diff --git a/docs/changelog/2801.bugfix.rst b/docs/changelog/2801.bugfix.rst
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e06dd8ca5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/changelog/2801.bugfix.rst
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+no longer forcibly echo off during windows batch activation
diff --git a/src/virtualenv/activation/batch/activate.bat b/src/virtualenv/activation/batch/activate.bat
index 3e34ee4db..36b0a8bd7 100644
--- a/src/virtualenv/activation/batch/activate.bat
+++ b/src/virtualenv/activation/batch/activate.bat
@@ -1,8 +1,6 @@
 @REM This file is UTF-8 encoded, so we need to update the current code page while executing it
-@echo off
-@for /f "tokens=2 delims=:." %%a in ('"%SystemRoot%\System32\chcp.com"') do (
-    @set _OLD_CODEPAGE=%%a
-)
+@for /f "tokens=2 delims=:." %%a in ('"%SystemRoot%\System32\chcp.com"') do @set _OLD_CODEPAGE=%%a
+
 @if defined _OLD_CODEPAGE (
     "%SystemRoot%\System32\chcp.com" 65001 > nul
 )
diff --git a/tests/unit/activation/test_batch.py b/tests/unit/activation/test_batch.py
index 1d22767c3..13d84442e 100644
--- a/tests/unit/activation/test_batch.py
+++ b/tests/unit/activation/test_batch.py
@@ -33,3 +33,50 @@ def print_prompt(self):
             return 'echo "%PROMPT%"'
 
     activation_tester(Batch)
+
+
+@pytest.mark.usefixtures("activation_python")
+def test_batch_output(activation_tester_class, activation_tester, tmp_path):
+    version_script = tmp_path / "version.bat"
+    version_script.write_text("ver", encoding="utf-8")
+
+    class Batch(activation_tester_class):
+        def __init__(self, session) -> None:
+            super().__init__(BatchActivator, session, None, "activate.bat", "bat")
+            self._version_cmd = [str(version_script)]
+            self._invoke_script = []
+            self.deactivate = "call deactivate"
+            self.activate_cmd = "call"
+            self.pydoc_call = f"call {self.pydoc_call}"
+            self.unix_line_ending = False
+
+        def _get_test_lines(self, activate_script):
+            """
+            Build intermediary script which will be then called.
+            In the script just activate environment, call echo to get current
+            echo setting, and then deactivate. This ensures that echo setting
+            is preserved and no unwanted output appears.
+            """
+            intermediary_script_path = str(tmp_path / "intermediary.bat")
+            activate_script_quoted = self.quote(str(activate_script))
+            return [
+                "@echo on",
+                f"@echo @call {activate_script_quoted} > {intermediary_script_path}",
+                f"@echo @echo >> {intermediary_script_path}",
+                f"@echo @deactivate >> {intermediary_script_path}",
+                f"@call {intermediary_script_path}",
+            ]
+
+        def assert_output(self, out, raw, tmp_path):  # noqa: ARG002
+            assert out[0] == "ECHO is on.", raw
+
+        def quote(self, s):
+            if '"' in s or " " in s:
+                text = s.replace('"', r"\"")
+                return f'"{text}"'
+            return s
+
+        def print_prompt(self):
+            return 'echo "%PROMPT%"'
+
+    activation_tester(Batch)