A WPF GUI tool for exporting folder structures and NTFS permissions to CSV/TXT, with ACL import and restore capabilities.
Single-file PowerShell script — no installation required.

Folder Structure Export	NTFS Permissions

FolderNTFS-Tool is a single-file PowerShell WPF application that provides a clean, modern GUI for folder and NTFS permission management. Designed for IT administrators who need quick folder audits, permission reports, ACL backups, or pre-migration documentation without writing one-off scripts.

The tool is organized into two tabs:

• Folder structure export — scan any folder and export its directory tree (up to a configurable depth) to TXT or CSV, using a RAM-safe stack-based enumerator
• NTFS permissions — export ACLs to CSV (streaming mode), and import/restore ACLs from a previously exported CSV with optional reset of existing permissions

All operations log to a real-time Status panel. NTFS imports also create detailed per-run log files.

Set-ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned -Scope Process
.\FolderNTFS-Tool.ps1

Tip: For NTFS permission import/restore, run as Administrator (required for Set-Acl on protected paths).

The application features a tabbed, flat, modern layout:

• Menu bar — File (Exit) · Info (Modules status, About)
• Tab 1: Folder structure export — scan folder, output folder, depth, format (TXT/CSV), advanced options, Run button
• Tab 2: NTFS permissions — side-by-side Export (left) and Import (right) panels with advanced filtering options
• Status panel — timestamped real-time log visible from both tabs

Scans a folder tree up to the specified depth and exports all discovered directories.

Output filename: FolderStructure_YYYYMMDD_HHMMSS.txt or .csv

Unlike Get-ChildItem -Recurse (which loads the entire tree into memory), FolderNTFS-Tool uses a stack-based depth-first traversal with [System.IO.Directory]::EnumerateDirectories(). This streams results one at a time, keeping RAM usage low even on multi-terabyte volumes with hundreds of thousands of folders.

Recursively reads NTFS Access Control Lists and streams every ACE directly to CSV (one row at a time — no full list in RAM).

Output filename: NTFS_Permissions_YYYYMMDD_HHMMSS.csv

Reads a previously exported CSV and applies the ACLs back to the filesystem.

When Target root folder is empty, ACLs are applied to the exact paths from the CSV. When a target root is specified, the tool strips the original drive letter and joins the relative path to the new root:

CSV path:    C:\Data\Finance\2024\report.xlsx
Target root: E:\Restored
Result:      E:\Restored\Data\Finance\2024\report.xlsx

Each import creates a dedicated log file in the FolderNTFS-Tool_Logs folder (next to the script/EXE) with a descriptive filename:

log_20251201_213045_C_Data_Finance__NTFS_Permissions_20251201.csv.txt

After import completes, the tool offers to open the log in Notepad.

Displays system information relevant to the tool's operation:

• PowerShell Edition and version
• Execution policy (current scope)
• .NET CLR version
• WPF availability
• Whether running as Administrator
• Script path and log directory

Shows tool name, author, description, and a clickable link to karanik.gr.

FolderNTFS-Tool/
├── FolderNTFS-Tool.ps1              ← PowerShell source
├── FolderNTFS-Tool_Logs/            ← Auto-created log directory
│   └── log_YYYYMMDD_HHMMSS_*.txt   ← Per-import log files
├── Screenshots/
│   ├── FolderNTFS-Tool_Folders.png  ← Folder structure tab
│   └── FolderNTFS-Tool_NTFS.png    ← NTFS permissions tab
├── LICENSE
└── README.md

• Depth tracking fix — folder structure export was ignoring the depth setting and scanning all levels; caused by PowerShell array unrolling on Stack.Push(@(path, depth)) — fixed by using [System.Tuple]::Create() which preserves the path/depth pair correctly
• RAM-safe NTFS export — replaced Get-ChildItem -Recurse (loads entire tree into memory) with stack-based [IO.Directory]::EnumerateFileSystemEntries() — same streaming approach already used for folder structure export; dramatically reduces memory on large volumes
• Drive root folder selection fix — Show-FolderDialog now correctly handles drive roots (e.g. D:\) where GetDirectoryName returns empty; falls back to GetPathRoot
• Eliminated $script: scoping in export — replaced scriptblock-with-$script: variable pattern with a proper nested function (Write-AcesToCsv) that returns counters via hashtable; more predictable across PS 5.1 and PS 7
• Version tracking — added $script:AppVersion variable; displayed in About window title and Modules status
• Copyright update — About window now shows © 2025-2026

• Tabbed interface — two tabs: Folder structure export / NTFS permissions
• NTFS permissions import — restore ACLs from CSV with preview mode, apply mode, and reset (overwrite) mode
• Path remapping — optional target root for migration scenarios
• Advanced filtering — skip inherited ACEs, skip SYSTEM/Administrators, always-continue, silent mode, auto-truncate
• Streaming NTFS export — writes ACEs directly to CSV row-by-row (low RAM)
• RAM-safe folder scanner — stack-based EnumerateDirectories instead of Get-ChildItem -Recurse
• Per-import log files — detailed logs with descriptive filenames in FolderNTFS-Tool_Logs/
• Menu bar — File (Exit) / Info (Modules status, About)
• About window — with clickable author link
• Modules status — PowerShell edition, .NET version, admin status, WPF availability

• Initial release
• WPF flat modern UI (light mode)
• Folder structure export with configurable depth (TXT / CSV)
• NTFS permissions export to CSV (full ACE detail)
• Modern folder picker dialog
• Real-time status logging panel

Nikolaos Karanikolas — karanik.gr

Built with ChatGPT (OpenAI) and Claude (Anthropic).

Export operations are read-only — they use Get-Acl and Get-ChildItem without modifying the filesystem. Import operations modify NTFS ACLs using Set-Acl and can optionally reset existing permissions. Always test on a non-production folder first. The author takes no responsibility for any issues resulting from use of this tool.