Directory.SetCurrentDirectory Method

When the application terminates, the working directory is restored to its original location (the directory where the process was started).

The path parameter is permitted to specify relative or absolute path information. Relative path information is interpreted as relative to the current working directory. To obtain the current working directory, see GetCurrentDirectory.

Trailing spaces are removed from the end of the path parameter before setting the directory.

The path parameter is not case-sensitive.

If you are setting the directory to a drive with removable media (for example, to "A:" for a floppy disk drive or "E:" for a CD-ROM drive), you can determine whether the drive is ready by using the IsReady property.

The following example illustrates how to set the current directory and display the directory root.

// This sample shows how to set the current directory and how to determine 
// the root directory. 
using System;
using System.IO;

namespace IOSamples
{
  public class DirectoryRoot
  {
    public static void Main()
    {
	// Create string for a directory. This value should be an existing directory 
	// or the sample will throw a DirectoryNotFoundException. 
      string dir = @"C:\test";		
	  try
	  {
		  //Set the current directory.
		  Directory.SetCurrentDirectory(dir);
	  }
	  catch (DirectoryNotFoundException e)
	  {
		  Console.WriteLine("The specified directory does not exist. {0}", e);
	  }
	// Print to console the results.
	  Console.WriteLine("Root directory: {0}", Directory.GetDirectoryRoot(dir));
	  Console.WriteLine("Current directory: {0}", Directory.GetCurrentDirectory());
    }
  }
}
// The output of this sample depends on what value you assign to the variable dir. 
// If the directory c:\test exists, the output for this sample is: 
// Root directory: C:\ 
// Current directory: C:\test

.NET Framework

.NET Framework Client Profile

• FileIOPermission 

  for writing to files or directories. Associated enumeration: FileIOPermissionAccess.Write

• SecurityPermission 

  for calling unmanaged code. Associated enumeration: SecurityPermissionFlag.UnmanagedCode

Windows 8, Windows Server 2012, Windows 7, Windows Vista SP2, Windows Server 2008 (Server Core Role not supported), Windows Server 2008 R2 (Server Core Role supported with SP1 or later; Itanium not supported)

The .NET Framework does not support all versions of every platform. For a list of the supported versions, see .NET Framework System Requirements.

Reference

Other Resources