Start by checking the exact file path in the error and whether its parent directory exists. A path assembled from several variables may differ from the path you expected.

Inspect the file and parent directory

$targetPath = 'C:\Reports\daily.txt'
$targetPath
Get-Location
Test-Path -LiteralPath $targetPath -PathType Leaf
Test-Path -LiteralPath (Split-Path -Parent $targetPath) -PathType Container

Replace the example path. Leaf checks for a file; Container checks for a directory. -LiteralPath treats brackets and other characters as part of the filename, rather than wildcard syntax. A false result tells you to investigate; it is not permission to create an arbitrary replacement file.

Use the intended base directory

Inside a saved .ps1 script, a file beside that script can be located with:

$inputPath = Join-Path $PSScriptRoot 'input.csv'
Get-Content -LiteralPath $inputPath

Run this in a script, where $PSScriptRoot identifies the script’s directory. A relative path such as .\input.csv is based on the current location instead. See where PowerShell scripts and profiles are located.

If the path is still unavailable

Check drive availability, network shares and the account running the process. A scheduled task can have a different working directory and different mapped drives. Read access-denied errors separately instead of assuming every file error means a missing path. Path-length support depends on the application and Windows configuration; there is no universal 260-character limit for all modern file operations.

The same working-directory confusion affects other languages; see Python file paths.

Sources and verification

Path inspection syntax checked against Microsoft documentation. Windows drives and scheduled tasks were not exercised.