What Is At.exe & What Does It Do?

The Windows operating system consists of different processes running silently in the background and in one of our guides, we discussed one of these processes which is the AggregatorHost. However, this article will focus on another important process known as the at.exe file.

We will help you understand what the at.exe file means, the role it plays on the Windows OS, and how to effectively use this process.

What is at.exe?

The at.exe is an executable file on your computer’s hard drive that contains machine code. It is a command line tool that enables you to schedule tasks to run on a particular day and time.

The command contained in this file is activated each time you run the Windows OS, making it necessary to store the file in the main memory (RAM) and it operates there as a Schedule service command line interface process.

What is the use of at EXE?

The functions of the at.exe file are listed below.

• It can be used to create scheduled tasks to run at a particular date or time.
• It allows you to view all your scheduled tasks, giving you the opportunity to monitor your tasks and troubleshoot any process that is having issues.
• It gives you the flexibility to cancel any scheduled tasks that are no longer useful to you.
• It can also be used to run a command at a specified period of time.

How do I use at.exe?

1. Create a scheduled task

1. Hold the Windows + R keys together to open the Run dialogue, type cmd in the text field, then press Ctrl + Shift + Enter to open the command prompt as administrator.
   
2. To set a schedule, we recommend using schtasks.exe because at.exe is deprecated and only works with Windows 7 and earlier versions of Windows. Input the command below and hit Enter.
   SCHTASKS /CREATE /SC DAILY /TN "MyTask\Script Task" /TR "C:\Scripts\script.bat" /ST 08:30
3. Thirdly, ensure to swap MyTasks with the required folder path, change Script Task with the name you want to appoint to the task and replace C:\Scripts\script.bat with the path to the program you want to run.
   
4. To use the at.exe for older Windows versions, input the command below to set up a schedule that runs a program at 9:00 AM.
   AT 09:00 /EVERY:D "C:\Scripts\script.bat"
   
5. Finally, click Enter to run the command and create the task.

2. Modify a scheduled task

1. Firstly, press Windows + R to open the Run dialogue, type cmd, and hold Ctrl + Shift + Enter to open the command prompt with administrative privileges.
   
2. Using the schtasks.exe, input the command below in the command prompt to modify the time a task named Script Task runs to 9:00 AM.
   SCHTASKS /CHANGE /TN “MyTasks\Script Task” /ST 09:00
   
3. If you are using at.exe, input the command below in the command prompt to change the time when a task named Script Task runs to 9:00 AM.
   AT 09:00 /CHANGE "MyTasks\Script Task"
   
4. Finally, press Enter to implement the changes you have made.

3. View scheduled task

1. Hold the Windows + R keys together to open the Run dialogue, type cmd, then press Ctrl + Shift + Enter to open the command prompt as administrator.
   
2. Secondly, input the command below to view scheduled tasks on newer Windows versions (Windows 10 and above).
   SCHTASKS /QUERY
   
3. This process will enable you to see your device’s scheduled tasks.
4. Finally, input the command below if you are running an older Windows version.
   AT

4. Remove a scheduled task

1. Hold the Windows + R keys together to open the Run dialogue, type cmd, then press Ctrl + Shift + Enter to open the command prompt as administrator.
   
2. Secondly, for newer Windows versions, use the command below. This example eliminates the Cleanup Task from the scheduled tasks, which are located in the MyTasks folder.
   SCHTASKS /DELETE /TN "MyTasks\Cleanup Task"
3. To confirm the deletion, press Y, and hit Enter.
   
4. For older Windows versions (Windows 7 and earlier), type the command below. Swap 8 with the id of the task you want to remove.
   AT 8 /DELETE
   
5. To delete all tasks in newer versions of Windows (Windows 10 and above), type the command below.
   SCHTASKS /DELETE /TN * /F
   
6. Lastly, use the command below to remove all tasks from older Windows versions (Windows 7 and older).
   AT /DELETE
   

This brings us to the end of the article. In this article, we used schtasks.exe along with at.exe because at.exe is deprecated and does not work with newer versions of Windows OS. So if you are running on Windows 10 or 11, ensure to use schtasks.exe.