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Using the Test-Path Cmdlet

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Verifying the Existence of a File or Folder

One of the primary uses of Test-Path is to verify the existence of a file or folder. For example, this command checks to see whether the file C:\Scripts\Test.txt exists:

Test-Path c:\scripts\test.txt

Test-Path returns True if the file exists, and returns False if the file does not exist.

As is usually the case with cmdlets, you can use wildcards with Test-Path. For example, this script tells you whether or not there are any .wma files in C:\Scripts:

Test-Path c:\scripts\*.wma

Did someone ask if you can you check for the existence of registry keys using Test-Path? Of course you can:

Test-Path HKCU:\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion