Create file from command line

We can create files from command line in two ways. The first way is to use fsutil command and the other way is to use echo command. If you want to write any specific data in the file then use echo command. If you are not bothered about the data in the file but just want to create a file of some specific size then you can use fsutil command.

To create file using echo

To create file using fsutil

Limitations

Fsutil can be used only by administrators. For non-admin users it throws up below error.

Thank you for the quick and dirty method since windows seems to lack the “touch” command.

How can we use these commands to ‘touch’ a file. Could anyone provide the exact command that can work as linux ‘touch’ for any type of file?

Windows does not lack “touch”. It is echo. As the post describes? type: echo “” Blah.cpp

dude, this isnt working on our school’s computers, can you tell another method that works on windows 8 computers please?

lmao it works at school PC

Make sure that you are typing in the code the right way. It happened to me when I typed in “echo This is a sample text file sample.txt”.

If you want to create a file with NO text in it do this:
at the CLI type “Echo.”: Your output should look like this:
C:\Temp>echo.

To write to a file:
C:\Temp> Echo. >test.txt

This will create a file with single space in the file.

How do I display a text file content in CMD?

I want to display the content of a text file in a CMD window. In addition, I want to see the new lines that added to file, like tail -f command in Unix.

12 Answers 12

You can use the more command. For example:

We can use the ‘type’ command to see file contents in cmd.

More information can be found HERE.

I don’t think there is a built-in function for that

This opens the files in the default text editor in windows.

This displays the file in the current window. Maybe this has params you can use.

There is a similar question here: CMD.EXE batch script to display last 10 lines from a txt file So there is a «more» command to display a file from the given line, or you can use the GNU Utilities for Win32 what bryanph suggested in his link.

You can use the ‘more’ command to see the content of the file:

Using a single PowerShell command to retrieve the file ending:

It applies to PowerShell 3.0 and newer.

Another option is to create a file called TAIL.CMD with this code:

To do this, you can use Microsoft’s more advanced command-line shell called «Windows PowerShell.» It should come standard on the latest versions of Windows, but you can download it from Microsoft if you don’t already have it installed.

To get the last five lines in the text file simply read the file using Get-Content , then have Select-Object pick out the last five items/lines for you:

If you want it to display the content of the file live, and update when the file is altered, just use this script:

That will repeat forever until you close the cmd window.

You can do that in some methods:

One is the type command: type filename Another is the more command: more filename With more you can also do that: type filename | more

The last option is using a for for /f «usebackq delims=» %%A in (filename) do (echo.%%A) This will go for each line and display it’s content. This is an equivalent of the type command, but it’s another method of reading the content.

If you are asking what to use, use the more command as it will make a pause.

There is no built in option available with Windows. To constantly monitor logs you can use this free application BareTailPro.

You can get the TAIL utility from the Windows Server 2003 Resource Kit Tools.

If you want to display for example all .config (or .ini ) file name and file content into one doc for user reference (and by this I mean user not knowing shell command i.e. 95% of them), you can try this :

• ForFiles : loop on a directory (and child, etc) each file meeting criteria
  • able to return the current file name being process (@file)
  • able to return the full path file being process (@path)
• Type : Output the file content

Windows commands

All supported versions of Windows (server and client) have a set of Win32 console commands built in.

This set of documentation describes the Windows Commands you can use to automate tasks by using scripts or scripting tools.

Prerequisites

The information that is contained in this topic applies to:

• Windows Server 2019
• Windows Server (Semi-Annual Channel)
• Windows Server 2016
• Windows Server 2012 R2
• Windows Server 2012
• Windows Server 2008 R2
• Windows Server 2008
• Windows 10
• Windows 8.1

Command shell overview

The Command shell was the first shell built into Windows to automate routine tasks, like user account management or nightly backups, with batch (.bat) files. With Windows Script Host you could run more sophisticated scripts in the Command shell. For more information, see cscript or wscript. You can perform operations more efficiently by using scripts than you can by using the user interface. Scripts accept all Commands that are available at the command line.

Windows has two command shells: The Command shell and PowerShell. Each shell is a software program that provides direct communication between you and the operating system or application, providing an environment to automate IT operations.

PowerShell was designed to extend the capabilities of the Command shell to run PowerShell commands called cmdlets. Cmdlets are similar to Windows Commands but provide a more extensible scripting language. You can run Windows Commands and PowerShell cmdlets in Powershell, but the Command shell can only run Windows Commands and not PowerShell cmdlets.

For the most robust, up-to-date Windows automation, we recommend using PowerShell instead of Windows Commands or Windows Script Host for Windows automation.

You can also download and install PowerShell Core, the open source version of PowerShell.

Incorrectly editing the registry may severely damage your system. Before making the following changes to the registry, you should back up any valued data on the computer.

To enable or disable file and directory name completion in the Command shell on a computer or user logon session, run regedit.exe and set the following reg_DWOrd value:

To set the reg_DWOrd value, use the hexadecimal value of a control character for a particular function (for example, 0 9 is Tab and 0 08 is Backspace). User-specified settings take precedence over computer settings, and command-line options take precedence over registry settings.

Command-line reference A-Z

To find information about a specific command, in the following A-Z menu, click the letter that the command starts with, and then click the command name.

Create, write, and read a file

Important APIs

Read and write a file using a StorageFile object.

В For a complete sample, see the File access sample.

Prerequisites

Understand async programming for Universal Windows Platform (UWP) apps

You can learn how to write asynchronous apps in C# or Visual Basic, see Call asynchronous APIs in C# or Visual Basic. To learn how to write asynchronous apps in C++/WinRT, see Concurrency and asynchronous operations with C++/WinRT. To learn how to write asynchronous apps in C++/CX, see Asynchronous programming in C++/CX.

Know how to get the file that you want to read from, write to, or both

You can learn how to get a file by using a file picker in Open files and folders with a picker.

Creating a file

Here’s how to create a file in the app’s local folder. If it already exists, we replace it.

Writing to a file

Here’s how to write to a writable file on disk using the StorageFile class. The common first step for each of the ways of writing to a file (unless you’re writing to the file immediately after creating it) is to get the file with StorageFolder.GetFileAsync.

Writing text to a file

Write text to your file by calling the FileIO.WriteTextAsync method.

Writing bytes to a file by using a buffer (2 steps)

First, call CryptographicBuffer.ConvertStringToBinary to get a buffer of the bytes (based on a string) that you want to write to your file.

Then write the bytes from your buffer to your file by calling the FileIO.WriteBufferAsync method.

Writing text to a file by using a stream (4 steps)

First, open the file by calling the StorageFile.OpenAsync method. It returns a stream of the file’s content when the open operation completes.

Next, get an output stream by calling the IRandomAccessStream.GetOutputStreamAt method from the stream . If you’re using C#, then enclose this in a using statement to manage the output stream’s lifetime. If you’re using C++/WinRT, then you can control its lifetime by enclosing it in a block, or setting it to nullptr when you’re done with it.

Now add this code (if you’re using C#, within the existing using statement) to write to the output stream by creating a new DataWriter object and calling the DataWriter.WriteString method.

Lastly, add this code (if you’re using C#, within the inner using statement) to save the text to your file with DataWriter.StoreAsync and close the stream with IOutputStream.FlushAsync.

Best practices for writing to a file

For additional details and best practice guidance, see Best practices for writing to files.

Reading from a file

Here’s how to read from a file on disk using the StorageFile class. The common first step for each of the ways of reading from a file is to get the file with StorageFolder.GetFileAsync.

Reading text from a file

Read text from your file by calling the FileIO.ReadTextAsync method.

Reading text from a file by using a buffer (2 steps)

Then use a DataReader object to read first the length of the buffer and then its contents.

Reading text from a file by using a stream (4 steps)

Write command file windows

Starts a new instance of the command interpreter, Cmd.exe. If used without parameters, cmd displays the version and copyright information of the operating system.

Syntax

Parameters

Parameter	Description
/c	Carries out the command specified by string and then stops.
/k	Carries out the command specified by string and continues.
/s	Modifies the treatment of string after /c or /k.
/q	Turns the echo off.
/d	Disables execution of AutoRun commands.
/a	Formats internal command output to a pipe or a file as American National Standards Institute (ANSI).
/u	Formats internal command output to a pipe or a file as Unicode.
/t: < | >	Sets the background (b) and foreground (f) colors.
/e:on	Enables command extensions.
/e:off	Disables commands extensions.
/f:on	Enables file and directory name completion.
/f:off	Disables file and directory name completion.
/v:on	Enables delayed environment variable expansion.
/v:off	Disables delayed environment variable expansion.
Specifies the command you want to carry out.
/?	Displays help at the command prompt.

The following table lists valid hexadecimal digits that you can use as the values for and :

Value	Color
0	Black
1	Blue
2	Green
3	Aqua
4	Red
5	Purple
6	Yellow
7	White
8	Gray
9	Light blue
a	Light green
b	Light aqua
c	Light red
d	Light purple
e	Light yellow
f	Bright white

Remarks

To use multiple commands for , separate them by the command separator && and enclose them in quotation marks. For example:

If you specify /c or /k, cmd processes, the remainder of string, and the quotation marks are preserved only if all of the following conditions are met:

You don’t also use /s.

You use exactly one set of quotation marks.

You don’t use any special characters within the quotation marks (for example: & ( ) @ ^ | ).

You use one or more white-space characters within the quotation marks.

The string within quotation marks is the name of an executable file.

If the previous conditions aren’t met, string is processed by examining the first character to verify whether it is an opening quotation mark. If the first character is an opening quotation mark, it is stripped along with the closing quotation mark. Any text following the closing quotation marks is preserved.

If you don’t specify /d in string, Cmd.exe looks for the following registry subkeys:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Command Processor\AutoRun\REG_SZ

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Command Processor\AutoRun\REG_EXPAND_SZ

If one or both registry subkeys are present, they’re executed before all other variables.

Incorrectly editing the registry may severely damage your system. Before making changes to the registry, you should back up any valued data on the computer.

You can disable command extensions for a particular process by using /e:off. You can enable or disable extensions for all cmd command-line options on a computer or user session by setting the following REG_DWORD values:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Command Processor\EnableExtensions\REG_DWORD

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Command Processor\EnableExtensions\REG_DWORD

Set the REG_DWORD value to either 0Г—1 (enabled) or 0Г—0 (disabled) in the registry by using Regedit.exe. User-specified settings take precedence over computer settings, and command-line options take precedence over registry settings.

Incorrectly editing the registry may severely damage your system. Before making changes to the registry, you should back up any valued data on the computer.

When you enable command extensions, the following commands are affected:

assoc

call

chdir (cd)

color

del (erase)

endlocal

for

ftype

goto

if

mkdir (md)

popd

prompt

pushd

set

setlocal

shift

start (also includes changes to external command processes)

If you enable delayed environment variable expansion, you can use the exclamation point character to substitute the value of an environment variable at run time.

File and directory name completion is not enabled by default. You can enable or disable file name completion for a particular process of the cmd command with /f:<on | off>. You can enable or disable file and directory name completion for all processes of the cmd command on a computer or for a user logon session by setting the following REG_DWORD values:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Command Processor\CompletionChar\REG_DWORD

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Command Processor\PathCompletionChar\REG_DWORD

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Command Processor\CompletionChar\REG_DWORD

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Command Processor\PathCompletionChar\REG_DWORD

To set the REG_DWORD value, run Regedit.exe and use the hexadecimal value of a control character for a particular function (for example, 0Г—9 is TAB and 0Г—08 is BACKSPACE). User-specified settings take precedence over computer settings, and command-line options take precedence over registry settings.

Incorrectly editing the registry may severely damage your system. Before making changes to the registry, you should back up any valued data on the computer.

If you enable file and directory name completion by using /f:on, use CTRL+D for directory name completion and CTRL+F for file name completion. To disable a particular completion character in the registry, use the value for white space [0Г—20] because it is not a valid control character.

Pressing CTRL+D or CTRL+F, processes the file and directory name completion. These key combination functions append a wildcard character to string (if one is not present), builds a list of paths that match, and then displays the first matching path.

If none of the paths match, the file and directory name completion function beeps and does not change the display. To move through the list of matching paths, press CTRL+D or CTRL+F repeatedly. To move through the list backwards, press the SHIFT key and CTRL+D or CTRL+F simultaneously. To discard the saved list of matching paths and generate a new list, edit string and press CTRL+D or CTRL+F. If you switch between CTRL+D and CTRL+F, the saved list of matching paths is discarded and a new list is generated. The only difference between the key combinations CTRL+D and CTRL+F is that CTRL+D only matches directory names and CTRL+F matches both file and directory names. If you use file and directory name completion on any of the built-in directory commands (that is, CD, MD, or RD), directory completion is assumed.

File and directory name completion correctly processes file names that contain white space or special characters if you place quotation marks around the matching path.

You must use quotation marks around the following special characters: & [ ] | < >^ = ; ! ‘ + , `

If the information that you supply contains spaces, you must use quotation marks around the text (for example, «Computer Name»).

If you process file and directory name completion from within string, any part of the path to the right of the cursor is discarded (at the point in string where the completion was processed).

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