PowerShell List Files in Directory: Complete Guide with Filtering [2024]

Master PowerShell file listing with Get-ChildItem—list files, directories, recurse, and filter efficiently. Complete guide with real-world patterns.

Quick Syntax

Get-ChildItem -Path "C:\temp" -File              # Files only
Get-ChildItem -Path "C:\temp" -Directory         # Directories only
Get-ChildItem -Path "C:\temp" -Recurse           # All subdirectories

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List Contents of Directory

Current Directory

Get-ChildItem              # Current directory
ls                         # Alias
dir                        # Alias

Specific Directory

Get-ChildItem -Path "C:\Windows"
Get-ChildItem "C:\Users"

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Filter by Type

Files Only

Get-ChildItem -Path "C:\temp" -File
Get-ChildItem -Path "C:\temp" -Attributes !Directory

Directories Only

Get-ChildItem -Path "C:\temp" -Directory
Get-ChildItem -Path "C:\temp" -Attributes Directory

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Recursive Listing

All Subdirectories

Get-ChildItem -Path "C:\Logs" -Recurse -File

Limit Recursion Depth

# PowerShell 5.1+
Get-ChildItem -Path "C:\Logs" -Recurse -Depth 2 -File

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Filter by Extension

Single Extension

Get-ChildItem -Path "C:\Logs" -Filter "*.log"
Get-ChildItem -Path "C:\temp" -Filter "*.txt"

Multiple Extensions

Get-ChildItem -Path "C:\Temp" -File |
    Where-Object { $_.Extension -in ".txt", ".log", ".csv" }

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Filter by Name Pattern

Wildcard Pattern

Get-ChildItem -Path "C:\Backup" -Filter "backup_*.bak"
Get-ChildItem -Path "C:\Reports" -Filter "*2024*"

Regex Filter

Get-ChildItem -Path "C:\Logs" -File |
    Where-Object { $_.Name -match "app_\d{4}\.log" }

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Filter by Size

Large Files

Get-ChildItem -Path "C:\temp" -File |
    Where-Object { $_.Length -gt 100MB }  # > 100MB

File Size Range

Get-ChildItem -Path "C:\temp" -File |
    Where-Object { $_.Length -gt 10MB -and $_.Length -lt 100MB }

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Sort Results

By Name

Get-ChildItem -Path "C:\temp" | Sort-Object -Property Name

By Date (Newest First)

Get-ChildItem -Path "C:\Logs" -File |
    Sort-Object -Property LastWriteTime -Descending | Select-Object -First 10

By Size

Get-ChildItem -Path "C:\temp" -File |
    Sort-Object -Property Length -Descending | Select-Object -First 5

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Format Output

Table View

Get-ChildItem -Path "C:\temp" | Format-Table -AutoSize Name, Length, LastWriteTime

List View

Get-ChildItem -Path "C:\temp" -File | Select-Object Name, @{Name="SizeMB"; Expression={[Math]::Round($_.Length/1MB,2)}}, LastWriteTime

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Real-World Examples

Find Large Old Files

Get-ChildItem -Path "C:\Logs" -File -Recurse |
    Where-Object { $_.Length -gt 50MB -and $_.LastWriteTime -lt (Get-Date).AddDays(-30) } |
    Select-Object FullName, @{Name="SizeMB"; Expression={[Math]::Round($_.Length/1MB,2)}}, LastWriteTime

List Recent Files

Get-ChildItem -Path "C:\Downloads" -File |
    Where-Object { $_.LastWriteTime -gt (Get-Date).AddDays(-7) } |
    Sort-Object LastWriteTime -Descending

Find Duplicate Extensions

Get-ChildItem -Path "C:\Temp" -Recurse -File |
    Group-Object -Property Extension |
    Where-Object { $_.Count -gt 1 }

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Performance Tips

• Use -Filter instead of Where-Object when possible (faster)
• Use -File or -Directory to exclude unwanted types
• Limit -Recurse depth with -Depth parameter
• Use Select-Object to choose specific columns

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Common Mistakes

Issue: “Cannot find path”

• Cause: Typo in path
• Solution: Verify path with Test-Path

Issue: “Access denied”

• Cause: No permissions
• Solution: Run as admin

Issue: Slow recursion

• Cause: Large directory tree
• Solution: Use -Depth or -Filter

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Data Selection & Filtering

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Data Calculation & Aggregation

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Display & Formatting

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• PowerShell Format List - List format display
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Control Flow & Logic

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• PowerShell Try-Catch - Error handling

Variables & Collections

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• PowerShell Arrays - Work with file arrays
• PowerShell Hashtables - Store mappings
• PowerShell Add-Member - Add custom properties

String & Pattern Operations

• PowerShell Strings - String manipulation
• PowerShell Replace Strings - String replacement
• PowerShell Replace Text - Text operations

Output & Export

• PowerShell Output to File - Write to files
• PowerShell Export CSV - Export to CSV
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File Content Operations

• PowerShell Get-Content - Read file contents
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Functions & Automation

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Comprehensive Guides

• Complete PowerShell Guide - Full PowerShell reference
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