Split-Path

Split-Path
    [-Path] <String[]>
    [-Parent]
    [-Resolve]
    [-Credential <PSCredential>]
    [<CommonParameters>]

Split-Path
    [-Path] <String[]>
    -Leaf
    [-Resolve]
    [-Credential <PSCredential>]
    [<CommonParameters>]

Split-Path
    [-Path] <String[]>
    -LeafBase
    [-Resolve]
    [-Credential <PSCredential>]
    [<CommonParameters>]

Split-Path
    [-Path] <String[]>
    -Extension
    [-Resolve]
    [-Credential <PSCredential>]
    [<CommonParameters>]

Split-Path
    [-Path] <String[]>
    -Qualifier
    [-Resolve]
    [-Credential <PSCredential>]
    [<CommonParameters>]

Split-Path
    [-Path] <String[]>
    -NoQualifier
    [-Resolve]
    [-Credential <PSCredential>]
    [<CommonParameters>]

Split-Path
    [-Path] <String[]>
    -IsAbsolute
    [-Resolve]
    [-Credential <PSCredential>]
    [<CommonParameters>]

Split-Path
    -LiteralPath <String[]>
    [-Resolve]
    [-Credential <PSCredential>]
    [<CommonParameters>]

The Split-Path cmdlet returns only the specified part of a path, such as the parent folder, a subfolder, or a filename. It can also get items that are referenced by the split path and tell whether the path is relative or absolute.

You can use this cmdlet to get or submit only a selected part of a path.

Split-Path -Path "HKCU:\Software\Microsoft" -Qualifier

HKCU:

This command returns only the qualifier of the path. The qualifier is the drive.

Split-Path -Path "C:\Test\Logs\*.log" -Leaf -Resolve

Pass1.log
Pass2.log
...

This command displays the files that are referenced by the split path. Because this path is split to the last item, also known as the leaf, the command displays only the filenames.

The Resolve parameter tells Split-Path to display the items that the split path references, instead of displaying the split path.

Like all Split-Path commands, this command returns strings. It doesn't return FileInfo objects that represent the files.

Split-Path -Parent "C:\WINDOWS\system32\WindowsPowerShell\V1.0\about_*.txt"

C:\WINDOWS\system32\WindowsPowerShell\V1.0

This command returns only the parent containers of the path. Because it doesn't include any parameters to specify the split, Split-Path uses the split location default, which is Parent.

Split-Path -Path ".\My Pictures\*.jpg" -IsAbsolute

False

This command determines whether the path is relative or absolute. In this case, because the path is relative to the current folder, which is represented by a dot (.), it returns $False.

PS C:\> Set-Location (Split-Path -Path $profile)
PS C:\Documents and Settings\User01\My Documents\WindowsPowerShell>

This command changes your location to the folder that contains the PowerShell profile.

The command in parentheses uses Split-Path to return only the parent of the path stored in the built-in $Profile variable. The Parent parameter is the default split location parameter. Therefore, you can omit it from the command. The parentheses direct PowerShell to run the command first. This is a useful way to move to a folder that has a long path name.

'C:\Documents and Settings\User01\My Documents\My Pictures' | Split-Path

C:\Documents and Settings\User01\My Documents

This command uses a pipeline operator (|) to send a path to Split-Path. The path is enclosed in quotation marks to indicate that it's a single token.

This cmdlet supports the common parameters: -Debug, -ErrorAction, -ErrorVariable, -InformationAction, -InformationVariable, -OutBuffer, -OutVariable, -PipelineVariable, -ProgressAction, -Verbose, -WarningAction, and -WarningVariable. For more information, see about_CommonParameters.

You can pipe a string that contains a path to this cmdlet.

This cmdlet returns text strings. When you specify the Resolve parameter, it returns a string that describes the location of the items. It doesn't return objects that represent the items, such as a FileInfo or RegistryKey object.

When you specify the IsAbsolute parameter, this cmdlet returns a Boolean value.

• The split location parameters (Qualifier, Parent, Extension, Leaf, LeafBase, and NoQualifier) are exclusive. You can use only one in each command.

• The cmdlets that contain the Path noun (the Path cmdlets) work with path names and return the names in a concise format that all PowerShell providers can interpret. They're designed for use in programs and scripts where you want to display all or part of a path name in a particular format. Use them in the way that you would use Dirname, Normpath, Realpath, Join, or other path manipulators.

• You can use the Path cmdlets together with several providers. These include the FileSystem, Registry, and Certificate providers.

• Split-Path is designed to work with the data exposed by any provider. To list the providers available in your session, type Get-PSProvider. For more information, see about_Providers.