How do I get only directories using Get-ChildItem?
For PowerShell 3.0 and greater:
Get-ChildItem -Directory
You can also use the aliases dir
, ls
, and gci
For PowerShell versions less than 3.0:
The FileInfo
object returned by Get-ChildItem
has a "base" property, PSIsContainer
. You want to select only those items.
Get-ChildItem -Recurse | ?{ $_.PSIsContainer }
If you want the raw string names of the directories, you can do
Get-ChildItem -Recurse | ?{ $_.PSIsContainer } | Select-Object FullName
Use
Get-ChildItem -dir #lists only directories
Get-ChildItem -file #lists only files
If you prefer aliases, use
ls -dir #lists only directories
ls -file #lists only files
or
dir -dir #lists only directories
dir -file #lists only files
To recurse subdirectories as well, add -r
option.
ls -dir -r #lists only directories recursively
ls -file -r #lists only files recursively
Tested on PowerShell 4.0, PowerShell 5.0 (Windows 10), PowerShell Core 6.0 (Windows 10, Mac, and Linux), and PowerShell 7.0 (Windows 10, Mac, and Linux).
Note: On PowerShell Core, symlinks are not followed when you specify the -r
switch. To follow symlinks, specify the -FollowSymlink
switch with -r
.
Note 2: PowerShell is now cross-platform, since version 6.0. The cross-platform version was originally called PowerShell Core, but the the word "Core" has been dropped since PowerShell 7.0+.
Get-ChildItem documentation: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/module/microsoft.powershell.management/get-childitem
In PowerShell 3.0, it is simpler:
Get-ChildItem -Directory #List only directories
Get-ChildItem -File #List only files