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•Arnošt Havelka

Creating Files with touch

Use touch to quickly create empty files.

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Creating Files with touch

The touch command creates empty files instantly. It's the fastest way to create a new file without opening an editor.

Create a Single File

Use touch followed by a filename to create an empty file.

Try the command

Create a new file!

Build the command
touchfilename
Choose a command
Terminal
C:\Users\User>touch notes.txt

Create instantly:

Command Prompt
Documents Downloads
C:\Users\User>ls

Create Multiple Files

Create several files at once by listing them after touch.

Try the command

Create multiple files!

Build the command
touchfile1file2file3
Choose a command
Terminal
C:\Users\User>touch a.txt b.txt c.txt

Batch creation:

Command Prompt
existing.txt
C:\Users\User>ls

Also Updates Timestamps

If the file already exists, touch updates its modification time without changing its contents.

Command Prompt
-rw-r--r-- 1 user group 1024 Apr 1 old.txt
C:\Users\User>ls -l old.txt

Knowledge Check

1 / 3

What does touch do?

References

These documentation links provide authoritative details for the commands used in this article.

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