By default, the echo feature is on in MS-DOS-based (and later, Windows) systems when executing a batch file. That means that every command issued in a batch file (and all of its output) would be echoed to the screen. By issuing, the ‘echo off’ command, this feature is turned off but as a result of issuing that command, the command itself will still show up on the screen. By including the ‘@’ symbol in ‘@echo off’, it will prevent the ‘echo off’ command from being seen on the screen.