How to Print a List of Files

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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 of 3:

Using Windows

This may be your "My Documents" folder or any subfolder contained within it.

You can repeat these procedures if you cannot make the window large enough for all of the files to be shown on the screen.

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.

Launch the Paint application, located in the Accessories section of the Program listing in the Start menu.

Click the Edit option in the toolbar and choose "Paste."

Crop the image of screen by using the Crop utility under the Image selection in the toolbar.

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.

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Using 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.

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.

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.

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.

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Using a Mac

Browse to the folder in the Finder that contains the files you would like a list of.

Press and hold the Command key while selecting each file, or press Command + A to select all files currently shown to print the Finder.

Launch TextEdit and then press Command + V to paste the list into a blank document.

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.

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If you have problems pasting your screenshot image into Paint while using Windows, you can try pasting it into Word or any other word processing program.

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