How to copy a list of file names in a folder to text file?

seymoria said:

In windows 10, when I Shift+right click on a folder to open the Powershell window and type dir /b > dirlist.txt to generate a text file of filenames in the folder, this command is returned as invalid.

It's because you used /b which is a valid option in a command prompt, but not in Powershell. Redirecting to a text file works in Powershell if you just type dir > dirlist.txt

You can switch to using a command prompt in Powershell by typing cmd, then you'd be able to use dir /b. Type exit to return to Powershell.

Hello @kufr,

kufr said:

Can someone please explain this in simpler words I do not know how to use Powershell or CMD to generate one please help.

If you want a list of filenames in a folder you might be better off using this . . .

Add Copy Contents to Clipboard to Context Menu in Windows 10

I hope this helps.

I do this via an entry in the Context Menu for File Explorer.

Add a Create File List entry to the right click Context Menu for File Explorer. It calls a batch file (.bat) that creates a list of all the files in a folder and writes it to a file in the default temp directory, then opens notepad with that file and then deletes the file. Just tested it on my Win 10 Pro X64 system and it works great.

   Information

If you want to keep the GenFIleList.txt file around for awhile, remove & del %temp%\GenFileList.txt from the end of the line in the batch file.

Here is the batch file I use. You can change it to do whatever you need.

dir /a /-p /o:gen %1 >%temp%\GenFileList.txt & notepad %temp%\GenFileList.txt & del %temp%\GenFileList.txt

To create the batch file:

1. Select the above line of text.
2. Press [Ctrl+C] to copy it to the Clipboard.
3. Open Notepad and press [Ctrl+V] to pastes it into the Notepad window.
4. Click on [File] then [Save as].
5. Make the name "GenFileList.bat", including the double quotes so Windows 10 doesn't add .txt to the end.
6. Place Genfilelist.bat in c:\users\yourname folder.

Here is the .reg file I use.

1. You need to change yourname to your account name in two places.
2. Set the isLink\command lines @= entry in the reg file to the path you created GenFileList.bat in, for example:

c:\users\yourname\GenFileList.bat

==================================================================================================== ===
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\shell\isLink]
@="Create File List"
"Extended"=""

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\shell\]
@=""c:\\users\\yourname\\GenFileList.bat" "%1""

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\shell\isLink]
@="Create File List"
"Extended"=""

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\shell\isLink\command]
@=""c:\\users\\yourname\\GenFileList.bat" "%1""
==================================================================================================== ===

Select all the red text between the ======================='s
Press [Ctrl+C] to copy it to the Clipboard.
Open Notepad and press [Ctrl+V] to pastes it into the Notepad window.
Click on [File] then [Save as].
Make the name "AddGenFileList.reg", including the double quotes so Windows 10 doesn't add .txt to the end.
Place AddGenFileList.reg in the same folder you put Genfilelist.bat in.

Now double click on AddGenFileList.reg to add it's data to the registry. Click Yes or OK as necessary.

To use, do the following:

Open File Explorer and navigate to the folder you want the file list for. Right click on it and select [Create File List].

Notepad will open with the list of files and folders contained in the folder you chose. You can edit it or do whatever you
want with the data as well as print it.

Did you try following the directions? It's really not difficult. Just do exactly what it says.

I'll work on a install batch file when I get a few minutes but it will be awhile.

Okay, had some time to play with this.

GenFileList.bat - Click here to go to the BSOD batch repository to download and run this batch file.