Directory File List for Windows

One of my tasks at work is to clean up old unused files and directories to streamline productivity. In order to do so, I would need a list of everything in the directory to know what I am getting rid of and where to move certain files. Well, Windows doesn’t provide a direct way to get a list of file names in a folder directory. But I’ve found a way to create such a list in a text file, which then can be imported into Excel.

To generate a list of file names, you’ll need to use a DOS command typed in a DOS command window. To open a DOS command window:

1. Click the Windows Start button
2. Click Run
3. Type “cmd” (no quotes) and press Enter.

You’ll get a window like the one shown below.

Next, you need to type a DOS command to generate the file list. For example, if you would like to generate a list of all files in the root directory of drive D, type the following at the command prompt and press Enter:

dir d:\

To list the files in a particular directory, add the directory name after the drive:

dir d:\yourfoldername\

The file names will be listed in the window. To save the list, redirect the output to a text file by using the “>” character and specify a file name. For example, to send the file names to a text file named filelist.txt in the root directory of drive C, use this command:

dir d:\yourfoldername\ >c:\filelist.txt

After the text file is generated, you can import it into Excel:

1. Open Excel
2. Create a new spreadsheet
3. Go to File, Open, scroll down to “All Files Types” and select filelist.txt

Excel will automatically create the necessary columns from your text file.

For more information about creating directory file lists, check out SpreadSheetPage.com.

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