Microsoft DOS edit command

Quick links

About edit
Availability
Syntax
Examples
Additional Information

About edit

Edit allows a user to view, create, or modify their computer files.

If you are unable to get this program to work, try typing in "path c:\windows\command" if you have Windows95/98, or type in "path c:\dos" if you have Dos 5.x/6.x/7.x or Windows 3.x and try again. If you still are not able to get edit to work, it may not be on the hard drive; type in dir edit.com /s at the c:\>. If it says that the file is not found, you may not have this feature.

If you are running a MS-DOS version 4.x or lower or you are unable to find edit.com on your hard drive, you can also use the below command to create a file.

copy con <name of file>

Once you have entered the above command this will create the file with the name specified.
Once you have typed all the lines you wish to be in the file, press and hold CTRL + Z. This should enter ^Z, once on the screen, press enter and one file should be copied.

Availability

The edit command is an external command that is available in the below Microsoft operating systems.

MS-DOS 5.x and above
Windows 95
Windows 98
Windows ME
Windows NT
Windows 2000
Windows XP
Windows Vista*
Windows 7*

 * 64-bit versions of Windows do not support the edit command use notepad to edit files. 

Syntax

EDIT [/B] [/H] [/R] [/S] [/<nnn>] [/?] [file(s)]

Examples

edit c:\autoexec.bat

This would look at the autoexec.bat. However, if the file is not found, you will have a blank blue screen. When editing this or any file, ensure that you know what you are placing in the files improperly editing the file can cause issues with your computer.

Using edit you can also create files; for example, if you wanted to create a file called myfile.txt, you would type:

edit myfile.txt

This would bring up a blank edit screen, as long as the file is saved upon exit this will create the file myfile.txt.

Additional information

Edit is only able to open a file with a maximum of 65,280 lines.

Because this file is used from MS-DOS, it can be a possibility for no mouse support within the file. Below is a listing of Edit's shortcut keys and what they do.

Quick Tip - pressing Alt will allow you to quickly navigate through edit without having to memorize the below commands.