Windows dir file path

Displays a list of a directory’s files and subdirectories. If used without parameters, this command displays the disk’s volume label and serial number, followed by a list of directories and files on the disk (including their names and the date and time each was last modified). For files, this command displays the name extension and the size in bytes. This command also displays the total number of files and directories listed, their cumulative size, and the free space (in bytes) remaining on the disk.

The dir command can also run from the Windows Recovery Console, using different parameters. For more information, see Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE).

Syntax

Parameters

] Specifies the drive and directory for which you want to see a listing. [ ] Specifies a particular file or group of files for which you want to see a listing. /p Displays one screen of the listing at a time. To see the next screen, press any key. /q Displays file ownership information. /w Displays the listing in wide format, with as many as five file names or directory names on each line. /d Displays the listing in the same format as /w, but the files are sorted by column. /a[[:] ] Displays only the names of those directories and files with your specified attributes. If you don’t use this parameter, the command displays the names of all files except hidden and system files. If you use this parameter without specifying any attributes, the command displays the names of all files, including hidden and system files. The list of possible attributes values are:

• d — Directories
• h — Hidden files
• s — System files
• l — Reparse points
• r — Read-only files
• a — Files ready for archiving
• i — Not content indexed files

You can use any combination of these values, but don’t separate your values using spaces. Optionally you can use a colon (:) separator, or you can use a hyphen (-) as a prefix to mean, «not». For example, using the -s attribute won’t show the system files. /o[[:] ] Sorts the output according to sortorder, which can be any combination of the following values:

• n — Alphabetically by name
• e — Alphabetically by extension
• g — Group directories first
• s — By size, smallest first
• d — By date/time, oldest first
• Use the — prefix to reverse the sort order

Multiple values are processed in the order in which you list them. Don’t separate multiple values with spaces, but you can optionally use a colon (:).

If sortorder isn’t specified, dir /o lists the directories alphabetically, followed by the files, which are also sorted alphabetically. /t[[:] ] Specifies which time field to display or to use for sorting. The available timefield values are:

• c — Creation
• a — Last accessed
• w — Last written

/s Lists every occurrence of the specified file name within the specified directory and all subdirectories. /b Displays a bare list of directories and files, with no additional information. The /b parameter overrides /w. /l Displays unsorted directory names and file names, using lowercase. /n Displays a long list format with file names on the far right of the screen. /x Displays the short names generated for non-8dot3 file names. The display is the same as the display for /n, but the short name is inserted before the long name. /c Displays the thousand separator in file sizes. This is the default behavior. Use /c to hide separators. /4 Displays years in four-digit format. /r Display alternate data streams of the file. /? Displays help at the command prompt.

Remarks

To use multiple filename parameters, separate each file name with a space, comma, or semicolon.

You can use wildcard characters (* or ?), to represent one or more characters of a file name and to display a subset of files or subdirectories.

You can use the wildcard character, *, to substitute for any string of characters, for example:

dir *.txt lists all files in the current directory with extensions that begin with .txt, such as .txt, .txt1, .txt_old.

dir read *.txt lists all files in the current directory that begin with read and with extensions that begin with .txt, such as .txt, .txt1, or .txt_old.

dir read *.* lists all files in the current directory that begin with read with any extension.

The asterisk wildcard always uses short file name mapping, so you might get unexpected results. For example, the following directory contains two files (t.txt2 and t97.txt):

You might expect that typing dir t97\* would return the file t97.txt. However, typing dir t97\* returns both files, because the asterisk wildcard matches the file t.txt2 to t97.txt by using its short name map T97B4

1.TXT. Similarly, typing del t97\* would delete both files.

You can use the question mark (?) as a substitute for a single character in a name. For example, typing dir read. txt lists any files in the current directory with the .txt extension that begin with read and are followed by up to three characters. This includes Read.txt, Read1.txt, Read12.txt, Read123.txt, and Readme1.txt, but not Readme12.txt.

If you use /a with more than one value in attributes, this command displays the names of only those files with all the specified attributes. For example, if you use /a with r and -h as attributes (by using either /a:r-h or /ar-h ), this command will only display the names of the read-only files that aren’t hidden.

If you specify more than one sortorder value, this command sorts the file names by the first criterion, then by the second criterion, and so on. For example, if you use /o with the e and -s parameters for sortorder (by using either /o:e-s or /oe-s ), this command sorts the names of directories and files by extension, with the largest first, and then displays the final result. The alphabetic sorting by extension causes file names with no extensions to appear first, then directory names, and then file names with extensions.

If you use the redirection symbol ( > ) to send this command’s output to a file, or if you use a pipe ( | ) to send this command’s output to another command, you must use /a:-d and /b to only list the file names. You can use filename with /b and /s to specify that this command is to search the current directory and its subdirectories for all file names that match filename. This command lists only the drive letter, directory name, file name, and file name extension (one path per line), for each file name it finds. Before you use a pipe to send this command’s output to another command, you should set the TEMP environment variable in your Autoexec.nt file.

Examples

To display all directories one after the other, in alphabetical order, in wide format, and pausing after each screen, make sure that the root directory is the current directory, and then type:

The output lists the root directory, the subdirectories, and the files in the root directory, including extensions. This command also lists the subdirectory names and the file names in each subdirectory in the tree.

To alter the preceding example so that dir displays the file names and extensions, but omits the directory names, type:

To print a directory listing, type:

When you specify prn, the directory list is sent to the printer that is attached to the LPT1 port. If your printer is attached to a different port, you must replace prn with the name of the correct port.

You can also redirect output of the dir command to a file by replacing prn with a file name. You can also type a path. For example, to direct dir output to the file dir.doc in the Records directory, type:

If dir.doc does not exist, dir creates it, unless the Records directory does not exist. In that case, the following message appears:

To display a list of all the file names with the .txt extension in all directories on drive C, type:

The dir command displays, in wide format, an alphabetized list of the matching file names in each directory, and it pauses each time the screen fills until you press any key to continue.

File path formats on Windows systems

Members of many of the types in the System.IO namespace include a path parameter that lets you specify an absolute or relative path to a file system resource. This path is then passed to Windows file system APIs. This topic discusses the formats for file paths that you can use on Windows systems.

Traditional DOS paths

A standard DOS path can consist of three components:

• A volume or drive letter followed by the volume separator ( : ).
• A directory name. The directory separator character separates subdirectories within the nested directory hierarchy.
• An optional filename. The directory separator character separates the file path and the filename.

If all three components are present, the path is absolute. If no volume or drive letter is specified and the directory name begins with the directory separator character, the path is relative from the root of the current drive. Otherwise, the path is relative to the current directory. The following table shows some possible directory and file paths.

Path	Description
C:\Documents\Newsletters\Summer2018.pdf	An absolute file path from the root of drive C: .
\Program Files\Custom Utilities\StringFinder.exe	An absolute path from the root of the current drive.
2018\January.xlsx	A relative path to a file in a subdirectory of the current directory.
..\Publications\TravelBrochure.pdf	A relative path to file in a directory that is a peer of the current directory.
C:\Projects\apilibrary\apilibrary.sln	An absolute path to a file from the root of drive C: .
C:Projects\apilibrary\apilibrary.sln	A relative path from the current directory of the C: drive.

Note the difference between the last two paths. Both specify the optional volume specifier ( C: in both cases), but the first begins with the root of the specified volume, whereas the second does not. As result, the first is an absolute path from the root directory of drive C: , whereas the second is a relative path from the current directory of drive C: . Use of the second form when the first is intended is a common source of bugs that involve Windows file paths.

You can determine whether a file path is fully qualified (that is, it the path is independent of the current directory and does not change when the current directory changes) by calling the Path.IsPathFullyQualified method. Note that such a path can include relative directory segments ( . and .. ) and still be fully qualified if the resolved path always points to the same location.

The following example illustrates the difference between absolute and relative paths. It assumes that the directory D:\FY2018\ exists, and that you haven’t set any current directory for D:\ from the command prompt before running the example.

If you would like to see code comments translated to languages other than English, let us know in this GitHub discussion issue.

UNC paths

Universal naming convention (UNC) paths, which are used to access network resources, have the following format:

• A server or host name, which is prefaced by \\ . The server name can be a NetBIOS machine name or an IP/FQDN address (IPv4 as well as v6 are supported).
• A share name, which is separated from the host name by \ . Together, the server and share name make up the volume.
• A directory name. The directory separator character separates subdirectories within the nested directory hierarchy.
• An optional filename. The directory separator character separates the file path and the filename.

The following are some examples of UNC paths:

Path	Description
\\system07\C$\	The root directory of the C: drive on system07 .
\\Server2\Share\Test\Foo.txt	The Foo.txt file in the Test directory of the \\Server2\Share volume.

UNC paths must always be fully qualified. They can include relative directory segments ( . and .. ), but these must be part of a fully qualified path. You can use relative paths only by mapping a UNC path to a drive letter.

DOS device paths

The Windows operating system has a unified object model that points to all resources, including files. These object paths are accessible from the console window and are exposed to the Win32 layer through a special folder of symbolic links that legacy DOS and UNC paths are mapped to. This special folder is accessed via the DOS device path syntax, which is one of:

In addition to identifying a drive by its drive letter, you can identify a volume by using its volume GUID. This takes the form:

DOS device path syntax is supported on .NET implementations running on Windows starting with .NET Core 1.1 and .NET Framework 4.6.2.

The DOS device path consists of the following components:

The device path specifier ( \\.\ or \\?\ ), which identifies the path as a DOS device path.

The \\?\ is supported in all versions of .NET Core and .NET 5+ and in .NET Framework starting with version 4.6.2.

A symbolic link to the «real» device object (C: in the case of a drive name, or Volume in the case of a volume GUID).

The first segment of the DOS device path after the device path specifier identifies the volume or drive. (For example, \\?\C:\ and \\.\BootPartition\ .)

There is a specific link for UNCs that is called, not surprisingly, UNC . For example:

For device UNCs, the server/share portion forms the volume. For example, in \\?\server1\e:\utilities\\filecomparer\ , the server/share portion is server1\utilities . This is significant when calling a method such as Path.GetFullPath(String, String) with relative directory segments; it is never possible to navigate past the volume.

DOS device paths are fully qualified by definition. Relative directory segments ( . and .. ) are not allowed. Current directories never enter into their usage.

Example: Ways to refer to the same file

The following example illustrates some of the ways in which you can refer to a file when using the APIs in the System.IO namespace. The example instantiates a FileInfo object and uses its Name and Length properties to display the filename and the length of the file.

Path normalization

Almost all paths passed to Windows APIs are normalized. During normalization, Windows performs the following steps:

• Identifies the path.
• Applies the current directory to partially qualified (relative) paths.
• Canonicalizes component and directory separators.
• Evaluates relative directory components ( . for the current directory and .. for the parent directory).
• Trims certain characters.

This normalization happens implicitly, but you can do it explicitly by calling the Path.GetFullPath method, which wraps a call to the GetFullPathName() function. You can also call the Windows GetFullPathName() function directly using P/Invoke.

Identify the path

The first step in path normalization is identifying the type of path. Paths fall into one of a few categories:

• They are device paths; that is, they begin with two separators and a question mark or period ( \\? or \\. ).
• They are UNC paths; that is, they begin with two separators without a question mark or period.
• They are fully qualified DOS paths; that is, they begin with a drive letter, a volume separator, and a component separator ( C:\ ).
• They designate a legacy device ( CON , LPT1 ).
• They are relative to the root of the current drive; that is, they begin with a single component separator ( \ ).
• They are relative to the current directory of a specified drive; that is, they begin with a drive letter, a volume separator, and no component separator ( C: ).
• They are relative to the current directory; that is, they begin with anything else ( temp\testfile.txt ).

The type of the path determines whether or not a current directory is applied in some way. It also determines what the «root» of the path is.

Handle legacy devices

If the path is a legacy DOS device such as CON , COM1 , or LPT1 , it is converted into a device path by prepending \\.\ and returned.

A path that begins with a legacy device name is always interpreted as a legacy device by the Path.GetFullPath(String) method. For example, the DOS device path for CON.TXT is \\.\CON , and the DOS device path for COM1.TXT\file1.txt is \\.\COM1 .

Apply the current directory

If a path isn’t fully qualified, Windows applies the current directory to it. UNCs and device paths do not have the current directory applied. Neither does a full drive with separator C:\ .

If the path starts with a single component separator, the drive from the current directory is applied. For example, if the file path is \utilities and the current directory is C:\temp\ , normalization produces C:\utilities .

If the path starts with a drive letter, volume separator, and no component separator, the last current directory set from the command shell for the specified drive is applied. If the last current directory was not set, the drive alone is applied. For example, if the file path is D:sources , the current directory is C:\Documents\ , and the last current directory on drive D: was D:\sources\ , the result is D:\sources\sources . These «drive relative» paths are a common source of program and script logic errors. Assuming that a path beginning with a letter and a colon isn’t relative is obviously not correct.

If the path starts with something other than a separator, the current drive and current directory are applied. For example, if the path is filecompare and the current directory is C:\utilities\ , the result is C:\utilities\filecompare\ .

Relative paths are dangerous in multithreaded applications (that is, most applications) because the current directory is a per-process setting. Any thread can change the current directory at any time. Starting with .NET Core 2.1, you can call the Path.GetFullPath(String, String) method to get an absolute path from a relative path and the base path (the current directory) that you want to resolve it against.

Canonicalize separators

All forward slashes ( / ) are converted into the standard Windows separator, the back slash ( \ ). If they are present, a series of slashes that follow the first two slashes are collapsed into a single slash.

Evaluate relative components

As the path is processed, any components or segments that are composed of a single or a double period ( . or .. ) are evaluated:

For a single period, the current segment is removed, since it refers to the current directory.

For a double period, the current segment and the parent segment are removed, since the double period refers to the parent directory.

Parent directories are only removed if they aren’t past the root of the path. The root of the path depends on the type of path. It is the drive ( C:\ ) for DOS paths, the server/share for UNCs ( \\Server\Share ), and the device path prefix for device paths ( \\?\ or \\.\ ).

Trim characters

Along with the runs of separators and relative segments removed earlier, some additional characters are removed during normalization:

If a segment ends in a single period, that period is removed. (A segment of a single or double period is normalized in the previous step. A segment of three or more periods is not normalized and is actually a valid file/directory name.)

If the path doesn’t end in a separator, all trailing periods and spaces (U+0020) are removed. If the last segment is simply a single or double period, it falls under the relative components rule above.

This rule means that you can create a directory name with a trailing space by adding a trailing separator after the space.

You should never create a directory or filename with a trailing space. Trailing spaces can make it difficult or impossible to access a directory, and applications commonly fail when attempting to handle directories or files whose names include trailing spaces.

Skip normalization

Normally, any path passed to a Windows API is (effectively) passed to the GetFullPathName function and normalized. There is one important exception: a device path that begins with a question mark instead of a period. Unless the path starts exactly with \\?\ (note the use of the canonical backslash), it is normalized.

Why would you want to skip normalization? There are three major reasons:

To get access to paths that are normally unavailable but are legal. A file or directory called hidden. , for example, is impossible to access in any other way.

To improve performance by skipping normalization if you’ve already normalized.

On .NET Framework only, to skip the MAX_PATH check for path length to allow for paths that are greater than 259 characters. Most APIs allow this, with some exceptions.

.NET Core and .NET 5+ handles long paths implicitly and does not perform a MAX_PATH check. The MAX_PATH check applies only to .NET Framework.

Skipping normalization and max path checks is the only difference between the two device path syntaxes; they are otherwise identical. Be careful with skipping normalization, since you can easily create paths that are difficult for «normal» applications to deal with.

Paths that start with \\?\ are still normalized if you explicitly pass them to the GetFullPathName function.

You can pass paths of more than MAX_PATH characters to GetFullPathName without \\?\ . It supports arbitrary length paths up to the maximum string size that Windows can handle.

Case and the Windows file system

A peculiarity of the Windows file system that non-Windows users and developers find confusing is that path and directory names are case-insensitive. That is, directory and file names reflect the casing of the strings used when they are created. For example, the method call