dir

R2026b

List folder contents

Syntax

dir

dir name

dir ___ SortOrder sortorder

listing = dir(name)

listing = dir(name,SortOrder=sortorder)

Description

dir lists files and folders in the current folder.

dir name lists files and folders that match name. When name is a folder, dir lists the contents of the folder. Use wildcards * and ** to match patterns. For example, dir *.mlx lists all files with the extension .mlx, and dir ** includes files in all subfolders.

dir ___ SortOrder sortorder sorts the listing in the specified order. For example, SortOrder natural sorts names by interpreting numeric portions as numbers rather than characters.

listing = dir(name) returns attributes in a structure array, such as when each file or folder was last modified.

listing = dir(name,SortOrder=sortorder) sorts the listing in the specified order. For example, SortOrder="natural" sorts names by interpreting numeric portions as numbers rather than characters.

Examples

View Contents of Folder

Suppose that myfolder is in the current working folder and contains three files. List its contents.

dir myfolder

.          ..         myfile1.ext  myfile2.ext  myfile3.ext

Go to myfolder and list the files with 2 in the filename and the extension .ext.

cd myfolder
dir *2*.ext

myfile2.ext

Search Subfolders

List files in the current folder and its subfolders using the recursive search wildcard, **.

Suppose that the current folder has these contents.

file1.ext
folder2
     file2.ext
     folder3
         file3.ext

List all files in the hierarchy.

dir **

Files Found in Current Folder:

.          ..         file1.ext  folder2  

Files Found in: folder2

.          ..         file2.ext  folder3  

Files Found in: folder2/folder3

.          ..         file3.ext  

Read Details

When processing details about multiple files, it is often helpful to convert the output structure to a table.

Suppose that the current folder has these contents.

file1.ext
folder2
     file2.ext
     folder3
         file3.ext

Request details for the entire hierarchy using the ** wildcard. The output is a structure array. The date field is of type char, and the datenum field is a serial date number.

listing = dir("**")

listing = 

  11x1 struct array with fields:

    name
    folder
    date
    bytes
    isdir
    datenum

Convert the structure to a table, and replace date with datetime values.

tbl = struct2table(listing);
tbl.date = datetime(tbl.datenum,ConvertFrom="datenum");
tbl = removevars(tbl,"datenum")

tbl = 

  11x5 table

        name               folder                   date            bytes    isdir  
    _____________    ___________________    ____________________    _____    _____

    {'.'        }    {'/mycurrent'     }    01-Mar-2024 15:45:35      0      true
    {'..'       }    {'/mycurrent'     }    01-Mar-2024 15:44:10      0      true
    {'file1.ext'}    {'/mycurrent'     }    01-Mar-2024 15:45:45      8      false
    {'folder2'  }    {'/mycurrent'     }    01-Mar-2024 15:45:16      0      true 
    .
    .
    .

To find subsets of the data, index into the table. For instance, extract only the folders, and then exclude the . and .. folders.

folders = tbl(tbl.isdir,:);
namedFolders = folders(~matches(folders.name,[".",".."]),:)

namedFolders =

  2x5 table

        name                folder                  date             bytes    isdir
    ___________    ______________________    ____________________    _____    _____

    {'folder2'}    {'/mycurrent'        }    01-Mar-2024 15:45:16      0      true 
    {'folder3'}    {'/mycurrent/folder2'}    01-Mar-2024 15:44:58      0      true 

List Files in Natural Order

List the contents of a folder using natural order sorting, which treats numeric portions of filenames as numbers.

listing = dir("ExampleFolder",SortOrder="natural");
names = {listing.name}'

names =

  5×1 cell array

    {'file1.txt' }
    {'file2.txt' }
    {'file3.txt' }
    {'file10.txt'}
    {'file20.txt'}

Input Arguments

name — File or folder name

string scalar | character vector

File or folder name with the full or relative path, specified as a string scalar or character vector.

For files and folders at a remote location, you must specify the full path as a uniform resource locator (URL). Internet URLs must include the protocol type "http://" or "https://". For more information, see Work with Remote Data.

To search for patterns or to search multiple folders, use wildcards * or **. The dir function always treats the * character as a wildcard, even on file systems that support * in filenames.

Wildcard	Meaning
*	When * is part of a file or folder name, it represents any number of characters. For example, dir *.mat lists all MAT files in the current folder. When * is in the path and only next to file separators, it represents a single level of hierarchy. For example, dir */*.mat lists MAT files exactly one folder under the current folder.
**	** represents a recursive search through subfolders. For example, dir ** lists files in the current folder and all levels of its subfolders. If you specify characters next to a ** wildcard, they must be file separators.

On Microsoft^® Windows^® systems, dir supports short filenames generated by DOS as well as shortcut files (.lnk).

sortorder — Sort order for listing

"lexicographic" (default) | "natural"

Sort order for the listing, specified as one of these values:

• "lexicographic" — Sort files and folders in lexicographic (ASCII character) order.

• "natural" — Sort files and folders in natural order. Natural order sorting treats numeric portions of names as numbers rather than characters and uses case-insensitive linguistic ordering. For example, file2 appears before file10. This sort order matches the MATLAB^® Files panel.

If you call dir as a function, specify the "lexicographic" and "natural" options in quotes. Omit the quotes if you use the command form.

Example: dir ExampleFolder SortOrder natural

Example: listing = dir("ExampleFolder",SortOrder="natural")

Data Types: string | char

Output Arguments

listing — File attributes

structure array

File attributes, returned as an n-by-1 structure array, where n is the number of files and folders that match name.

The structure contains these fields.

Field Name	Description	Class
name	File or folder name	char
folder	Location of file or folder	char
date	Modification date timestamp	char
bytes	Size of the file in bytes	double
isdir	1 if name is a folder; 0 if name is a file	logical
datenum	Modification date as serial date number	double

For internet URLs, if file size information is not available, the bytes field is NaN.

Limitations

• MATLAB does not support internet URLs that require authentication.

• MATLAB Online™ supports internet URLs associated with Microsoft OneDrive™ files and folders, while the installed version of MATLAB supports only local OneDrive files.

Tips

• If dir cannot query a file, it returns these default values in the output structure.

  date: '' 
  bytes: [] 
  isdir: 0 
  datenum: [] 
  

  This issue most commonly occurs when querying a symbolic link pointing to a moved, removed, or renamed target. To exclude these invalid entries, you can convert the structure to a table and remove the rows with empty values.

  listing = struct2table(dir); 
  listing(isempty(listing.bytes),:) = [];
  

• To obtain a list of available drives on Microsoft Windows platforms, use the DOS net use command.

  dos("net use")

Extended Capabilities

Thread-Based Environment

Run code in the background using MATLAB® backgroundPool or accelerate code with Parallel Computing Toolbox™ ThreadPool.

The dir function fully supports thread-based environments. For more information, see Run MATLAB Functions in Thread-Based Environment.

Version History

Introduced before R2006a

R2026b: Sort folder contents in natural order

You can sort folder contents in natural order using the SortOrder name-value argument.

R2024b: Read data over HTTP and HTTPS using file operation functions

You can read data from primary online sources by performing file read operations over an internet URL.

R2020a: Wildcard expression *.* on UNIX platforms matches only files that have an extension

Starting in R2020a, on UNIX^® platforms, the wildcard expression *.* no longer matches folders or files without an extension. In previous releases, the expression matches folders or files regardless of extension, including files without an extension. This change of behavior does not apply to Microsoft Windows platforms.