Get-FileItem

July 14, 2026 · View on GitHub

SYNOPSIS

A PowerShell version of the Where CLI command.

SYNTAX

Default (Default)

Get-FileItem [-Pattern] <String[]> [-Regex] [-Full] [-Quiet] [-First] [<CommonParameters>]

Path

Get-FileItem [-Pattern] <String[]> [-Regex] [-Path <String[]>] [-Recurse] [-Full] [-Quiet]
[-First] [<CommonParameters>]

DESCRIPTION

This is an enhanced, PowerShell version of the WHERE command from the traditional CLI which will find files in %PATH% that match a particular pattern.

EXAMPLES

Example 1

PS C:\> Get-FileItem notepad.exe
C:\Windows\notepad.exe
C:\Windows\System32\notepad.exe
C:\Windows\System32\notepad.exe
C:\Windows\notepad.exe
C:\Users\Jeff\AppData\Local\Microsoft\WindowsApps\notepad.exe

Find notepad.exe in %PATH% and return the complete file name. This is the default behavior.

Example 2

PS C:\> PSWhere foo.exe -Quiet
False

Search for foo.exe and return $True if found. This command is using the PSWhere alias.

Example 3

PS C:\> Get-FileItem '^\d+\S+\.txt' -Regex -Path c:\scripts -full

    Directory: C:\Scripts

Mode                 LastWriteTime         Length Name
----                 -------------         ------ ----
-a---           4/15/2025  9:13 AM          30154 1000FemaleNames.txt
-a---           12/5/2007  2:19 PM          29618 1000MaleNames.txt
-a---            6/2/2010 11:02 AM          31206 1000names.txt
-a---            6/3/2010  8:52 AM           3154 100names.txt
-a---           5/28/2014  1:38 PM           1601 100NewUsers.txt
-a---           2/17/2015  4:47 PM           2300 2015.txt
-a---            2/7/2011  1:37 PM          78542 2500names.txt

Find all TXT files in Scripts that start with a number and display full file information.

PARAMETERS

-Pattern

The name of the file to find. Separate multiple entries with a comma. Wildcards are allowed. You can also specify a regular expression pattern by including the -REGEX parameter.

Type: String[]
Parameter Sets: (All)
Aliases:

Required: True
Position: 1
Default value: None
Accept pipeline input: False
Accept wildcard characters: False

-Regex

Indicates that the pattern is a regular expression.

Type: SwitchParameter
Parameter Sets: (All)
Aliases:

Required: False
Position: Named
Default value: False
Accept pipeline input: False
Accept wildcard characters: False

-Path

The folders to search other than %PATH%.

Type: String[]
Parameter Sets: Path
Aliases:

Required: False
Position: Named
Default value: None
Accept pipeline input: False
Accept wildcard characters: False

-Recurse

Used with -Path to indicate a recursive search.

Type: SwitchParameter
Parameter Sets: Path
Aliases:

Required: False
Position: Named
Default value: False
Accept pipeline input: False
Accept wildcard characters: False

-Full

Write the full file object to the pipeline. The default is just the full name.

Type: SwitchParameter
Parameter Sets: (All)
Aliases:

Required: False
Position: Named
Default value: False
Accept pipeline input: False
Accept wildcard characters: False

-Quiet

Returns True if a match is made. This parameter will override -Full.

Type: SwitchParameter
Parameter Sets: (All)
Aliases:

Required: False
Position: Named
Default value: False
Accept pipeline input: False
Accept wildcard characters: False

-First

Stop searching after the pattern is found. Don't search any more paths.

Type: SwitchParameter
Parameter Sets: (All)
Aliases:

Required: False
Position: Named
Default value: False
Accept pipeline input: False
Accept wildcard characters: False

This cmdlet supports the common parameters: -Debug, -ErrorAction, -ErrorVariable, -InformationAction, -InformationVariable, -OutVariable, -OutBuffer, -PipelineVariable, -Verbose, -WarningAction, and -WarningVariable. For more information, see about_CommonParameters (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=113216).

Where.exe