PowerShell Navigation and File Manipulation

Navigation#

pwd#

Present working directory, tells you where in the file structure path you are.

pwd

Sample Output:

PS C:\Users\ellma\> pwd

Path
----
C:\Users\ellma\

cd#

Allows you to move between directories.

Starting at C:\Users\<enter your user name>\ type:

cd Documents

Now run:

pwd

New Output:

Path
----
C:\Users\ellma\Documents

New-Item#

Used to create new items. files, folders, registry keys, or other objects in a specified location. What types of items can you create?

• File – to create a file.
• Directory – to create a folder (or directory).
• SymbolicLink – to create a symbolic link (shortcut).
• HardLink – to create a hard link.
• Junction – to create a directory junction (similar to a symbolic link but for directories).

New-Item -Path <path> -Name <name> -ItemType <type>

Let’s start off with a simple task, creating a new file:

New-Item -Path C:\Users\ellma\Documents

Output:

    Directory: C:\Users\ellma\Documents

Mode                 LastWriteTime         Length Name
----                 -------------         ------ ----
-a----         9/22/2024   3:17 PM              0 firstfile.txt

Creating Directories#

What if you wanted to create a new directory? You have options!

Use New-Item

New-Item Subdir -ItemType Directory

The mdcan be used but the command syntax changes.

md "C:\Users\ellma\Documents\subdir2"

The Linux command mkdir command is also an option.

mkdir "C:\Users\ellma\Documents\subdir3

Listing Items in Directories#

While Powershell has the command Get-ChildItem, the ls command is set as an alias, and because Powershell is “fun,” dir is also an alias for Get-ChildItem.

You could run:

Get-Child -Path C:\Users\ellma\Documents

or

ls "C:\Users\ellma\Documents"

or

dir -Path "C:\Users\YourUsername\Documents" -Filter *.txt

The output would remain the same:

Output:

    Directory: C:\Users\ellma\Documents


Mode                 LastWriteTime         Length Name
----                 -------------         ------ ----
d-----         9/22/2024   3:26 PM                Subdir
-a----         9/22/2024   3:29 PM              0 firstfile.txt

Copying Items#

There are several options to copy files in PowerShell

copy sourceFile.txt destinationFolder

Example:

cp "C:\Users\ellma\Documents\exampledoc" "C:\Users\ellma\Documents\secondfile"

The Linux Command cp is available but does not offer all the features you might need, especially when handling many files or directories.

cp sourceFile.txt destinationFolder

Alternative Commands:

• xcopy: A more powerful command for copying directories, subdirectories, and files, including hidden ones. It is more feature-rich than copy.

xcopy sourceDir destinationDir /s /e

• /s copies directories and subdirectories, except empty ones.

• /e copies directories and subdirectories, including empty ones.

• robocopy: Recommended for copying large numbers of files or directories.

robocopy sourceDir destinationDir /mir

Removing Items#

In creating this guide, I’ve made more example directories and files than I need. Time to remove a few.

Current status:

PS C:\Users\ellma\Documents> ls


    Directory: C:\Users\ellma\Documents


Mode                 LastWriteTime         Length Name
----                 -------------         ------ ----
d-----         9/22/2024   3:26 PM                Subdir
d-----         9/22/2024   4:00 PM                subdir2
d-----         9/22/2024   4:00 PM                subdir3
-a----         9/22/2024   3:17 PM              0 exampledoc
-a----         9/22/2024   3:29 PM              0 secondfile.txt

Removing a File

Remove-Item -Path "C:\path\to\file.txt"

Remove-Item -Path "C:\Users\ellma\Documents\exampledoc"

Removing a Directory

• Remove an empty directory Remove-Item -Path "C:\path\to\directory"

Remove-Item -Path "C:\Users\ellma\Documents\subdir3"

I also created files inside of subdir2

• Remove a directory and its contents Remove-Item -Path "C:\path\to\directory" -Recurse