When you’re building a batch file it’s often necessary to display status information to the user, but Windows gives you very few tools to help.

MessagePop enables creating alerts with styled text, clickable links, optional timeouts, even a “Do not show” option which allows the user to hide it in future.

This makes for a complicated syntax, but the package includes a sample MessageTest.bat file to show you how it works.

There’s also a separate GUI-based MessageHelper tool to help design your pop-up.

Enter text, choose icons, set your preferred settings, and hit Preview at any time to see how it looks.

Pop-ups can have styled text, clickable links. automatic timeouts and more

Once you’re happy, copy the resulting command to the clipboard and it’s ready for pasting into your script.

MessagePop can be cumbersome to set up, but advanced features like the “do not show?” option should make it worth the effort.

If you only need to display a simple line of text, though, NirSoft’s NirCmd is far easier to use (nircmd infobox “text goes here” “dialog title”), and gives you a host of other abilities as well.

MessagePop is a free application for Windows XP and later.