How can I create an empty file at the command line in Windows?

For creating any type of file you can use the following code

type nul > (file_name).(file_type)

For example, if you want to create a text file then

type nul > demo.txt

If you want to create a JavaScript file then

type nul > demo.js

Use copy > your_file_name.extension in command prompt like

P:\excecise> copy > Sample.txt

You can use the old command

copy con file_name.ext

Don't type anything. Just press F6 to save it. However, it will print "File copied", but when you open the file, it will be empty.

. >> file.txt

• >> appends standard output into a file
• . is just a wrong command to pass the empty standard output to >>

However, you'll see standard error's output in the CMD:

'.' is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file.

You can suppress this error message (if you want) by redirecting standard error to NUL.

. >> file.txt 2> nul

Try this :abc > myFile.txt First, it will create a file with name myFile.txt in present working directory (in command prompt). Then it will run the command abc which is not a valid command. In this way, you have gotten a new empty file with the name myFile.txt.

Try this:

echo $null >> filename 

See: Equivalent of Linux touch to create an empty file with PowerShell

On Windows

I tried doing this

echo off > fff1.txt

And it created a file named fff1.txt with a file size of 0 KB.

I didn't find any commands other than this that could create a empty file.

Note: You have to be in the directory you wish to create the file.

• Create a bat file with content echo '' > %1 (name the file as touch.bat).
• Add the folder to the PATH environment variable.
• You can use touch to create files. (for example: touch temp.txt creates the temp.txt file)

Check this article for more information.

There are also other easy ways to create files.

For example, you can create file and open it with notepad from cmd

notepad newFile.txt

This will prompt you that there is no such file and if you want to create it as a new file.

You can create any kind of file like this.

For example,

notepad newFile.js

OR

notepad newFile.py

Not only Notepad, you can also use other apps to do so. E.g, you can use Visual Studio Code to create and open new files.

For example,

code newFile.py

This will create a new Python file and open it in vs code (if you have vs code installed).

You can also create other types of files with this method also.

Create an empty file, Windows PowerShell:

echo fileName.fileExtension

If you want to open in Notepad:

nodepad fileName.fileExtension