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PDF File Listing
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Your Mac can do it. Windows users have been wanting this for a long time. Maybe Vista has it?
You want to print a list of the files in a folder. It’s easy. Watch the screencast to see how. If you don’t have a printer in your Sidebar you should watch Stupid Sidebar Tricks.
There’s also a MurphyMac screencast about generating a list of files in the Terminal. From there you can simply print the text file.
Click Watch Now to see the screencast on making a pdf.
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14 comments to “PDF File Listing”
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14. February 2007 at 6:38 pm :
Awesome trick! Very, very useful! Thanks very much!
15. February 2007 at 11:56 am :
I create a new plain text file in TextEdit, and then command-A, drag all the files into the text file. Then you can copy that text and make it look pretty if you want to print it out and, say, make a quick CD cover.
15. February 2007 at 1:14 pm :
I wish you could get a list of the subfolders’ contents as well. Too bad you can’t just print the actual window as it looks in the finder (not a screenshot, but a file list with any expanded subfolders showing).
15. February 2007 at 2:04 pm :
Thats a pretty good trick. Its nice and easy.
Lewis: I just wrote up a quick blog with instructions on how to get subfolder contents to print. http://gummibearheads.com/2007/02/15/pdf-file-listing/
To summarize it, you use the “ls” command in a terminal window.
15. February 2007 at 4:02 pm :
There’s a screencast on this site about using Terminal for listing files and printing. I don’t remember if it covered subfolders though.
http://murphymac.com/print-a-list-of-your-files/
If it didn’t, take a look at the screencast on DF and DU. That should help. http://murphymac.com/terminal-thursday-disk-space/
-Murph
16. February 2007 at 6:23 am :
This is a good trick…..
Thanks for the inspiration…
But it is not the print window command we used to have in os9 (and earlier)…..
Am I the only one who wants that back?
16. February 2007 at 5:00 pm :
Flash videos will not play for me.
16. February 2007 at 6:15 pm :
Sorry to hear that benglett. You’re the first person to have reported this since the site went up in November.
10. October 2008 at 6:01 am :
Windows users have been able to do this since before window’s. Open a “COMMAND PROMPT” and type DIR /S >> TEXTFILE.TXT then simply print the created text file.
3. April 2010 at 3:29 pm :
Hi, Just found your helpful website. I was not able to play the video explaining what to do to get a list of folders through having an alias of my printer on the sidebar. Might anyone be able to explain it without the video, or tell how I might be able to view the video. I am working with a new Imac on updated SnowLeopard.
Thanks. Philip Rosenthal
4. November 2010 at 2:21 pm :
Lewis: I also needed to do this. When I dragged files into TextEdit in Snow Leopard, it asked me if I wanted to insert the files or just aliases, not what I wanted. I found a post from this site: http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=586589
“One really simple way to do this is the following:
1) Open TextEdit (or, I assume, any text application).
2) Navigate to the folder in question with your Finder.
3) Select a file within said folder and press command A to select all.
4) Press command C to copy.
5) Return to TextEdit and hold down command, option, and shift, and then hit V to paste and match style.
Voilà. There’s your list.”
If you put the Finder window in list view, then you can select files in sub-folders all at once (can’t do that in Windows
). If you have lots of folders, holding down Command while clicking the triangle will also expand all the sub-folders.
6. May 2011 at 5:27 pm :
…and that places a giant rock on top of this topic. Well, you know, sometimes the simplest solution… Thank you very much, Justin.
8. May 2011 at 2:43 pm :
yeeeey
10. June 2012 at 9:06 am :
I want file and document sizes also! Selecting “all” and pasting into text doesn’t give date or size info. I had the same problem trying to use the “terminal” application. This shouldn’t be rocket science, but it appears to be … Grrr.