How to create file in windows terminal

Is this article up to date?

File creation is perhaps one of the most trivial tasks you perform on your computer almost every day. If you’re a Windows user, you probably do it via the graphical interface.

Although this approach may seem easier in practice, especially if you’ve no previous experience with CLI, it has its shortcomings. Unlike the CLI way, which provides a quick and efficient way to create files on your computer, a GUI approach involves multiple steps, making it time-consuming and inefficient.

So here’s a guide to walk you through the different methods you can use to create a file in Windows (be it Windows 11, Windows 10, Windows 8, or Windows 7) with Command Prompt.

Command Prompt or CMD is a powerful Windows utility that allows you to perform various system operations on your computer with ease. It’s pre-installed on the system and lets you run commands for a multitude of actions, everything from file management to running batch files for task automation.

Creating files happens to be one such task, which you can perform more quickly and efficiently with the CMD prompt than using the File Explorer. But before we jump in and demonstrate how to create a file in Command Prompt, you must know how to navigate the Windows directory structure on it so you can create files in your desired folder.

Navigating Windows File System Using Command Prompt

To navigate the Windows file system with CMD, first, open the Command Prompt. For this, press the Windows + X keyboard shortcut and select Command Prompt from the menu.

Next, enter the dir command to list all the files and directories (or folders) inside a folder. Once you’ve identified the folder you want to open, enter the following command and press Enter:

cd folder_name

Eg:
cd Documents

To go back to the parent directory, run:
cd ..

For accessing the root directory:
cd

While we’re at it, you should also know that you can create directories (or folders) using the Command Prompt. For this, use the cd command to navigate to the folder where you want to create a new folder and use the following syntax:

mkdir directory_name

For example, to create a directory name MyDocs, run:
mkdir MyDocs

Finally, when you’re in the folder where you want to create a file, use any of the following methods to create files with CMD.

Creating a File Using echo Command

The echo command displays messages you type into the CMD window. However, when used with the redirection operator (>), it doubles as a file creation command that creates a file out of your inputted text.

For creating a file using the echo command, open the Command Prompt and enter your command using the following syntax:
echo your_text_here > filename.extension

For example, if you want to create a text file named MyFile with This is sample text as its text and .txt as the file extension, you’d run:
echo This is sample text > MyFile.txt

Once you’ve created the file, verify that it has been created successfully by running:

type filename.extension

Eg:
type MyFile.txt

Creating a File Using copy con Command

Unlike the echo command, which takes your input for the content of the file you’re creating at the outset, the copy con command takes a rather different approach.

With it, you only need to give a name to your file initially. And, it then opens the new file in a text editor, where you can populate it with text.

To create a file using copy con, use the syntax below:
copy con filename_with_extension

Eg:
copy con MyFile.txt

It will now put you inside the file in Command Prompt window itself, where you can add your desired text to it. Once you’ve done that, hit Ctrl + Z to save the file and Ctrl + C to exit editing.

Creating a File in Notepad Using Command Prompt

While both methods we’ve mentioned so far work well, they are not ideal for when you want to enter long text paragraphs into your text file. An alternative way to deal with this is to use Notepad, which you usually use to create files, but via the Command Prompt.

For this, enter your command in the CMD window using the following syntax and hit Enter:
notepad filename.extension

For example, if you want to create a file named SampleDoc, you’d run:
notepad SampleDoc.txt

After this, CMD will open the file in Notepad. It will prompt you to create a new file since the file you enter doesn’t exist. Click Yes to accept and create the file.

Now, just like how you would use Notepad, enter your text to the file and hit Ctrl + S to save and Ctrl + W to close the file.

Creating Multiple Files Using Command Prompt

For times when you want to create multiple files inside a folder at once and populate them later, you can use the for loop as shown in the following syntax:

for /l %a in (1 1 10) do type nul > "%a.txt"
…where (1 1 10) tells the CMD to perform the task in the sequence from 1, in steps of 1, up to 10. To create 20 files, replace 10 with 20 in your command.

If you want to add a common name to the start of every file and follow that up with a number, you’d need to use the following syntax:
for /l %a in (1 1 10) do type nul > "filename %a.txt"

…where you need to replace filename with the name you’d like to give your files.

For example, running the command below will create 10 blank files in the following name syntax: MyDoc-1.
for /l %a in (1 1 10) do type nul > "MyDoc-%a.txt"

Besides, if you want to create multiple files with the same text, you can tweak the command to incorporate the same action. To do this, instead of including do type nul, you need to use do echo your_desired_text.

For example, if you want to create 10 files named MyDoc-1.txt, MyDoc-2.txt,… and so on with This is sample text as text, you’d run:
for /l %a in (1 1 10) do echo This is sample text> "MyDoc-%a.txt"
…and it will create them in your current directory.

Efficiently Creating Files on Windows With Command Prompt

The methods listed in this guide should help you with pretty much all sorts of file creation tasks in Command Prompt, be it creating single-line text files, multiple paragraph text files, or even multiple files with custom text and file names.

So depending on requirements, you can choose a method accordingly and create files on Windows quickly and efficiently.

FAQs About CMD Create File

1. How do I create a text file in Windows command line?

Creating a text file in Windows is pretty straightforward, and you have a few different ways to go about it. If all you need is a simple one-line text file, you can use the echo command, whereas if you want to create a text file with multiple lines of text, you can either use the copy con command or create the file in Notepad. Lastly, if you want to create multiple text files, you can use the for loop.

2. Which command is used to create a file?

Microsoft offers a few different CMD commands to create a file, such as echo and copy con. However, you can also use other methods, wherein you can either create a file in Notepad or run a for loop to generate multiple files with your desired name and file name.

TechPP is supported by our audience. We may earn affiliate commissions from buying links on this site.

Without redirection, Luc Vu or Erik Konstantopoulos point out to:

copy NUL EMptyFile.txt
copy /b NUL EmptyFile.txt

«How to create empty text file from a batch file?» (2008) also points to:

type NUL > EmptyFile.txt
# also
echo. 2>EmptyFile.txt
copy nul file.txt > nul # also in qid's answer below
REM. > empty.file
fsutil file createnew file.cmd 0 # to create a file on a mapped drive

Nomad mentions an original one:

C:UsersVonCprogtests>aaaa > empty_file
'aaaa' is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file.

C:UsersVonCprogtests>dir

 Folder C:UsersVonCprogtests

27/11/2013  10:40    <REP>          .
27/11/2013  10:40    <REP>          ..
27/11/2013  10:40                 0 empty_file

In the same spirit, Samuel suggests in the comments:

the shortest one I use is basically the one by Nomad:

.>out.txt

It does give an error:

'.' is not recognized as an internal or external command

But this error is on stderr. And > only redirects stdout, where nothing have been produced.
Hence the creation of an empty file.
The error message can be disregarded here. Or, as in Rain’s answer, redirected to NUL:

.>out.txt 2>NUL

(Original answer, November 2009)

echo.>filename

(echo "" would actually put «» in the file! And echo without the ‘.’ would put «Command ECHO activated» in the file…)

Note: the resulting file is not empty but includes a return line sequence: 2 bytes.

This discussion points to a true batch solution for a real empty file:

 <nul (set/p z=) >filename

 dir filename
 11/09/2009  19:45                 0 filename
 1 file(s)                         0 bytes

The «<nul» pipes a nul response to the set/p command, which will cause the
variable used to remain unchanged. As usual with set/p, the string to the
right of the equal sign is displayed as a prompt with no CRLF.

Since here the «string to the right of the equal sign» is empty… the result is an empty file.

The difference with cd. > filename (which is mentioned in Patrick Cuff’s answer and does also produce a 0-byte-length file) is that this «bit of redirection» (the <nul... trick) can be used to echo lines without any CR:

<nul (set/p z=hello) >out.txt
<nul (set/p z= world!) >>out.txt
dir out.txt

The dir command should indicate the file size as 11 bytes: «helloworld!«.

Knowing how to conduct rudimentary file management at the Command Prompt comes in useful when you’re starting to code. Any file you make from the Command Prompt persists in multiple areas of Windows—this means that generating an index or document at the prompt fixes things so that you can access, utilize, and control that catalog or record in the Windows platform.

There are two ways to create files from the command line. The first method uses the fsutil command, and the second method uses the echo command.

Create File with Echo Command

|echo some-text > filename.txt

Create File with Fsutil Command

|fsutil file createnew filename number_of_bytes

Step-by-Step Process to Create Files via Command Line

STEP 1: Launch the command prompt.

The quickest way to implement this is to open the search bar by pressing Win + S, type cmd, and then select Command Prompt.

STEP 2: Choose the folder where you wish to save the file.

By default, the prompt will open under C:UsersYourName. Suppose the folder is elsewhere; type the cd path to the folder and hit Enter. Modify the way to the folder with the actual folder path.

STEP 3: Make a blank file.

Type |type nul > filename.txt

Modify filename.txt with a name according to your preference and hit Enter.

The “.txt” extension means that it’s a plain text file.

“.docx” (Word document), “.png” (empty photo), and “.rtf” (rich text document) are other popular file extensions.

All of these file formats may be viewed on any Windows system without the need for extra software.

Step 4: Make a file with certain text in it.

Replace testfile with the appropriate file name in copy con testfile.txt. Hit Enter.

Enter any text. This is a basic text editor, but it’s adequate for brief notes or coding. To move to the following line, use the Enter key.

Press Control + Z after you’re done editing the file.

Hit the Enter key. You should notice “1 file(s) copied,” meaning your file has been saved using the name you chose.

OR

|echo enter your text here > filename.txt.

STEP 5: Make a file of a specific size.

Avoid this step, if you don’t wish to deliver a document of a specific size. Utilize the accompanying order to produce a clear text document dependent on its byte size.

|fsutil file createnew filename.txt 1000

Replace filename with the name of your wish and 1000 with the exact number of bytes you want the document to be.

Other useful articles:

• Basic Windows CMD commands
• Cool CMD Commands Tips and Tricks
• Best CMD Commands for Hacking
• CMD Commands for Wireless Network Speed
• Useful Keyboard Shortcuts for CMD
• What Info about My Laptop Can I Check with CMD and How?
• Getting Started with CMD Windows
• TOP-12 Command-Line Interview Questions (Basic)
• Command-Line Interview Questions (Advanced)
• CMD Commands to Repair Windows
• CMD Commands to Speed Up Computer
• CMD Commands for MAC OS
• How Does the Command Line Work?
• MS-Dos Interview Questions in 2021
• Windows OS Versions and History
• Recent Windows Versions Compared
• Basic Windows Prompt Commands for Every Day
• Windows Command Line Cheat Sheet For Everyone
• Windows Command Line Restart
• Windows Command Line for Loop
• Windows Command — Change Directory
• Windows Command — Delete Directory
• Windows Command Line – Set Environment Variable
• How Do I Run Command Line
• Windows Command Line Create File

To create a file in Windows, right-click on your desktop or in File Explorer and click on New. Is this post going to be the shortest post ever? Nope. Because using the GUI sometimes won’t work, you can use the command prompt to create a file. In this tutorial, you will learn just about every way possible to use PowerShell and Windows command prompt to create file on the command line.

Let’s get started!

Prerequisites

If you’d like to follow along with the steps in this tutorial, be sure you have the following ahead of time:

• A Windows PC – All demos in this tutorial will use Windows 10, but Windows 7+ will work also.
• PowerShell 3.0+ – All demos in this tutorial will use PowerShell v7.1.3.

Using Windows Command Prompt to Create File

You have two command-line options in Windows; the command prompt (cmd.exe) or PowerShell. Let’s first cover how to use the Windows command prompt to create a file that is blank.

To get started, open the Windows command prompt by clicking on the Start button, typing cmd.exe, and hitting Enter. The Windows command prompt should come up, and you’re ready to go.

Using the ECHO Command

Let’s start this tutorial by first covering the echo command. The echo command is a command-line utility that allows you to display messages in a command prompt. In Windows, if you can send something to the command console, you can also redirect that output to a file!

In the Windows Command Prompt window:

1. Run the echo command as shown below. This command echoes the text provided (This is a sample text file) to the command console. But, since the command is using the redirection operator (>), this operator tells Windows to instead create a file with the text (sample.txt).

When you’ve created the file, run the dir command to list all files in the current working directory

echo This is a sample text file > sample.txt
 dir

You can see below that Windows creates the sample.txt file in the current working directory.

2. To confirm the file contains the expected “This is a sample text file” text, execute the type command followed by the file name. The type command reads the file and returns the text inside.

You can see below that sample.txt does, indeed, contain the expected text.

Using the COPY CON Command

If the echo command doesn’t fit your taste, you can always use the copy command using the con argument. Instead of copying files, the con argument tells the copy command to copy output to the console.

The con argument is actually a device, not a command.

To create a file using copy con:

1. Run copy con followed by a file name. This command won’t immediately create the file. You’ll be presented with a flashing cursor.

2. Once you see that flashing cursor type in some text you’d like to include in the file and press Enter.

This is a sample of what you can do

When you’re done, press Ctrl-Z and press Enter to exit the interactive prompt. Pressing Ctrl-Z will also add an end-of-file marker to tell Windows to close the open file handle.

You can see below pressing Ctrl-Z will display ^Z, and Windows will tell you it’s “copied” one file. This file will be the file you specified and will contain the text you just typed.

Using the FSUTIL Command

You can also use Windows command prompt to create file by introducing fsutil! Fsutil is a file system management tool built into Windows.

To use fsutil on the command prompt to create a new file:

1. Close the command prompt if you still have it open and open it up again, but this time as an administrator. Unfortunately, the fsutil utility requires it.

2. Now, invoke the file function of fsutil to create a new file using the createnew argument followed by the file name to create (sample.txt) and the size in bytes you’d like the file to be (1000).

The below command will create a file called sample.txt in the current working directory that’s 1KB in size.

fsutil file createnew sample.txt 1000

3. Type dir again to list all files in the current working directory and you should see a 1,000-byte file now exists.

Since the fsutil utility can create blank files of a certain size, the utility is great for creating dummy files for network performance testing!

Creating a File with PowerShell

It’s now time to use a more modern approach of using a Windows command prompt to create file; with PowerShell! PowerShell has a few different ways to create a file so let’s cover them all.

So, open your Windows PowerShell or PowerShell console and let’s get started!

Using the New-Item Cmdlet

One of the easiest ways to create a file in Windows with PowerShell is to use the New-Item cmdlet This cmdlet creates new items (a file in this case).

The New-Item cmdlet can also create Windows registry keys or folders.

1. Run the New-Item cmdlet specifying the directory to create the file in (Path), the Name of the file, the type of item (ItemType), and finally, the text to include in the file (Value).

The below command will create a file called sample.txt in the current working directory (.) with the text This is a text string inside the file.

New-Item -Path . -Name "sample.txt" -ItemType "file" -Value "This is a text string"

You can also use New-Item to create a directory by using the Directory argument for the ItemType parameter.

2. Now, take a look at the file just created using the Get-Content cmdlet to tell PowerShell to read the file and display its contents.

Using the Set-Content and Add-Content Cmdlets

Next, let’s check out the Set-Content and Add-Content PowerShell cmdlets. These two cmdlets can create files in a similar fashion but Set-Content creates and overwrites a file while Add-Content will create and append to an existing file.

With PowerShell still open, run the Set-Content cmdlet providing it the Path and name of the file to create with the text you’d like the file to contain (Value) as shown below.

The command below will create a file called sample.txt in the current working directory with the text This is a text string inside the file.

Set-Content -Path .sample.txt -Value "This is a text string"

To create the same file, simply replace Set-Content with Add-Content. The Add-Content will create files and will also append text to existing files.

Using the Out-File Cmdlet

To round out how to create a file on the command prompt with PowerShell, let’s end this tutorial with the Out-File cmdlet.

The Out-File cmdlet is a handy command similar to the redirection operator (>) previously covered in the Windows Command Prompt section. The Out-File cmdlet accepts input from the PowerShell console and writes that output to a file of your choosing.

With PowerShell still open, type some text ("This is a test") and pipe that text to the Out-File cmdlet providing the path to the file to create (FilePath).

The below command will create a file called sample.txt in the current working directory with the text This is a test inside.

"This is a test" | Out-File -FilePath .sample.txt 

You can see below that PowerShell created a 16-byte file called sample.txt.

Conclusion

In this tutorial you learned different ways to use PowerShell and Windows command prompt to create file. By now, you should know just about all the ways to create text files on the command line.

Which method do you prefer?