % with an second %:

FOR /f %%f in ('dir /b .') DO somecommand %%f

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