Dir

Windows Command Reference > A-Z List > Dir

Applies To: Windows Server 2008,Windows Vista

Displays a list of a directory's files and subdirectories. If used without parameters, dir 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, dir displays the name extension and the size in bytes. Dir also displays the total number of files and directories listed, their cumulative size, and the free space (in bytes) remaining on the disk.

For examples of how to use this command, see Examples.

Syntax

Parameters

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.
  
  Asterisk (*): Use the asterisk as a 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.

Question mark (?): 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.

• Specifying file display attributes
  
  If you use /a with more than one value in Attributes, dir 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), dir will only display the names of the read-only files that are not hidden.
  
  
• Specifying file name sorting
  
  If you specify more than one SortOrder value, dir 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 values for SortOrder (by using either /o:e-s or /oe-s), dir 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.
  
  
• Using redirection symbols and pipes
  
  When you use the redirection symbol (>) to send dir output to a file or a pipe (|) to send dir output to another command, use /a:-d and /b to list the file names only. You can use FileName with /b and /s to specify that dir is to search the current directory and its subdirectories for all file names that match FileName. Dir 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 dir output to another command, you should set the TEMP environment variable in your Autoexec.nt file.
  
  
• The dir command, with different parameters, is available from the Recovery Console.
  
  

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:

Dir lists the root directory, the subdirectories, and the files in the root directory, including extensions. Then, dir lists the subdirectory names and 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:

File creation error

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

Dir 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.

Additional references

Command-Line Syntax Key

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