How do I create a folder name that starts with a dot in Windows 7?

Question

I'm on a Windows 7 machine and need to create a new folder whose name starts with a dot. To be specific, I need to create the folder "C:\USERS\theusername\.ec2" because that is the default location that the AWS plugin for Eclipse likes to find certain configuration files.

Windows 7 gives me an error message whenever I try to create a folder that starts with a dot:

You must type a filename

Seriously? There are already subfolders in this folder that start with a dot!

How can I tell Windows 7 to just shut up and create my folder?

score 57 · Answer 1 · edited Oct 05 '12 at 10:41

57

This behavior is based on a "feature" of dos 8.3 where it was forbidden to have a file without a name.

Name the folder .name.

So the Explorer thinks you will create a file with a name but no extension(which is allowed). The explorer will then delete the dot at the end because it is unnecessary.

edited Oct 05 '12 at 10:41

Oliver Salzburg

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answered Oct 05 '12 at 08:47

Ankou

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This is a simple and very elegant solution! – Erik Schierboom May 31 '14 at 13:14
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@erik-schierboom, I hope you are referring to this answer, rather than to the solution provided by Microsoft ;-) – R. Schreurs Apr 25 '16 at 14:42

score 46 · Accepted Answer · answered Sep 05 '11 at 00:41

46

From the folder above the parent for the new folder, shift-right click on the parent, choose "Open command prompt here".
Type mkdir .ec2 (enter)
Close the command prompt

answered Sep 05 '11 at 00:41

Ben Voigt

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This is what I have been doing but it just seemed wrong. At least now I know I'm not crazy. – Jim Tough Sep 05 '11 at 00:48
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you can do the same without opening the command prompt by just typing the command into the directory bar (see my answer) skips 2 steps :) – Moak Aug 19 '14 at 16:34

score 7 · Answer 3 · edited Mar 20 '17 at 10:17

7

From here.

To create/rename on windows explorer, just rename to .name.

The additional dot at the end is unnecessary, and will be removed by Windows Explorer.

In windows 8 (possibly 7) you can also type directly into the navigation bar "mkdir .name" without needing to open a command prompt

enter image description here

edited Mar 20 '17 at 10:17

Community

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answered Mar 11 '13 at 07:09

Moak

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Renaming inside windows explorer can still result in automatic changes to case, etc. Do you know if this is special handling for `mkdir` or whether other CMD.exe built-in commands work also? – Ben Voigt Aug 19 '14 at 16:36
all commands executed from the bar are as if launched from cmd.exe within that folder. example I can run a git command or `composer update` and it opens the window there and runs the command – Moak Aug 19 '14 at 16:38
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You can type search terms into the navigation bar, and they might unintentionally get interpreted as commands? Am I missing something, or is that as disturbing as it sounds? – LarsH Aug 17 '16 at 18:30
@LarsH is that Windows 10 behavior? AFAIK 8 and lower did not have search in the navigation bar – Moak Aug 19 '16 at 13:59
in windows 7 just opens bing search – B''H Bi'ezras -- Boruch Hashem Apr 07 '20 at 13:04

score 1 · Answer 4 · edited Sep 13 '14 at 08:02

1

One solution to this is:

Start > Run > cmd > OK
Enter:
```
mkdir .yourfoldername
```

edited Sep 13 '14 at 08:02

zants

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answered Sep 05 '11 at 00:40

score 0 · Answer 5 · answered Sep 05 '11 at 00:40

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Use the command line. Hold shift and right click in the directory you'd like to create a subdirectory in. Choose the "Open Command Prompt here" (or something like that) item. In it, type:

md .ec2

answered Sep 05 '11 at 00:40

score 0 · Answer 6 · answered Oct 05 '12 at 10:38

0

You can do this from CMD. Navigate to where you need then

mkdir ".folder"

answered Oct 05 '12 at 10:38

Starx

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How do I create a folder name that starts with a dot in Windows 7?

6 Answers6