Get-ItemProperty

PowerShell Cmdlet Deep Dive: Get-ItemProperty

Welcome back to Wahmans PowerShell Blog! Today we’re diving into one of the lesser-sung heroes of the PowerShell arsenal — Get-ItemProperty. According to Microsoft, this cmdlet “gets the properties of a specified item.” Simple, right? But wait! Simplicity in PowerShell often hides surprisingly powerful capabilities. Let’s explore how this cmdlet can transform your scripting workflow — from basic to more advanced usage.

What is Get-ItemProperty?

Get-ItemProperty is a cmdlet that retrieves the properties of items like files, folders, registry keys, and more. It’s useful when you want to extract metadata or configuration details attached to these items.

📘 Examples

🔰 Example 1: Get properties of a file (Beginner)

Let’s start with the very basics. Suppose you want to look at the properties of a specific file on your disk:

Get-ItemProperty -Path "C:\Windows\System32\notepad.exe"

This command will list properties like Mode, LastWriteTime, Length, etc., for the specified file.

🔍 Example 2: Get registry values (Intermediate)

Get-ItemProperty really shines with the Windows Registry. Here’s how you can get the properties of a registry key:

Get-ItemProperty -Path "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion"

This command pulls all the values under the CurrentVersion registry key, which is useful for identifying OS version, product name, etc.

📋 Example 3: Extract a specific registry value (Intermediate)

Sometimes, you don’t need all the values — just one. Here’s how to extract the Windows Product Name:

(Get-ItemProperty -Path "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion").ProductName

This will return something like Windows 10 Pro or Windows 11 Home, depending on your version.

⚙️ Example 4: List installed programs (Advanced)

Ok, now let’s step it up a notch. You can combine Get-ItemProperty with Get-ChildItem to read installed software from the registry:

Get-ChildItem -Path "HKLM:\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall" | \
    ForEach-Object {
        Get-ItemProperty $_.PsPath
    } | Select-Object DisplayName, DisplayVersion, Publisher | \
    Where-Object { $_.DisplayName } | Sort-Object DisplayName

This script lets you list all software installed on the machine (for the local machine context), a common task for system administrators.

🎯 Conclusion

Get-ItemProperty is a versatile cmdlet that can be applied to a variety of use-cases — from checking file metadata to reading deep configuration settings from the Windows Registry. Understanding its power can help you unlock a lot of potential in your scripts.

Happy scripting, and I will see you in the next post!