How to Print a List of Files

Quick and easy ways to print a list of files and folders on your computer

Last Updated: February 11, 2022

Many computer owners like to have printed lists of their folder structure--and the files contained within those folders--so they can refer to them when needed. While the Mac operating system has a utility that will let you print a list of files, Windows does not. There are, however, a number of workarounds for this problem. Here are a few different ways to print a list of files that are stored on your computer.

Method 1

Method 1 of 3:

Using Windows

1
Browse to the folder on your computer that contains the files you would like listed in your printed file list.
- This may be your "My Documents" folder or any subfolder contained within it.
2
Change the View option to "List" and enlarge the active window until all of the files are shown.
- You can repeat these procedures if you cannot make the window large enough for all of the files to be shown on the screen.
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3
Press the Print Screen button.
- The text on this button may be abbreviated, depending upon the keyboard model you are using. It may be Prt Scn or some other shortened description.
4
Launch the Paint application, located in the Accessories section of the Program listing in the Start menu.
5
Click the Edit option in the toolbar and choose "Paste."
6
Crop the image of screen by using the Crop utility under the Image selection in the toolbar.
7
Print the image by using Ctrl+P, the Printer shortcut button, or by selecting "Print" in the File menu. This will create a printed file list.

Method 2

Method 2 of 3:

Using DOS

1
Open a command prompt to prepare to print in DOS.
- In Windows Vista or Windows 7, type Command Prompt or Cmd in the Start Menu search box and press "Enter."
- In Windows XP, you will find the Command Prompt application in the Accessories section of the programs listed under your Start Menu.
2
Type "dir /a" in the command prompt, followed by the full path to the folder you want a list of files from to print in DOS.
- For instance, if you want a full list of files from your Documents folder, you would follow "dir /a" with "C:\Users\YourUserName\Documents\," keeping the quotation marks for this part of the command only.
3
Provide a file name and location for the directory listing of your files.
- For instance, to save the file on your desktop in Windows Vista, you would type ">C:\users\yourusername\desktop\dirlist.txt" without the quotation marks in the command prompt.
4
Press the Enter key after completing your command line.
- You have just created a .txt file named "dirlist" located on your desktop. Double-clicking this file will open it in Word, Notepad or some other text-editing program where it can easily be formatted and printed.

Method 3

Method 3 of 3:

Using a Mac

1
Browse to the folder in the Finder that contains the files you would like a list of.
2
Press and hold the Command key while selecting each file, or press Command + A to select all files currently shown to print the Finder.
3
Launch TextEdit and then press Command + V to paste the list into a blank document.
4
Format the document to your liking and print the Finder. You’ll want to make sure that you’re using a plain-text document and not a rich-text one, which you can toggle under the Format menu or by hitting Shift-Command-T.