Command Line Usage

/help or /?

Display command line help.

/volume or /v

File and path name of a TrueCrypt volume to mount (do not use when dismounting). To mount a hard disk partition, use, for example, /v \Device\Harddisk1\Partition3 (to determine the path to a partition, run TrueCrypt and click Select Device). Note that device paths are case-sensitive.

/letter or /l

Driver letter to mount the volume as. When /l is omitted and when /a is used, the first free drive letter is used.

/explore or /e

Open an Explorer window after a volume has been mounted.

/beep or /b

Beep after a volume has been successfully mounted or dismounted.

/auto or /a

If no parameter is specified, automatically mount the volume. If devices is specified as the parameter (e.g., /a devices), auto-mount all currently accessible device/partition-hosted TrueCrypt volumes. If favorites is specified as the parameter, auto-mount favorite volumes. Note that /auto is implicit if /quit and /volume are specified.

/dismount or /d

Dismount volume specified by drive letter (e.g., /d x). When no drive letter is specified, dismounts all currently mounted TrueCrypt volumes.

/force or /f

Forces dismount (if the volume to be dismounted contains files being used by the system or an application) and forces mounting in shared mode (i.e., without exclusive access).

/keyfile or /k

Specifies a keyfile or a keyfile search path. For multiple keyfiles, specify e.g.:
/k c:\keyfile1.dat /k d:\KeyfileFolder /k c:\kf2

/cache or /c

y or no parameter: enable password cache; n: disable password cache (e.g., /c n). Note that turning the password cache off will not clear it (use /w to clear the password cache).

/history or /h

y or no parameter: enables saving history of mounted volumes; n: disables saving history of mounted volumes (e.g., /h n).

/wipecache or /w

Wipes any passwords cached in the driver memory.

/password or /p

The volume password. If the password contains spaces, it must be enclosed in quotation marks (e.g., /p "My Password"). Use /p "" to specify an empty password. Warning: This method of entering a volume password may be insecure, for example, when an unencrypted command prompt history log is being saved to unencrypted disk.

/quit or /q

Automatically perform requested actions and exit (main TrueCrypt window will not be displayed). If preferences is specified as the parameter (e.g.,
/q preferences), then program settings are loaded/saved and they override settings specified on the command line.
/q background launches the TrueCrypt Background Task (tray icon). Note that /q has no effect if the container is accessible only in local user name space (TrueCrypt will exit only after the volume is dismounted), e.g., a network volume.

/silent or /s

If /q is specified, suppresses interaction with the user (prompts, error messages, warnings, etc.). If /q is not specified, this option has no effect.

/mountoption or /m

ro or readonly: Mount volume as read-only.

rm or removable: Mount volume as removable medium.

ts or timestamp: Do not preserve container timestamps

sm or system: Without pre-boot authentication, mount a partition that is within the key scope of system encryption (for example, a partition located on the encrypted system drive of another operating system that is not running). Useful e.g. for backup or repair operations.
Note: If you supply a password as a parameter of /p, make sure that the password has been typed using the standard US keyboard layout (in contrast, the GUI ensures this automatically).

bk or headerbak: Mount volume using embedded backup header.
Note: All volumes created by TrueCrypt 6.0 or later contain an embedded backup header (located at the end of the volume).


Example: /m ro. To specify multiple mount options, use e.g.: /m rm /m ts

/noisocheck or /n

Do not verify that TrueCrypt Rescue Disks are correctly burned. This can be useful e.g. in corporate environments where it may be more convenient to maintain a central repository of ISO images rather than a repository of CDs or DVDs. WARNING: Never attempt to use this option to facilitate the reuse of a previously created TrueCrypt Rescue Disk. Note that every time you encrypt a system partition/drive, you must create a new TrueCrypt Rescue Disk even if you use the same password. A previously created TrueCrypt Rescue Disk cannot be reused because it was created for a different master key.