Split-Path

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Split-Path cmdlet returns only the specified part of a path, such as the parent folder, a subfolder, or a file name. 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.

Parameters

-Credential <PSCredential>

Default value is None
Accepts pipeline input ByPropertyName

Specifies a user account that has permission to perform this action. The default is the current user.

Type a user name, such as User01 or Domain01\User01, or enter a PSCredential object, such as one generated by the Get-Credential cmdlet. If you type a user name, this cmdlet prompts you for a password.

This parameter is not supported by any providers installed with parameter is not supported by any providers installed with Windows PowerShell.

-IsAbsolute [<SwitchParameter>]

Default value is False
Accepts pipeline input False

Indicates that this cmdlet returns $True if the path is absolute and $False if it is relative. An absolute path has a length greater than zero and does not use a dot (.) to indicate the current path.

-Leaf [<SwitchParameter>]

Default value is False
Accepts pipeline input ByPropertyName

Indicates that this cmdlet returns only the last item or container in the path. For example, in the path `C:\Test\Logs\Pass1.log`, it returns only Pass1.log.

-LiteralPath <String[]>

This value is required
Default value is None
Accepts pipeline input ByPropertyName

Specifies the paths to be split. Unlike Path , the value of LiteralPath is used exactly as it is typed. No characters are interpreted as wildcard characters. If the path includes escape characters, enclose it in single quotation marks. Single quotation marks tell Windows PowerShell not to interpret any characters as escape sequences.

-NoQualifier [<SwitchParameter>]

Default value is False
Accepts pipeline input ByPropertyName

Indicates that this cmdlet returns the path without the qualifier. For the FileSystem or registry providers, the qualifier is the drive of the provider path, such as C: or HKCU:. For example, in the path `C:\Test\Logs\Pass1.log`, it returns only \Test\Logs\Pass1.log.

-Parent [<SwitchParameter>]

Default value is False
Accepts pipeline input ByPropertyName

Indicates that this cmdlet returns only the parent containers of the item or of the container specified by the path. For example, in the path `C:\Test\Logs\Pass1.log`, it returns C:\Test\Logs. The Parent parameter is the default split location parameter.

-Path <String[]>

This value is required
Default value is None
Accepts pipeline input ByPropertyName

Specifies the paths to be split. Wildcard characters are permitted. If the path includes spaces, enclose it in quotation marks. You can also pipe a path to this cmdlet.

-Qualifier [<SwitchParameter>]

Default value is False
Accepts pipeline input ByPropertyName

Indicates that this cmdlet returns only the qualifier of the specified path. For the FileSystem or registry providers, the qualifier is the drive of the provider path, such as C: or HKCU:.

-Resolve [<SwitchParameter>]

Default value is False
Accepts pipeline input False

Indicates that this cmdlet displays the items that are referenced by the resulting split path instead of displaying the path elements.

-UseTransaction [<SwitchParameter>]

Default value is False
Accepts pipeline input False

Includes the command in the active transaction. This parameter is valid only when a transaction is in progress.

<CommonParameters>

This cmdlet supports the common parameters: Verbose, Debug,ErrorAction, ErrorVariable, WarningAction, WarningVariable,OutBuffer, PipelineVariable, and OutVariable.

Inputs

System.String

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

Outputs

System.String, System.Boolean

Split-Path returns text strings. When you specify the Resolve parameter, Split-Path returns a string that describes the location of the items; it does not return objects that represent the items, such as a FileInfo or RegistryKey object. When you specify the IsAbsolute parameter, Split-Path returns a Boolean value.

Examples

Get the qualifier of a path:
```
PS C:\> Split-Path -Path "HKCU:\Software\Microsoft" -Qualifier
HKCU:
```
This command returns only the qualifier of the path. The qualifier is the drive.
Display file names:
```
PS C:\> 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 file names.

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 does not return FileInfo objects that represent the files.
Get the parent container:
```
PS C:\> Split-Path -Path "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 does not include any parameters to specify the split, Split-Path uses the split location default, which is Parent .
Determines whether a path is absolute:
```
PS C:\> 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.
Change location to a specified path:
```
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 Windows 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 Windows PowerShell to run the command first. This is a useful way to move to a folder that has a long path name.
Split a path by using the pipeline:
```
PS C:\> '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 is a single token.

Additional Notes

 The split location parameters ( Qualifier , Parent , Leaf , 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 Windows PowerShell providers can interpret. They are 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.

 *

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International. It is attributed to Microsoft Corporation and can be found here.

PowerShell Commands