---
name: "chooseDirectory"
section: "n"
platform: "macos"
package: "tcl"
version: "152"
release: "macOS 26.5"
platforms: ["macos"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/chooseDirectory/n"
---

# chooseDirectory(n)

pops up a dialog box for the user to select a directory.

## NAME

tk\_chooseDirectory - pops up a dialog box for the user to select a directory.

## SYNOPSIS

**tk\_chooseDirectory** ?*option value ...*?

## DESCRIPTION

The procedure **tk\_chooseDirectory** pops up a dialog box for the user to select a directory. The following *option-value* pairs are possible as command line arguments:

- **-initialdir** *dirname*

  Specifies that the directories in *directory* should be displayed when the dialog pops up. If this parameter is not specified, then the directories in the current working directory are displayed. If the parameter specifies a relative path, the return value will convert the relative path to an absolute path.

- **-mustexist** *boolean*

  Specifies whether the user may specify non-existent directories.  If this parameter is true, then the user may only select directories that already exist.  The default value is *false*.

- **-parent** *window*

  Makes *window* the logical parent of the dialog. The dialog is displayed on top of its parent window. On Mac OS X, this turns the file dialog into a sheet attached to the parent window.

- **-title** *titleString*

  Specifies a string to display as the title of the dialog box. If this option is not specified, then a default title will be displayed.

## EXAMPLE

set dir \[**tk\_chooseDirectory** \\\
         \-initialdir ~ -title "Choose a directory"\] if {$dir eq ""} {\
    label .l -text "No directory selected" } else {\
    label .l -text "Selected $dir" }

## SEE ALSO

[tk\_getOpenFile(n)](/tk_getOpenFile/n.md), [tk\_getSaveFile(n)](/tk_getSaveFile/n.md)

## KEYWORDS

directory, selection, dialog, platform-specific