Command library / Get-ChildItem

List files and folders as objects

PowerShell's directory listing — but every result is a real object (with properties like Length and LastWriteTime), not text to be parsed. The path binds positionally; -Recurse walks into subfolders; -Force also shows hidden and system items.

Usage

Options and flags

• -Path PATH

  directory to list (first positional parameter)

• -Recurse

  descend into every subdirectory

• -Filter PATTERN

  fast, provider-side name filter, e.g. *.log

• -Force

  also show hidden and system items

Examples

• Get-ChildItem C:\Users

  List everything directly inside C:\Users — the path binds positionally.

• Get-ChildItem -Path C:\Logs -Recurse

  Every file in C:\Logs and all of its subfolders.

• Get-ChildItem -Filter *.log -Recurse

  Only .log files, searched recursively from the current directory.

• Get-ChildItem -Force

  Include hidden and system files that a plain listing would skip.

Common mistakes

Related commands