Basic file and folder examples

How to get the active station and folder name:

MsgBox "Active station and folder name: " & CurDir

How to change the active station:

ChDrive "F" ' changes to the F-station

How to change the active folder:

ChDir "F:\My Documents\Private"

How to determine if a file exists in a folder:

If Len(Dir("F:\My Documents\My Workbook.xls")) > 0 Then 
' the file exists, returns "" (an empty string) if the file doesn't exist.

How to determine if a folder exists:

If Len(Dir("F:\My Documents\MyFolder", vbDirectory)) > 0 Then 
' the folder exists, returns "" (an empty string) if the file doesn't exist.

How to delete a file :

Kill "F:\My Documents\My Workbook.xls"

If you don't specify the station, Excel uses the active station. If you don't specify the folder, Excel uses the active folder.

How to create a new folder:

MkDir "NewPrivateFolder" ' creates a new folder in the active folder
MkDir "F:\My Documents\NewPrivateFolder"
' creates a new folder in the existing folder F:\My Documents

How to delete a folder (folder must be empty):

RmDir "NewPrivateFolder" 
' deletes the subfolder NewPrivateFolder in the active folder
RmDir "F:\My Documents\NewPrivateFolder" 
' deletes the subfolder NewPrivateFolder in the folder F:\My Documents

How to copy a file (the file must be closed):

FileCopy "OrgWorkBook.xls", "CopyWorkBook.xls" 
' copies OrgWorkBook.xls to CopyWorkBook.xls in the active folder
FileCopy "OrgWorkBook.xls", "F:\My Documents\CopyWorkBook.xls" 
' copies OrgWorkBook.xls from the active folder to F:\My Documents\CopyWorkBook.xls

How to move a file (the file must be closed):

OldFilePath = "C:\OldFolder\Filename.xls" ' original file location
NewFilePath = "C:\NewFolder\Filename.xls" ' new file location
Name OldFilePath As NewFilePath ' move the file

How to copy a folder, including subfolders:

CopyFolderAndSubFolders "C:\FolderName\SourceFolder", "C:\FolderName\TargetFolder"

Sub CopyFolderAndSubFolders(strSourceFolder As String, strTargetFolder As String)
' example: CopyFolderAndSubFolders "C:\FolderName\SourceFolder", "C:\FolderName\TargetFolder"
' requires a reference to the Microsoft Scripting runtime library
Dim fso As Scripting.FileSystemObject
    Set fso = New Scripting.FileSystemObject
    Application.StatusBar = "Copying " & strSourceFolder & " to " & strTargetFolder & "..."
    On Error GoTo NotAbleToCopy
    fso.CopyFolder strSourceFolder, strTargetFolder, True
    On Error GoTo 0
    Application.StatusBar = False
    Set fso = Nothing
    Exit Sub
    
NotAbleToCopy:
    MsgBox "Error Description: " & vbLf & Err.Description, vbExclamation, "An Error Occurred"
    Resume Next
End Sub

Document last updated 2005-12-28 12:54:44 Printer friendly version

User Contributed Comments (in descending order):

JE from USA wrote (2006-10-10 19:39:33 CET):

Thanks
Very helpful information about how to use the Dir function. Thank you.

Ole P. from Norway wrote (2005-12-28 12:55:29 CET):

Re: How to copy a folder ?
See the updated example above.

windo from France wrote (2005-12-28 08:45:07 CET):

How to copy a folder ?
Hello, Thank you for your macros examples that help me a lot.
Please could you tell me how to copy a folder and its subfolder ?