FileDialog.InitialDirectory Property

Definition

Gets or sets the initial directory displayed by the file dialog box.

C#
public string InitialDirectory { get; set; }

Property Value

The initial directory displayed by the file dialog box. The default is an empty string ("").

Examples

The following code example uses the OpenFileDialog implementation of FileDialog and illustrates creating, setting of properties, and showing the dialog box. The example uses the InitialDirectory property to set what the initial directory is when the dialog box is displayed to the user. The example requires a form with a Button placed on it and the System.IO namespace added to it.

C#
var fileContent = string.Empty;
var filePath = string.Empty;

using (OpenFileDialog openFileDialog = new OpenFileDialog())
{
    openFileDialog.InitialDirectory = "c:\\";
    openFileDialog.Filter = "txt files (*.txt)|*.txt|All files (*.*)|*.*";
    openFileDialog.FilterIndex = 2;
    openFileDialog.RestoreDirectory = true;

    if (openFileDialog.ShowDialog() == DialogResult.OK)
    {
        //Get the path of specified file
        filePath = openFileDialog.FileName;

        //Read the contents of the file into a stream
        var fileStream = openFileDialog.OpenFile();

        using (StreamReader reader = new StreamReader(fileStream))
        {
            fileContent = reader.ReadToEnd();
        }
    }
}

MessageBox.Show(fileContent, "File Content at path: " + filePath, MessageBoxButtons.OK);

Remarks

The InitialDirectory property is typically set using one of the following sources:

  • A path that was previously used in the program, perhaps retained from the last directory or file operation.

  • A path read from a persistent source, such as an application setting, a Registry or a string resource in the application.

  • Standard Windows system and user paths, such as Program Files, MyDocuments, MyMusic, and so on (which you can obtain using the GetFolderPath method)

  • A path related to the current application, such as its startup directory (which you can obtain using properties on the Application object).

For more information about creating dynamic paths, see the FileDialog class overview.

On Windows Vista, if InitialDirectory is set to a full file name instead of just a directory path, the initial directory will default either to the application path, or to the directory from which the user last selected a file.

Applies to

Product Versions
.NET Framework 1.1, 2.0, 3.0, 3.5, 4.0, 4.5, 4.5.1, 4.5.2, 4.6, 4.6.1, 4.6.2, 4.7, 4.7.1, 4.7.2, 4.8, 4.8.1
Windows Desktop 3.0, 3.1, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9

See also