PowerShell New-Item will create the directory where the script is and not in the path specified

Question

I am writing a PowerShell script and I need to create a directory in C:\Users

My script is located on the desktop.

My line of script to create the directory is this:

New-Item -ItemType "directory" -Force -Path "C:Users\username\scripts\documents"

It instead creates the directory:

C:\Users\username\Desktop\Users\username\scripts\documents

How can I make the new directory directly in C:\Users?

Answer 1

You are missing a backslash \ after the path root (the drive letter):

New-Item -ItemType "directory" -Force -Path "C:\Users\username\scripts\documents"

See also: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/api/system.io.path.ispathrooted?view=net-5.0

A rooted path is file path that is fixed to a specific drive or UNC path; it contrasts with a path that is relative to the current drive or working directory. For example, on Windows systems, a rooted path begins with a backslash (for example, \Documents) or a drive letter and colon (for example, C:Documents).

Note that rooted paths can be either absolute (that is, fully qualified) or relative. An absolute rooted path is a fully qualified path from the root of a drive to a specific directory. A relative rooted path specifies a drive, but its fully qualified path is resolved against the current directory. The following example illustrates the difference.

$relative1 = "C:Documents"
$relative2 = "\Documents"
$absolute = "C:\Documents"

foreach ($p in $relative1,$relative2,$absolute) {
    "'$p' is Rooted: {0}" -f [System.IO.Path]::IsPathRooted($p)
    "Full path of '$p' is: {0}" -f [System.IO.Path]::GetFullPath($p)
}

(I did not include the [System.IO.Path]::IsPathFullyQualified() call in the linked example, because it is not included in Windows PowerShell 5.1)