New-Item
Creates a new item.
Syntax
New-Item
[-Path] <String[]>
[-ItemType <String>]
[-Value <Object>]
[-Force]
[-Credential <PSCredential>]
[-WhatIf]
[-Confirm]
[<CommonParameters>]
New-Item
[[-Path] <String[]>]
-Name <String>
[-ItemType <String>]
[-Value <Object>]
[-Force]
[-Credential <PSCredential>]
[-WhatIf]
[-Confirm]
[<CommonParameters>]
New-Item
[-Path] <string[]>
-ConnectionURI <uri>
[-ItemType <string>]
[-Value <Object>]
[-Force]
[-Credential <pscredential>]
[-WhatIf]
[-Confirm]
[-OptionSet <hashtable>]
[-Authentication <AuthenticationMechanism>]
[-CertificateThumbprint <string>]
[-SessionOption <SessionOption>]
[-Port <int>]
[<CommonParameters>]
New-Item
[[-Path] <string[]>]
-Name <string>
[-ItemType <string>]
[-Value <Object>]
[-Force]
[-Credential <pscredential>]
[-WhatIf]
[-Confirm]
[-OptionSet <hashtable>]
[-Authentication <AuthenticationMechanism>]
[-CertificateThumbprint <string>]
[-SessionOption <SessionOption>]
[-ApplicationName <string>]
[-Port <int>]
[-UseSSL]
[<CommonParameters>]
New-Item
[-Path] <string[]>
[-ItemType <string>]
[-Value <Object>]
[-Force]
[-Credential <pscredential>]
[-WhatIf]
[-Confirm]
[-Options <ScopedItemOptions>]
[<CommonParameters>]
New-Item
[[-Path] <string[]>]
-Name <string>
[-ItemType <string>]
[-Value <Object>]
[-Force]
[-Credential <pscredential>]
[-WhatIf]
[-Confirm]
[-Options <ScopedItemOptions>]
[<CommonParameters>]
Description
The New-Item
cmdlet creates a new item and sets its value. The types of items that can be created
depend on the location of the item. For example, in the file system, New-Item
creates files and
folders. In the registry, New-Item
creates registry keys and entries.
New-Item
can also set the value of the items that it creates. For example, when it creates a new
file, New-Item
can add initial content to the file.
Examples
Example 1: Create a file in the current directory
This command creates a text file that is named "testfile1.txt" in the current directory. The dot ('.') in the value of the Path parameter indicates the current directory. The quoted text that follows the Value parameter is added to the file as content.
New-Item -Path . -Name "testfile1.txt" -ItemType "file" -Value "This is a text string."
Example 2: Create a directory
This command creates a directory named "Logfiles" in the C:
drive. The ItemType parameter
specifies that the new item is a directory, not a file or other file system object.
New-Item -Path "c:\" -Name "logfiles" -ItemType "directory"
Example 3: Create a profile
This command creates a PowerShell profile in the path that is specified by the $profile
variable.
You can use profiles to customize PowerShell. $profile
is an automatic (built-in) variable that
stores the path and file name of the "CurrentUser/CurrentHost" profile. By default, the profile does
not exist, even though PowerShell stores a path and file name for it.
In this command, the $profile
variable represents the path of the file. ItemType parameter
specifies that the command creates a file. The Force parameter lets you create a file in the
profile path, even when the directories in the path do not exist.
After you create a profile, you can enter aliases, functions, and scripts in the profile to customize your shell.
For more information, see about_Automatic_Variables and about_Profiles.
New-Item -Path $profile -ItemType "file" -Force
Example 4: Create a directory in a different directory
This example creates a new Scripts directory in the "C:\PS-Test" directory.
The name of the new directory item, "Scripts", is included in the value of Path parameter, instead of being specified in the value of Name. As indicated by the syntax, either command form is valid.
New-Item -ItemType "directory" -Path "c:\ps-test\scripts"
Example 5: Create multiple files
This example creates files in two different directories. Because Path takes multiple strings, you can use it to create multiple items.
New-Item -ItemType "file" -Path "c:\ps-test\test.txt", "c:\ps-test\Logs\test.log"
Example 6: Use wildcards to create files in multiple directories
The New-Item
cmdlet supports wildcards in the Path parameter. The following command creates a
temp.txt
file in all of the directories specified by the wildcards in the Path parameter.
Get-ChildItem -Path C:\Temp\
Directory: C:\Temp
Mode LastWriteTime Length Name
---- ------------- ------ ----
d----- 5/15/2019 6:45 AM 1 One
d----- 5/15/2019 6:45 AM 1 Two
d----- 5/15/2019 6:45 AM 1 Three
New-Item -Path C:\Temp\* -Name temp.txt -ItemType File | Select-Object FullName
FullName
--------
C:\Temp\One\temp.txt
C:\Temp\Three\temp.txt
C:\Temp\Two\temp.txt
The Get-ChildItem
cmdlet shows three directories under the C:\Temp
directory. Using wildcards
the New-Item
cmdlet creates a temp.txt
file in all of the directories under the current
directory. The New-Item
cmdlet outputs the items you created, which is piped to Select-Object
to verify the paths of the newly created files.
Example 7: Create a symbolic link to a file or folder
This example creates a symbolic link to the Notice.txt file in the current folder.
$link = New-Item -ItemType SymbolicLink -Path .\link -Target .\Notice.txt
$link | Select-Object LinkType, Target
LinkType Target
-------- ------
SymbolicLink {.\Notice.txt}
In this example, Target is an alias for the Value parameter. The target of the symbolic link can be a relative path. Prior to PowerShell v6.2, the target must be a fully-qualified path.
Beginning in PowerShell 7.1, you can now create to a SymbolicLink to a folder on Windows using a relative path.
Example 8: Use the -Force parameter to attempt to recreate folders
This example creates a folder with a file inside. Then, attempts to create the same folder using
-Force
. It will not overwrite the folder but simply return the existing folder object with the
file created intact.
PS> New-Item -Path .\TestFolder -ItemType Directory
PS> New-Item -Path .\TestFolder\TestFile.txt -ItemType File
PS> New-Item -Path .\TestFolder -ItemType Directory -Force
Directory: C:\
Mode LastWriteTime Length Name
---- ------------- ------ ----
d----- 5/1/2020 8:03 AM TestFolder
PS> Get-ChildItem .\TestFolder\
Directory: C:\TestFolder
Mode LastWriteTime Length Name
---- ------------- ------ ----
-a---- 5/1/2020 8:03 AM 0 TestFile.txt
Example 9: Use the -Force parameter to overwrite existing files
This example creates a file with a value and then recreates the file using -Force
. This overwrites
the existing file, as you can see by the length property.
PS> New-Item ./TestFile.txt -ItemType File -Value 'This is just a test file'
Directory: C:\Source\Test
Mode LastWriteTime Length Name
---- ------------- ------ ----
-a---- 5/1/2020 8:32 AM 24 TestFile.txt
New-Item ./TestFile.txt -ItemType File -Force
Directory: C:\Source\Test
Mode LastWriteTime Length Name
---- ------------- ------ ----
-a---- 5/1/2020 8:32 AM 0 TestFile.txt
Note
When using New-Item
with the -Force
switch to create registry keys, the command will behave
the same as when overwriting a file. If the registry key already exists, the key and all
properties and values will be overwritten with an empty registry key.
Parameters
-ApplicationName
This is a dynamic parameter made available by the WSMan provider. The WSMan provider and this parameter are only available on Windows.
Specifies the application name in the connection. The default value of the ApplicationName parameter is WSMAN.
For more information, see New-WSManInstance.
Type: | String |
Position: | Named |
Default value: | None |
Required: | False |
Accept pipeline input: | False |
Accept wildcard characters: | False |
-Authentication
This is a dynamic parameter made available by the WSMan provider. The WSMan provider and this parameter are only available on Windows.
Specifies the authentication mechanism to be used at the server.
For more information, see New-WSManInstance.
Type: | AuthenticationMechanism |
Position: | Named |
Default value: | None |
Required: | False |
Accept pipeline input: | False |
Accept wildcard characters: | False |
-CertificateThumbprint
This is a dynamic parameter made available by the WSMan provider. The WSMan provider and this parameter are only available on Windows.
Specifies the digital public key certificate (X509) of a user account that has permission to perform this WSMan action. Enter the certificate thumbprint of the certificate.
For more information, see New-WSManInstance.
Type: | String |
Position: | Named |
Default value: | None |
Required: | False |
Accept pipeline input: | False |
Accept wildcard characters: | False |
-Confirm
Prompts you for confirmation before running the cmdlet.
Type: | SwitchParameter |
Aliases: | cf |
Position: | Named |
Default value: | False |
Required: | False |
Accept pipeline input: | False |
Accept wildcard characters: | False |
-ConnectionURI
This is a dynamic parameter made available by the WSMan provider. The WSMan provider and this parameter are only available on Windows.
Specifies the connection endpoint for WSMan.
For more information, see New-WSManInstance.
Type: | Uri |
Position: | Named |
Default value: | None |
Required: | True |
Accept pipeline input: | False |
Accept wildcard characters: | False |
-Credential
Note
This parameter isn't supported by any providers installed with PowerShell. To impersonate another
user or elevate your credentials when running this cmdlet, use Invoke-Command
.
Type: | PSCredential |
Position: | Named |
Default value: | Current user |
Required: | False |
Accept pipeline input: | True |
Accept wildcard characters: | False |
-Force
Forces this cmdlet to create an item that writes over an existing read-only item. Implementation varies from provider to provider. Even using the Force parameter, the cmdlet can't override security restrictions.
Beginning in PowerShell 7.4, this parameter also allows you to overwrite an existing Junction. Previously, this would fail with a "cannot be removed because it is not empty" error.
Type: | SwitchParameter |
Position: | Named |
Default value: | None |
Required: | False |
Accept pipeline input: | False |
Accept wildcard characters: | False |
-ItemType
Specifies the provider-specified type of the new item. The available values of this parameter depend on the current provider you are using.
If your location is in a FileSystem
drive, the following values are allowed:
- File
- Directory
- SymbolicLink
- Junction
- HardLink
Note
Creating a SymbolicLink
type on Windows requires elevation as administrator. However, Windows 10
(build 14972 or newer) with Developer Mode enabled no longer requires elevation creating symbolic
links.
In a Certificate
drive, these are the values you can specify:
- Certificate Provider
- Certificate
- Store
- StoreLocation
For more information see about_Providers.
Type: | String |
Aliases: | Type |
Position: | Named |
Default value: | None |
Required: | False |
Accept pipeline input: | True |
Accept wildcard characters: | False |
-Name
Specifies the name of the new item. You can specify the name of the new item in the Name or Path parameter value, and you can specify the path of the new item in Name or Path value. Items names passed using the Name parameter are created relative to the value of the Path parameter.
Type: | String |
Position: | Named |
Default value: | None |
Required: | True |
Accept pipeline input: | True |
Accept wildcard characters: | False |
-Options
This is a dynamic parameter made available by the Alias provider. For more information, see New-Alias.
Specifies the value of the Options property of an alias.
Valid values are:
None
: The alias has no constraints (default value)ReadOnly
: The alias can be deleted but can't be changed without using the Force parameterConstant
: The alias can't be deleted or changedPrivate
: The alias is available only in the current scopeAllScope
: The alias is copied to any new scopes that are createdUnspecified
: The option isn't specified
Type: | ScopedItemOptions |
Position: | Named |
Default value: | None |
Required: | False |
Accept pipeline input: | False |
Accept wildcard characters: | False |
-OptionSet
This is a dynamic parameter made available by the WSMan provider. The WSMan provider and this parameter are only available on Windows.
Passes a set of switches to a service to modify or refine the nature of the request.
For more information, see New-WSManInstance.
Type: | Hashtable |
Aliases: | OS |
Position: | Named |
Default value: | None |
Required: | False |
Accept pipeline input: | False |
Accept wildcard characters: | False |
-Path
Specifies the path of the location of the new item. The default is the current location when Path is omitted. You can specify the name of the new item in Name, or include it in Path. Items names passed using the Name parameter are created relative to the value of the Path parameter.
For this cmdlet, the Path parameter works like the LiteralPath parameter of other cmdlets.
Wildcard characters are not interpreted. All characters are passed to the location's provider. The
provider may not support all characters. For example, you can't create a filename that contains an
asterisk (*
) character.
Type: | String[] |
Position: | 0 |
Default value: | Current location |
Required: | False |
Accept pipeline input: | True |
Accept wildcard characters: | False |
-Port
This is a dynamic parameter made available by the WSMan provider. The WSMan provider and this parameter are only available on Windows.
Specifies the port to use when the client connects to the WinRM service.
For more information, see New-WSManInstance.
Type: | Int32 |
Position: | Named |
Default value: | None |
Required: | False |
Accept pipeline input: | False |
Accept wildcard characters: | False |
-SessionOption
This is a dynamic parameter made available by the WSMan provider. The WSMan provider and this parameter are only available on Windows.
Defines a set of extended options for the WS-Management session.
For more information, see New-WSManInstance.
Type: | SessionOption |
Aliases: | SO |
Position: | Named |
Default value: | None |
Required: | False |
Accept pipeline input: | False |
Accept wildcard characters: | False |
-UseSSL
This is a dynamic parameter made available by the WSMan provider. The WSMan provider and this parameter are only available on Windows.
Specifies that the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) protocol should be used to establish a connection to the remote computer. By default, SSL isn't used.
For more information, see New-WSManInstance.
Type: | SwitchParameter |
Position: | Named |
Default value: | None |
Required: | False |
Accept pipeline input: | False |
Accept wildcard characters: | False |
-Value
Specifies the value of the new item. You can also pipe a value to New-Item
.
Type: | Object |
Aliases: | Target |
Position: | Named |
Default value: | None |
Required: | False |
Accept pipeline input: | True |
Accept wildcard characters: | False |
-WhatIf
Shows what would happen if the cmdlet runs. The cmdlet isn't run.
Type: | SwitchParameter |
Aliases: | wi |
Position: | Named |
Default value: | False |
Required: | False |
Accept pipeline input: | False |
Accept wildcard characters: | False |
Inputs
You can pipe a value for the new item to this cmdlet.
Outputs
The cmdlet returns a DictionaryEntry object when creating a new environment variable.
The cmdlet returns a DirectoryInfo object when creating a new directory in the filesystem.
The cmdlet returns a FileInfo object when creating a new file in the filesystem.
The cmdlet returns an AliasInfo object when creating a new alias.
The cmdlet returns a FunctionInfo object when creating a new function.
The cmdlet returns a PSVariable object when creating a new variable.
Notes
PowerShell includes the following aliases for New-Item
:
- All platforms:
ni
New-Item
is designed to work with the data exposed by any provider. To list the providers
available in your session, type Get-PsProvider
. For more information, see
about_Providers.
Related Links
PowerShell