It is not clear why, for more than a decade and a half, a command has not appeared in the Windows Explorer that allows you to get a list of files for further work with it. You can implement this operation using third-party cataloging software. However, if you do not have this opportunity, then you can use the remnants of the DOS operating system that existed in Windows before the appearance of the graphical interface.
Instructions
Step 1
Use the DOS dir command if the directory contains fewer files. The command can output the list to a terminal window or to a text file. It is not advisable to use output to a file, since the writing will use DOS encoding, and as a result, you replace the problem of getting the list with the problem of converting it into a readable encoding. The display does not have this drawback, but the terminal window has only 333 lines of memory - this limits the length of the list.
Step 2
Open a Windows command prompt terminal. To do this, press the WIN + R key combination or open the main menu on the "Start" button and select the "Run" command. In the program launch dialog box, type cmd and press Enter, or click the "OK" button. The DOS emulator will open in a separate window.
Step 3
Type dir followed by a space and the full path to the folder you want to list the contents of. There is an easier way than manually entering the directory address - copy the path in the address bar of Windows Explorer. You can start it by double-clicking on the "My Computer" icon or by pressing the WIN + E keyboard shortcut. Navigate to the required folder in Explorer, select the full path to it in the address bar and copy (CTRL + C). Then switch to the command line terminal, right-click it and select the "Paste" line from the context menu.
Step 4
Press the Enter key. The DOS emulator will execute the command and display a table with the contents of the directory you specified in the terminal window. In addition to the name, date and time of creation of each file, the table will also indicate its size, but in hexadecimal system.
Step 5
For further work with the list, it can be copied and transferred to any text or spreadsheet editor. To do this, select all lines in the terminal window - unfortunately, partial selection is not available here. Right-click the terminal window and choose Select All from the menu. Press the Enter key to copy the selected lines to the computer memory. Then switch to a text editor and paste the copied data into the desired page by pressing the keyboard shortcut CTRL + V.
