I am trying to write a batch file that will merge 5 text files into 1. I need a test to see if the files that I am specifying in my copy statement exists. Is there a way to test to see if the files exist and then display an error message if they are not available. Thanks

try this if not exsist c:\filename.txt goto error :error echo File does not exsist

Since your testing 5 files, you could do it like this: echo off cls if not exist file1.txt echo File1.txt does not exist if not exist file2.txt echo File2.txt does not exist if not exist file3.txt echo File3.txt does not exist Then prompt the user asking if he wants to continue or exit. Another option would be to set a variable if a file doesn't exist and based on that var, you'd combine the files or exit without combining.