Asterisk (*): Use the asterisk as a substitute for any string of characters, for example: dir *.txt lists all files in the current directory with extensions that begin with .txt, such as .txt, .txt1, .txt_old. dir read*.txt lists all files in the current directory that begin with "read" and with extensions that begin with .txt, such as .txt, .txt1, or .txt_old. However, typing dir t97* returns both files, because the asterisk wildcard matches the file t.txt2 to t97.txt by using its short name map T97B4~1.TXT. dir *.txt lists all files in the current directory with extensions that begin with .txt, such as .txt, .txt1, .txt_old. dir read*.txt lists all files in the current directory that begin with "read" and with extensions that begin with .txt, such as .txt, .txt1, or .txt_old. For example, if you use /o with the e and -s values for SortOrder (by using either /o:e-s or /oe-s), dir sorts the names of directories and files by extension, with the largest first, and then displays the final result. The alphabetic sorting by extension causes file names with no extensions to appear first, then directory names, and then file names with extensions. Using redirection symbols and pipes When you use the redirection symbol (&gt;) to send dir output to a file or a pipe (||) to send dir output to another command, use /a:-d and /b to list the file names only. You can use FileName with /b and /s to specify that dir is to search the current directory and its subdirectories for all file names that match FileName. Dir lists only the drive letter, directory name, file name, and file name extension (one path per line), for each file name it finds