In Windows, how can I see or print a list of all my directories and files?

To see a list of all your directories and files in Windows, first go to the command prompt and make sure you are in the root directory. To get to the root directory, at the command prompt, enter:

Continue to enter the above command until you see a C: prompt (where C: is your main drive). Then, at the command prompt, enter:

The entries will appear one screenful at a time. Press the Spacebar to scroll through the list. To make your lists easier to read, you can sort by name. To do so, at the command prompt, enter:

To create a text file so you can print the list of all your directories and files, at the prompt, enter the appropriate command:

• Windows Vista: dir /s /o >c:\Users\yourusername\Desktop\dir.txt
• Earlier versions of Windows: dir /s /o >dir.txt

This will direct the contents of the list to a file called dir.txt, which you can then open in Wordpad, or any text editor, and print.

To create a list for a single directory, change to the directory for which you wish to create the list of files and subdirectories, and then follow the directions above. For example, to create a list of files and subdirectories for a directory called papers, at the command prompt, you would enter:

Then follow the steps above to list the subdirectories and files in that directory.

Note: This document does not apply to Windows 3.x.

Also see:

• In Windows, what is a shortcut, and how do I create one?
• In Windows, how do I locate a file if I know its name or its contents?
• In Microsoft Word, how can I recover text from a damaged file?
• In Windows, how do I check the size of a drive, disk, partition, or subdirectory?
• In Windows, what are file attributes, and how can I change them?