The following sections contain information on the various ways to create a file in MS-DOS or from the Windows Command Prompt. To proceed, you may read through each section in order or select from the below list.

With the edit command

edit myfile.txt

If available and done properly, you’ll see a window similar to the example below.

  • Edit command
  • Copy con command
  • Start command
  • Listing the file after created

64-bit versions of Windows do not include the edit command. Instead of using edit, use the start command mentioned below.

Once you have typed the information for the file myfile.txt, click File and choose Exit. If you do not have a mouse, see the edit command page for keyboard shortcuts and other navigation tips.

After clicking exit, if changes were made, the computer prompts you to save the file. Click Yes, and the file is created or overwritten with the new changes.

With copy con command

If you’re running an MS-DOS version 4.x or lower or you cannot use the edit or the start method you can also use copy con to create a file, as shown below.

copy con myfile.txt

Upon executing the above command, the cursor moves down one line to a blank line, allowing you to create the new file line by line. Once you are ready to create the file, press Enter to get to a blank line, press and hold Ctrl, press Z, and then let go of both keys. Once ^Z is shown on the screen, press Enter to save the file and exit.

With the start command

start notepad myfile.txt

The Windows Notepad and any text editor can also be started to create a file from the command line. The above command uses the start command to run Notepad and create myfile.txt. Once the file is saved in Notepad, that file is created in the same directory as where the start command was ran.

Using the copy con method is a basic method to create a file that does not allow you to edit or fix any errors made while creating the line.

How to list the file once created

After the file is created using any of the above methods, you can list it using the dir command.

  • How to use the Windows command line (DOS).
  • See the create definition for other documents related links and information.
  • MS-DOS and Windows command line help and support.