# -T switch loader selection

The `-T` switch allows the user to specify the loader to be used by IDA.

## Command line syntax

```
ida -T<prefix> <filename>
```

`<prefix>` is a unique prefix of the loader description as shown in the Load file dialog. For example, when loading a .NET executable, IDA proposes the following options:

![](/files/nh6XC3SnOugxjpi9rSCF)

For each of them, the corresponding `T` option could be:

* `-TMicrosoft`
* `-TPortable`
* `-TMS`
* `-TBinary`

If the prefix contains spaces, quotes should be used:

`ida -T"Apple DYLD cache for arm64e (complete image)" dyld_shared_cache_arm64e`

In case of an archive format like ZIP, you can specify the archive member to load after a colon (and additional loader names nested as needed).

For instance, to load `ObjDir.exe` contained in `AllTools.zip`:

`ida -TZIP:ObjDir.exe C:\Temp\AllTools.zip`

To load the main dex file from an `.apk` (which is also a zip file):

`ida -TZIP:classes.dex:Android file.apk`

However, it is usually better to pick the APK loader at the top level (especially in the case of multi-dex files):

`ida -TAPK file.apk`

When `-T` is specified, the initial load dialog is skipped and IDA proceeds directly to loading the file using the specified loader (but any additional prompts may still be shown).


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