In this PowerShell tutorial, we will discuss how to create a folder in PowerShell? Also, we will check how to create a folder if not exists in PowerShell. Or we will check how to create a directory if not exists in PowerShell.
We will see how to use the below PowerShell cmdlets.
- Test-Path: PowerShell Test-Path cmdlet, we can use to check if a folder exists or not.
- New-Item: We will use the PowerShell New-Item cmdlet to create a folder in PowerShell.
You can write the below PowerShell script by using visual studio code or PowerShell ISE.
I have also created a video tutorial on PowerShell create directory if not exists.
PowerShell create folder
Now, let us first check how to create a folder in PowerShell. We can use the New-Item PowerShell cmdlet to create a folder.
The below PowerShell command will create a folder with a folder name as of today’s date.
$folderName = (Get-Date).tostring(“dd-MM-yyyy”)
New-Item -itemType Directory -Path E:\Desktop -Name $FolderName
You can see it will create a folder with today’s date like below:

PowerShell create folder if not exists
Now we will check how to create a folder if not exists in PowerShell. The PowerShell command will check if a folder already exists or not. If the folder does not exist then it will create a folder.
PowerShell Provides Test-Path command to check if a folder already exists or not.
$folderName = (Get-Date).tostring("dd-MM-yyyy")
$Path="E:\Desktop\"+$folderName
if (!(Test-Path $Path))
{
New-Item -itemType Directory -Path E:\Desktop -Name $FolderName
}
else
{
write-host "Folder already exists"
}
You can see the below fig since the folder already exists, it will just display the message as Folder already exists.

If the folder or directory does not exists, the PowerShell cmd will create directory if not exists.
Read some PowerShell tutorials:
- How to loop through a PowerShell array
- How to check if a list exists in SharePoint Online site using PNP PowerShell
- How to create and use PowerShell ArrayList
- How to create an array in PowerShell from CSV file
- What is PowerShell Array
- PowerShell cannot be loaded because running scripts is disabled on this system windows 10
- How to use PowerShell reference variable
- How to use PowerShell get-date cmdlets
- PowerShell Create Log File
I hope this article will be helpful to create a folder using PowerShell or PowerShell create directory if not exists. Also, we discussed
- How to create folder if not exists in PowerShell or PowerShell create directory if not exists
- How do you check if a directory exists or not in PowerShell
- How to use PowerShell New-Item -itemType Directory
- Powershell script to create folders and subfolders
- PowerShell check if directory exists
- How to use PowerShell Test-Path
I am Bijay a Microsoft MVP (8 times – My MVP Profile) in SharePoint and have more than 15 years of expertise in SharePoint Online Office 365, SharePoint subscription edition, and SharePoint 2019/2016/2013. Currently working in my own venture TSInfo Technologies a SharePoint development, consulting, and training company. I also run the popular SharePoint website EnjoySharePoint.com
Thank you for this.
I would suggest one change by adding an additional variable for the -Path so the script can be quickly used anywhere with just changing the variables at the top.
$folderName = (Get-Date).tostring(“dd-MM-yyyy”)
$root=”E:Desktop”
$path=$Root+$folderName
if (!(Test-Path $Path))
{
New-Item -itemType Directory -Path $root -Name $FolderName
}
else
{
write-host “Folder already exists”
}