MSDN .NET API Browser

static void SetCurrentDirectory(string path)

Sets the current working directory to the specified path.

Parameters

Name	Type	Description
path	string	The path to which the current directory is set. This path must be a fully qualified directory name.

Exceptions

Type	Description
ArgumentNullException	path is null.
ArgumentException	path is empty, contains only white space, or contains one or more invalid characters.
DirectoryNotFoundException	The specified path is invalid. For example, it might be on an unmapped drive.
IOException	An I/O error occurred while opening the directory.
UnauthorizedAccessException	The caller does not have the required permission.

Remarks

The current working directory is the directory from which an application is started. For example, if you start an application from the command line, the current working directory is the directory that is current when you enter the command.

If the application is started from a non-empty path, the current working directory is the directory that contains the executable file.

Use the Directory.GetCurrentDirectory method to get the current working directory.

Example

The following code example demonstrates how to use the SetCurrentDirectory method.

using System;
using System.IO;

public class Example
{
    public static void Main()
    {
        // Get the current directory.
        string oldDirectory = Directory.GetCurrentDirectory();
        Console.WriteLine("The current directory is: {0}", oldDirectory);

        // Set the new directory.
        // NOTE: Replace "C:\Temp" with a valid directory path on your system.
        string newDirectory = @"C:\Temp";
        try
        {
            Directory.SetCurrentDirectory(newDirectory);
            Console.WriteLine("Successfully changed directory to: {0}", Directory.GetCurrentDirectory());
        }
        catch (DirectoryNotFoundException)
        {
            Console.WriteLine("Directory not found: {0}", newDirectory);
        }
        catch (UnauthorizedAccessException)
        {
            Console.WriteLine("Access denied to directory: {0}", newDirectory);
        }
        finally
        {
            // Restore the original directory.
            Directory.SetCurrentDirectory(oldDirectory);
            Console.WriteLine("Restored original directory: {0}", Directory.GetCurrentDirectory());
        }
    }
}