New-Item

SYNOPSIS

Creates a new item.

SYNTAX

pathSet (Default)

New-Item [-Path] <String[]> [-ItemType <String>] [-Value <Object>] [-Force] [-Credential <PSCredential>]
 [-WhatIf] [-Confirm] [<CommonParameters>]

nameSet

New-Item [[-Path] <String[]>] -Name <String> [-ItemType <String>] [-Value <Object>] [-Force]
 [-Credential <PSCredential>] [-WhatIf] [-Confirm] [<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

New-Item -Path . -Name "testfile1.txt" -ItemType "file" -Value "This is a text string."

Example 2: Create a directory

New-Item -Path "c:\" -Name "logfiles" -ItemType "directory"

Example 3: Create a profile

New-Item -Path $profile -ItemType "file" -Force

Example 4: Create a directory in a different directory

New-Item -ItemType "directory" -Path "c:\ps-test\scripts"

Example 5: Create multiple files

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

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

$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

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

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

-Credential

> [!NOTE] > This parameter is not supported by any providers installed with PowerShell. To impersonate another > user or elevate your credentials when running this cmdlet, use `Invoke-Command`.

Type: System.Management.Automation.PSCredential
Parameter Sets: (All)
Aliases:

Required: False
Position: Named
Default value: Current user
Accept pipeline input: True (ByPropertyName)
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 cannot override security restrictions.

Type: System.Management.Automation.SwitchParameter
Parameter Sets: (All)
Aliases:

Required: False
Position: Named
Default value: 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 (../Microsoft.PowerShell.Core/About/about_Providers.md).

Type: System.String
Parameter Sets: (All)
Aliases: Type

Required: False
Position: Named
Default value: None
Accept pipeline input: True (ByPropertyName)
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: System.String
Parameter Sets: nameSet
Aliases:

Required: True
Position: Named
Default value: None
Accept pipeline input: True (ByPropertyName)
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 cannot create a filename that contains an asterisk (`*`) character.

Type: System.String[]
Parameter Sets: pathSet
Aliases:

Required: True
Position: 0
Default value: Current location
Accept pipeline input: True (ByPropertyName)
Accept wildcard characters: False

Type: System.String[]
Parameter Sets: nameSet
Aliases:

Required: False
Position: 0
Default value: Current location
Accept pipeline input: True (ByPropertyName)
Accept wildcard characters: False

-Value

Specifies the value of the new item. You can also pipe a value to `New-Item`.

Type: System.Object
Parameter Sets: (All)
Aliases: Target

Required: False
Position: Named
Default value: None
Accept pipeline input: True (ByPropertyName, ByValue)
Accept wildcard characters: False

-Confirm

Prompts you for confirmation before running the cmdlet.

Type: System.Management.Automation.SwitchParameter
Parameter Sets: (All)
Aliases: cf

Required: False
Position: Named
Default value: False
Accept pipeline input: False
Accept wildcard characters: False

-WhatIf

Shows what would happen if the cmdlet runs. The cmdlet is not run.

Type: System.Management.Automation.SwitchParameter
Parameter Sets: (All)
Aliases: wi

Required: False
Position: Named
Default value: False
Accept pipeline input: False
Accept wildcard characters: False

CommonParameters

This cmdlet supports the common parameters: -Debug, -ErrorAction, -ErrorVariable, -InformationAction, -InformationVariable, -OutVariable, -OutBuffer, -PipelineVariable, -Verbose, -WarningAction, and -WarningVariable. For more information, see about_CommonParameters.

INPUTS

System.Object

You can pipe a value for the new item to this cmdlet.

OUTPUTS

System.Object

This cmdlet returns the item that it creates.

NOTES

`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 (../Microsoft.PowerShell.Core/About/about_Providers.md).