Command line switches

IDA can be launched with one of the following command lines:

        ida input-file        (Start graphical interface)
        idat input-file       (Start text interface)

Add the '64' postfix to the command name in order to start the 64-bit version of IDA. For example:

        ida64 input-file

will start 64-bit graphical interface.

The following command line switches are recognized:

-a disable . (-a- enables it)

-A autonomous mode. IDA will not display dialog boxes. Designed to be used together with -S switch.

-b#### loading address, a hexadecimal number, in paragraphs (a paragraph is 16 bytes)

-B batch mode. IDA will generate .IDB and .ASM files automatically -c disassemble a new file (delete the old database)

-C#### set in format name:abi

--cvt64 confirms the question 'You passed 32bit IDB file foo.idb to ida64. Do you wish to convert it to 64bit database?' more information available at

-ddirective A configuration directive which must be processed at the first pass. Example: -dVPAGESIZE=8192

-Ddirective A configuration directive which must be processed at the second pass.

-f disable FPP instructions (IBM PC only)

-h help screen -i#### program entry point (hex)

-I# set IDA as just-in-time debugger (0 to disable and 1 to enable)

-L#### name of the log file

-M disable mouse (text only)

-o#### specify the output database (implies -c)

-P+ compress database (create zipped idb)

-P pack database (create unzipped idb)

-R load MS Windows exe file resources

-S### Execute a script file when the database is opened. The script file extension is used to determine which extlang will run the script. It is possible to pass command line arguments after the script name. For example: -S"myscript.idc argument1 \"argument 2\" argument3"

        The passed parameters are stored in the "ARGV" global IDC variable.
        Use "ARGV.count" to determine the number of arguments.
        The first argument "ARGV[0]" contains the script name.

        This switch is not available in the IDA Home edition.

-T### interpret the input file as the specified file type The file type is specified as a prefix of a file type visible in the 'load file' dialog box To specify archive member put it after the colon char, for example:

-TZIP:classes.dex You can specify any nested paths:

-T<ftype>[:<member>{:<ftype>:<member>}[:<ftype>]] IDA does not display the 'load file' dialog in this case

-t create an empty database.

-W### specify MS Windows directory

-z debug:

-? this screen (works for the text version)

? this screen (works for the text version)

-h this screen (works for the text version)

-H this screen (works for the text version)

--help this screen (works for the text version)

For batch mode, IDA must be invoked with the following command line:

        ida -B input-file

which is equivalent to:

        ida -c -A -Sanalysis.idc input-file

The text interface (idat.exe/idat) is better for batch mode because it uses less system resources. However, please note that regular plugins are not automatically loaded in batch mode because the analysis.idc file quits and the kernel has no chance to load them.

For more information, please see the analysis.idc file in the IDC subdirectory.

Last updated 5 months ago

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The passed parameters are stored in the "ARGV" global IDC variable. Use "ARGV.count" to determine the number of arguments. The first argument "ARGV[0]" contains the script name. This switch is not available in the IDA Home edition.