Equivalent of Linux `touch` to create an empty file with PowerShell?

Question

In PowerShell is there an equivalent of touch?

For instance in Linux I can create a new empty file by invoking:

touch filename

On Windows this is pretty ackward -- usually I just open a new instance of notepad and save an empty file.

So is there a programmatic way in PowerShell to do this?

Answer 1

Try this:

echo $null > filename

Answer 2

In PowerShell you can create a similar Touch function as such:

function touch {set-content -Path ($args[0]) -Value ($null)} 

Usage:

touch myfile.txt

Source

Answer 3

I put together various sources, and wound up with the following, which met my needs. I needed to set the write date of a DLL that was built on a machine in a different timezone:

$update = get-date
Set-ItemProperty -Path $dllPath -Name LastWriteTime -Value $update

Of course, you can also set it for multiple files:

Get-ChildItem *.dll | Set-ItemProperty -Name LastWriteTime -Value $update

Answer 4

Here is a version that creates a new file if it does not exist or updates the timestamp if it does exist.

Function Touch-File
{
    $file = $args[0]
    if($file -eq $null) {
        throw "No filename supplied"
    }

    if(Test-Path $file)
    {
        (Get-ChildItem $file).LastWriteTime = Get-Date
    }
    else
    {
        echo $null > $file
    }
}

Answer 5

For the scenario you described (when the file doesn't exist), this is quick and easy:

PS> sc example.txt $null

However, the other common use of touch is to update the file's timestamp. If you try to use my sc example that way, it will erase the contents of the file.

Answer 6

Open your profile file:

notepad $profile

Add the following line:

function touch {New-Item "$args" -ItemType File}

Save it and reload your $profile in order to use it straight away. (No need to close and open powershell)

. $profile

To add a new file in the current directory type:

touch testfile.txt

To add a new file inside 'myfolder' directory type:

touch myfolder\testfile.txt

If a file with the same name already exists, it won't be overidden. Instead you'll get an error.

I hope it helps

Bonus tip:

You can make the equivalent of 'mkdir' adding the following line:

function mkdir {New-Item "$args" -ItemType Directory} 

Same use:

mkdir testfolder
mkdir testfolder\testsubfolder

Answer 7

To create a blank file:

New-Item -ItemType file example.txt

To update the timestamp of a file:

(gci example.txt).LastWriteTime = Get-Date