Recently I needed to send a friend a list of all the files and folders in a certain directory on my computer and it took me some time to figure out the best way to do that. After experimenting with a few different methods, I was able to create a nice looking Excel spreadsheet with all the data about the files and folders plus additional information such as the size of the files, the date they were last modified, etc.
How to Print a List of All Files in a Windows Folder
In this article I will discuss the two main ways to generate a directory listing: using the command line or using a third-party program. If your needs are very simple, the command line method is the easiest and does not require any additional tools. If you need a more fancy report, check out the freeware utilities.
So let’s start with the command line method first, because it’s simple and will probably be enough for 90% of the people reading this article. To start, open Explorer and browse to the folder directory above the folder you want to get the directory listing for.
If you want to print the file and folder listing for C:/Test/MyTestFolder, navigate to C:/Test, press the SHIFT key and right-click on MyTestFolder. Go ahead and select Open command window here from the menu.
