On Windows you right-click in a folder, choose New ▸ Text Document, and type a name. Finder's right-click menu has New Folder, but no new file of any kind. Here's how to get one anyway.
With TextEdit
- Open TextEdit (Applications, or search for it with Spotlight) and choose File ▸ New.
- Choose Format ▸ Make Plain Text (⇧+⌘+T). Otherwise TextEdit saves a rich text (.rtf) file.
- Choose File ▸ Save, pick the folder and a name. TextEdit adds
.txt.
This works, but you start in TextEdit instead of in the folder where you want the file.
With Terminal
touch creates an empty file:
- Open Terminal, type
cdand a space, drag the folder into the window and press Return. - Type the command with the name you want:
touch "New Text Document.txt"The same works for any empty file, such as touch notes.md or touch .gitignore.
Word, Excel and PowerPoint
An empty file named .docx is not a Word document: Word, Pages and WPS refuse to open it. To start a blank document on a Mac you normally open the app first (Word, or Pages with File ▸ Export To ▸ Word), then save the new document into the folder.
Right-click ▸ New, like on Windows
CrossDriver Files, a free file manager for Mac that works like Windows File Explorer, has the Windows 11 New menu. Right-click empty space in a folder and choose:
- Text Document — "New Text Document.txt", ready to rename
- Word Document, Excel Worksheet, PowerPoint Presentation — real blank documents that open in Office, WPS, Pages or Numbers
- Markdown Document, Rich Text Document (RTF), Compressed (zipped) folder, or a New Folder
The new file appears in the folder with its name selected, so you type the name right away. Nothing is ever replaced: if the name is taken, the new file gets a number.
Your own templates: choose New ▸ Open Templates Folder… and put files there — a letterhead .docx, a spreadsheet you start every month with, a .gitignore. They appear in the New menu, and choosing one makes a copy in the current folder.
Made the wrong one? Ctrl+Z moves the new file to the Trash.