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Visio startup (command-line) switches and their purpose

Article ID: 314392 - View products that this article applies to.

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SUMMARY

This article describes the command-line switches that you can use to start Microsoft Visio.

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MORE INFORMATION

To use a command-line switch to start Visio, use one of the following methods.

Method 1: Use the Run command

Click Start, and then click Run.
Click Browse.
In Microsoft Visio 2002 or in Microsoft Office Visio 2003, click the Visio.exe file, and then click Open.
By default, the Visio.exe file of Visio 2002 is located in the following folder:
C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Visio10

By default, the Visio.exe file of Visio 2003 is located in the following folder:
C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Visio11

In Microsoft Visio 2000, click the Visio32.exe file, and then click Open. By default, the Visio.exe file of Visio 2000 is located in the following folder:
C:\Program Files\Visio
Note Enclose the path to the Visio executable (Visio.exe or Visio32.exe) in quotation marks.
Click in the Open box, and then place the insertion point to the right of the closing quotation mark at the end of the path statement.
Type a space followed by the switch that you want to use.

For example, if you want to start Visio 2002 and prevent the splash screen from appearing, type the following in the Open box:
"C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Visio10\Visio.exe" /nologo

Method 2: Use a shortcut

Create a shortcut to start Visio from the Windows desktop. To do this, follow these steps:

Right-click the Windows desktop, point to New, and then click Shortcut.
In the Create Shortcut dialog box, click Browse.
In the Look in list, click to select the folder that contains Visio executable:
For Visio 2000, click the following folder:
C:\Program Files\Visio
For Visio 2002, click the following folder:
C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Visio10
For Visio 2003, click the following folder:
C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Visio11
Note The location of this folder may be different on your computer.
Click the Visio.exe file or the Visio32.exe file, and then click Open.
Click in the Command line box, and then place the insertion point at the end of the listed path. For example, the path that is listed in the Command line box resembles the following in Visio 2002:
"C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Visio10\Visio.exe"
After the closing quotation mark, type a space, and then type the switch that you want. For example, the path that is listed in the Command line box resembles the following in Visio 2002 after you add the /nonew switch:
"C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Visio10\Visio.exe" /nonew
In the Create Shortcut dialog box, click Next.
In the Select a name for the shortcut box, type the name of the new shortcut, and then click Finish.

Method notes

If you specify a path or a file name that contains spaces after a switch, enclose the path in quotation marks. For example, if you want to suppress the Visio Startup Splash Screen when you start Visio 2002, use a command line that is similar to the following:

"C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Visio10\Visio.exe" /nologo

If you put the switch inside the closing quotation mark and then click OK, you receive the following error message:

Windows cannot find 'C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Visio10\Visio.exe /nologo'. Make sure you typed the name correctly, and then try again. To search for the file, click the Start button, and then click Search.

List of Visio startup switches

   Command line                Description 
   -----------------------------------------------------------------------

   /nonew                      Choose Drawing Type dialog box is not shown
                               on startup.
 
   /nologo                     Splash screen is not shown on startup.
 
   /p filename                 Print dialog box is shown so that you can 
                               quickly print a file.
 
   filename                    Opens a Visio file. The file has to be in
                               the Drawings file path on the File Paths tab 
                               in the Options dialog box (on the Tools
                               menu, click Options). Or, you must specify 
                               an absolute path.
 
   /1, /2, /3, .../9           Opens one of the last-opened files. The 
                               numbers represent the file on the Most 
                               Recently Used (MRU) list. 
 
   /noreg                      Prevents Visio from registering itself.
 
   /u                          Unregisters Visio.
 
   /r                          Registers Visio.
 
   /s                          Silently registers Visio.
 
   /pt filename,[printername,  Directs file to print on a particular
   drivername,portname]        printer. Available in Visio 5.0C and
                               later versions.
 
   ::ODMA                      Visio opens a file by using ODMA.

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