Have you encounter the scenario where your friend or relative has require you to list out the files and folders in a certain directory? And going thru the individual folders and taking screenshot is definitely not a feasible solution.
For instance, they have loaned you their external hard disk and requires you to list out the data in there.
Here a simple way to list out the files and folders in less than 3 min!.
Setup Scenario
For instance, in T drive, i have a “Test” folder. In this “Test” folder, there is one subfolder called “test2” and a file called “hello.txt”
And in the “test2” folder, there is a “welcome.txt” and another subfolder called “test3”
Hence our directory and file listing will look like the following
| Test | Hello.txt | |
| test2 | welcome.txt | |
| test3 |
We can use the command prompt (cmd) to pull out the folders and files list in these directories.
- Open up command prompt
- navigate to the folder, in my scenario, it will T Drive, test folder.
- Once at the folder, type in “dir > file.txt“
- A new file called file.txt will be created in the “test” folder. Open it and you should see the following
Directory of T:\test
Jun/23/2019 10:47 PM <DIR> .
Jun/23/2019 10:47 PM <DIR> ..
Jun/23/2019 10:38 PM 0 hello.txt
Jun/23/2019 10:44 PM <DIR> test2
2 File(s) 0 bytes
Did you notice that the command only displays what it sees in the “test” folder? What happen if you wish to list out the contents in the subfolders? In our current setup, the content in test2 folder has not been listed.
To list out all the folders and files in a directory to a txt file
Instead of typing “dir > file.txt“, type this in “dir /s “file.txt”
And the result will be
Directory of T:\test
Jun/25/2019 10:47 PM <DIR> .
Jun/25/2019 10:47 PM <DIR> ..
Jun/25/2019 11:02 PM 0 file.txt
Jun/25/2019 10:38 PM 0 hello.txt
Jun/25/2019 11:02 PM <DIR> test2
2 File(s) 0 bytes
Directory of T:\test\test2
Jun/25/2019 11:02 PM <DIR> .
Jun/25/2019 11:02 PM <DIR> ..
Jun/25/2019 11:02 PM <DIR> test3
Jun/25/2019 10:38 PM 0 welcome.txt
1 File(s) 0 bytes
Directory of T:\test\test2\test3
Jun/25/2019 11:02 PM <DIR> .
Jun/25/2019 11:02 PM <DIR> ..
0 File(s) 0 bytes
Total Files Listed:
3 File(s) 0 bytes
Did you notice that the timestamp is included in the notepad? If timestamp is not needed, you may trim the file by typing this “dir /b /s > file.txt”
You will see a listing without any formatting
T:\test\file.txt
T:\test\hello.txt
T:\test\test2
T:\test\test2\test3
T:\test\test2\welcome.txt
Personally i do not like this view, as to the end user, we are not able to tell that “test3” is a folder, based on the displayed view.
If i were to create another folder called “zzz” in test2, the view gets worse!
To give you an idea, this is the structure created.
If i were to run the “dir /b /s > file.txt” command, this will be what i see.
T:\test\file.txt
T:\test\hello.txt
T:\test\test2
T:\test\test2\a
T:\test\test2\test3
T:\test\test2\welcome.txt
T:\test\test2\zzz
The command without “/b” looks more organised personally.
Hopefully this page has allow you to easily list and print out the files and folders in the directory.