Type - DOS/Command Prompt Reference

Syntax

type <file-name>

Options

<file-name>

Specifies the file path to output.

Details

Type command outputs text-based file content as-is. If the file contains EOF character (0x1A; Ctrl+Z), Type prints the content up to its character. In fact Type treats any files as text file, so please note that specifying binary files (such as image files) may cause outputting garbled characters or slow output.

You can also specify device file names, such as CON and AUX.

Samples

Sample 1

type C:\CONFIG.SYS

Shows the content of file ‘C:\CONFIG.SYS’.

Sample 2

type setup.txt | more

By using pipe ‘|’, send the ‘setup.txt’ content to More command. This enables to display ‘setup.txt’ content per screen.

Sample 3

type NUL > hello.txt

Creates ‘hello.txt’ as an empty file.

[MS-DOS, Windows 95/98/Me] You can create an empty file by using this syntax, whereas you cannot by using Copy command.

Sample 4

type CON > hello.txt

Writes text input at the prompt to the file ‘hello.txt’. To finish input, enter EOF character (press Ctrl+Z and Enter).

[MS-DOS, Windows 95/98/Me] Unlike using Copy command, you can create a 0 bytes (empty) file.

See also

• More command - used to display text in one screen at a time.
• NUL - a device file representing ‘an empty file’. Using it with Type and the output redirection can make an empty file.
• CON - a device file representing ‘the console’. Using it with Type and the output redirection can make a file with a content from keyboard input.
• Sort command - used to sort lines.
• Find command - used to search for the specific text.
• Findstr command - used to search for the specific text. More advanced search options than Find are available.