Use PowerShell to generate a list of files and directories

Question

I'm writing a PowerShell script to make several directories and copy a bunch of files together to "compile" some technical documentation. I'd like to generate a manifest of the files and directories as part of the readme file, and I'd like PowerShell to do this, since I'm already working in PowerShell to do the "compiling".

I've done some searching already, and it seems that I need to use the cmdlet "Get-ChildItem", but it's giving me too much data, and I'm not clear on how to format and prune out what I don't want to get my desired results.

I would like an output similar to this:

Directory
     file
     file
     file
Directory
     file
     file
     file
     Subdirectory
          file
          file
          file

or maybe something like this:

+---FinGen
|   \---doc
+---testVBFilter
|   \---html
\---winzip

In other words, some kind of basic visual ASCII representation of the tree structure with the directory and file names and nothing else. I have seen programs that do this, but I am not sure if PowerShell can do this.

Can PowerShell do this? If so, would Get-ChildItem be the right cmdlet?

Like `tree` under CMD? You could get the info with Get-ChildItem and organise the output to the host depending on the items returned yes. — Micky Balladelli, Dec 12 '14 at 15:42
Oooooo, tree gives me the directory structure. That would be great! Is there a way to get the files in there too, or something similar to that? — YetAnotherRandomUser, Dec 12 '14 at 15:48
There is also Show-Tree from the [PSCX](http://blogs.technet.com/b/heyscriptingguy/archive/2010/07/09/hey-scripting-guy-tell-me-about-powershell-community-extensions.aspx) — Matt, Dec 12 '14 at 16:06
possible duplicate of [How to save file structure to text file?](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/9569896/how-to-save-file-structure-to-text-file) — Matt, Dec 12 '14 at 16:07
Tree /f does exactly I want to do, thanks a lot! How can I strip out the part at the front talking about the volume, serial number, and drive letter though? As far as a duplicate, in theory we have very similar goals, but I don't know about a duplicate. Also, that "Show-Tree" command doesn't work. I've determined that I have PowerShell 2.0 — YetAnotherRandomUser, Dec 12 '14 at 16:22
Show-Tree is not a native cmdlet. Its part of the PowerShell Community Extenstions PSCX which I linked in my comment. — Matt, Dec 12 '14 at 16:24

Matt · Accepted Answer · 2017-11-16T13:04:37.050

59

In your particular case what you want is Tree /f. You have a comment asking how to strip out the part at the front talking about the volume, serial number, and drive letter. That is possible filtering the output before you send it to file.

$Path = "C:\temp"
Tree $Path /F | Select-Object -Skip 2 | Set-Content C:\temp\output.tkt

Tree's output in the above example is a System.Array which we can manipulate. Select-Object -Skip 2 will remove the first 2 lines containing that data. Also, If Keith Hill was around he would also recommend the PowerShell Community Extensions(PSCX) that contain the cmdlet Show-Tree. Download from here if you are curious. Lots of powerful stuff there.

edited Nov 16 '17 at 13:04

answered Dec 12 '14 at 16:28

Matt

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Tree doesn't seem to show hidden files/folders, and doesn't seem to have a /force or similar switch. Is there any way to show hidden files/folders? – BeanBagKing Feb 05 '21 at 20:01
Does not appear to be a way no. Can't even find anything authoritative that specifically states this is normal behaviour – Matt Feb 08 '21 at 13:57
The capitalized "Tree" doesn't work on Linux, it's just "tree" – Nicholas Saunders Feb 22 '21 at 01:45

score 8 · Answer 2 · answered Apr 07 '17 at 09:53

The following script will show the tree as a window, it can be added to any form present in the script

function tree {

   [void][System.Reflection.Assembly]::LoadWithPartialName("System.Windows.Forms")
   [void][System.Reflection.Assembly]::LoadWithPartialName("System.Drawing")

   # create Window
   $Form = New-Object System.Windows.Forms.Form
   $Form.Text = "Files"
   $Form.Size = New-Object System.Drawing.Size(390, 390)
   # create Treeview-Object
   $TreeView = New-Object System.Windows.Forms.TreeView
   $TreeView.Location = New-Object System.Drawing.Point(48, 12)
   $TreeView.Size = New-Object System.Drawing.Size(290, 322)
   $Form.Controls.Add($TreeView)

   ###### Add Nodes to Treeview
   $rootnode = New-Object System.Windows.Forms.TreeNode
   $rootnode.text = "Root"
   $rootnode.name = "Root"
   [void]$TreeView.Nodes.Add($rootnode)

   #here i'm going to import the csv file into an array
   $array=@(Get-ChildItem -Path D:\personalWorkspace\node)
   Write-Host $array
   foreach ( $obj in $array ) {                                                                                                             
        Write-Host $obj
        $subnode = New-Object System.Windows.Forms.TreeNode
        $subnode.text = $obj
        [void]$rootnode.Nodes.Add($subnode)
     }

   # Show Form // this always needs to be at the bottom of the script!
   $Form.Add_Shown({$Form.Activate()})
   [void] $Form.ShowDialog()

   }
   tree

What's with the local path `D:\personalWorkspace\node` ? – Adam Jan 28 '22 at 21:46 — Adam, Jan 28 '22 at 21:46
It is a folder location whose files are display – Ananth Kumar Vasamsetti Feb 02 '22 at 09:49 — Ananth Kumar Vasamsetti, Feb 02 '22 at 09:49

score 7 · Answer 3 · answered Dec 20 '18 at 12:43

7

In Windows, navigate to the directory of interest

Shift+ right click mouse -> Open PowerShell window here

Get-ChildItem | tree /f > tree.log

answered Dec 20 '18 at 12:43

Roman

19,236
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score 3 · Answer 4 · answered Nov 16 '17 at 01:17

3

The best and clear way for me is:

PS P:\> Start-Transcript -path C:\structure.txt -Append
PS P:\> tree c:\test /F
PS P:\> Stop-Transcript

answered Nov 16 '17 at 01:17

NIK

1,089
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score 0 · Answer 5 · answered Dec 12 '14 at 15:49

0

You can use command Get-ChildItem -Path <yourDir> | tree >> myfile.txt this will output tree-like structure of a directory and write it to "myfile.txt"

answered Dec 12 '14 at 15:49

kravasb

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That does the same thing as "tree", and only gives me the directory structure. How can I add the files to that tree? – YetAnotherRandomUser Dec 12 '14 at 15:58
Tree will have output but it will be from the current directory not `` – Matt Dec 12 '14 at 16:08
@Matt I've checked in such way and thought it will work in other cases – kravasb Dec 12 '14 at 16:14
4

I tried "Get-ChildItem | tree" and got the same results as "tree". I have PowerShell 2.0 – YetAnotherRandomUser Dec 12 '14 at 16:24

Use PowerShell to generate a list of files and directories

5 Answers5

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