Using task scheduler, you can display timely messages using pop-up windows. These popup messages are useful for quick alerts and information. Follow the below steps to know how to display popup message in Windows 10.
In Windows 7, task scheduler has a neat feature called "Display a Message". Using this feature, you can make the task scheduler to show a message using a simple pop-up window.
However, starting from Windows 8, Microsoft deprecated both the "Display a Message" and "Send an Email" features. If you try to use any of the deprecated features, it will show "The task definition uses a deprecated feature" error.
The good thing is, there is a workaround which lets you use the task scheduler to show a quick message on a scheduled time or event. Without further ado, let me show you how.
Show Popup Message with Task Scheduler
1. Open the task scheduler by searching for "Task Scheduler" in the start menu.
2. In the task scheduler, click on the "Create Basic Task" option appearing on the right sidebar.
3. Now, enter a new title and description for the task and click on the "Next" button.
4. Here, select when the task needs to start. In my case, I want the message to appear as soon as the system starts. So, I selected "When the computer starts" option. You can select any trigger you want.
Note: Depending on the option you choose, you might need to configure additional options. For example, if you choose the Daily option, you need to select a time to display the message.
5. After selecting a proper trigger, select "Start a program" option and click "Next". We are going to use Command Prompt/PowerShell to display the message window.
6. In this window, fill in the blank fields as below. If you want to use the command prompt, follow the command prompt method. For PowerShell, follow the PowerShell method.
Command Prompt:
- Program/Script —
msg - Arguments —
* Replace_With_Your_Message
Don't forget to replace "Replace_With_Your_Message" with your actual message.
Important: Don't remove * in front of the message in the Arguments field.
PowerShell:
- Program/Script —
powershell - Argument — Enter the below command
-WindowStyle hidden -Command "& {[System.Reflection.Assembly]::LoadWithPartialName('System.Windows.Forms'); [System.Windows.Forms.MessageBox]::Show('Relace_With_Your_Message','Message_Title')}"Don't forget to replace "Replace_With_Your_Message" with your actual message and "Message_Title" with a title. The title appears on the window title bar.
Click the "Next" button to continue.
7. In the Summary window, click on the "Finish" button to complete the task creation process.
8. After creating the task, we can verify it is working or not. To do that, select the "Task Scheduler Library" option on the right panel, find the task you just created in the middle panel, right-click on it and select "Run".
9. If everything goes properly, you should see a popup window with your message in it.
Command Prompt:
PowerShell:
From now on the task scheduler will display the popup message window according to your scheduled trigger. In my case, the popup window will appear as soon as I start and log into my system. If you want to, you can also delay start the task in task scheduler.
Wrapping Up
That is all. It is that simple to show a popup message in Windows 10 using a built-in tool like Task Scheduler. Comment below if you are stuck or facing issues with the above procedure. I will help as much as possible.
Here are some other task scheduler tips you might like:
You’re a life saver! Thank you.
Never got this to work until I saw this post. Bravo!
Copy this to notepad++:
msgbox “My “& vbLf & vbLf & “message text with two line feeds”, vbExclamation OR vbSystemModal, “Message title”
and save it with ending .vbs
Convert to ANSI for Umlaute and special characters to show correctly.
In task scheduler chose script in Program/script field.
Always on top, no powershell flicker, title can be defined. Enjoy!
Florian
Hi Florian,
interesting alternative!
Script on its own works fine, however when I add it to task scheduler and run it it asks me “how do you want to open this file”
Any idea why it does that
Thank you so much. I am able to display a message as it was in Windows 7.