# Picking Columns: Select-Object Select-Object keeps only the properties you name with -Property, only the first or last few objects with -First and -Last, and with -ExpandProperty hands you one property's plain values, ready to save as a list. Apprentice · PowerShell · Updated November 10, 2026 ## After this lesson you can - Choose which properties to show, and how many objects, with Select-Object -Property, -First and -Last - Get one property's plain values with Select-Object -ExpandProperty ## Key takeaways - `Select-Object -Property Name, Length` keeps only the properties you name, in that order, even ones the table never shows. - `-First 3` keeps the first three objects and `-Last 3` the last three, in the order they arrive. - `-ExpandProperty Name` gives the plain values of one property, with no column heading: a list you can save or paste. - A misspelled property name gives an empty column, not an error. A friend wants the list of photos from the trip, with their sizes, so they can pick which ones to ask for. A manager asks for the names of the files in a shared folder: names only, no dates or sizes. A folder of 600 files has you wondering what kind of files they are, and the first few would tell you. `Get-ChildItem` always shows the same four columns, and every row. Clicking through File Explorer's column settings, then copying names one at a time, is slow, and a slip is hard to spot. `Select-Object` keeps the facts you ask for and the number of rows you ask for, and nothing else. This lesson uses the `vacation-photos` folder from *What an Object Is: Get-Member*. If you don't have it, run that lesson's practice-folder lines first. ## The columns you want: -Property Think of photocopying the library card with only the lines you need on it. `Select-Object -Property` makes that copy for each object: a new, smaller object holding only the properties you name. List them with commas between them (read the comma "and"): ```powershell Get-ChildItem | Select-Object -Property Name, Length ``` ```text Name Length ---- ------ captions.txt 94 clock-tower.jpg 4210 falls.jpg 5180 sandcastle.jpg 2875 summit.jpg 3620 sunset.jpg 3150 ``` The `|` hands every file `Get-ChildItem` found to `Select-Object`, whole object and all, so it can pick properties from each one. You can name any property `Get-Member` lists, in any order, including ones the normal table never shows. The word `-Property` can be left out, too, since it's the value `Select-Object` expects first: ```powershell Get-ChildItem | Select-Object Name, Extension, CreationTime ``` ```text Name Extension CreationTime ---- --------- ------------ captions.txt .txt 7/18/2026 9:40:00 PM clock-tower.jpg .jpg 7/18/2026 9:40:00 PM falls.jpg .jpg 7/18/2026 9:40:00 PM sandcastle.jpg .jpg 7/18/2026 9:40:00 PM summit.jpg .jpg 7/18/2026 9:40:00 PM sunset.jpg .jpg 7/18/2026 9:40:00 PM ``` A misspelled name doesn't stop anything. `Select-Object -Property Name, Size` shows a `Size` column with nothing in it, because a file has no property called `Size`: its size is `Length`. An empty column is the sign to check the name with `Get-Member`. ## The first few, or the last: -First and -Last `-First` keeps the first so many objects, and `-Last` the last so many: ```powershell Get-ChildItem | Select-Object -First 2 ``` ```text Directory: C:\Users\Sam\terminal-practice\vacation-photos Mode LastWriteTime Length Name ---- ------------- ------ ---- -a--- 7/18/2026 9:40 PM 94 captions.txt -a--- 7/18/2026 9:40 PM 4210 clock-tower.jpg ``` With no `-Property`, the objects are the files themselves, so they show the usual four columns. Mix the two to choose rows and columns at once: ```powershell Get-ChildItem | Select-Object -Last 1 -Property Name, Length ``` ```text Name Length ---- ------ sunset.jpg 3150 ``` "First" and "last" mean in the order the objects arrive, and `Get-ChildItem` lists by name. So `-First 1` is the first name in alphabetical order, not the biggest file or the newest one. Putting the biggest first is sorting, which *Sorting: Sort-Object*, in the next chapter, adds in front of `-First`. ## Only the values: -ExpandProperty `-Property Name` gives you objects with one property, shown as a table with a `Name` heading. Sometimes you want the names themselves: a list to paste into a message or save to a file. `-ExpandProperty` (read "expand property") takes the value off the card and hands you only that: ```powershell Get-ChildItem | Select-Object -ExpandProperty Name ``` ```text captions.txt clock-tower.jpg falls.jpg sandcastle.jpg summit.jpg sunset.jpg ``` No heading, no dashes: six strings of text. `Get-Member` shows the difference. After `-Property Name` the TypeName is `Selected.System.IO.FileInfo`, a smaller copy of a file's card; after `-ExpandProperty Name` it's `System.String`, plain text. `-ExpandProperty` takes one property name only. Plain text is what a file needs, so the list goes straight into one with `Set-Content`, from *Writing to Files: Set-Content, Add-Content and >*. `..` puts it in the folder above, so the photo folder stays as it is: ```powershell Get-ChildItem | Select-Object -ExpandProperty Name | Set-Content ..\photo-list.txt Get-Content ..\photo-list.txt ``` ```text captions.txt clock-tower.jpg falls.jpg sandcastle.jpg summit.jpg sunset.jpg ``` ## The same for running programs `Select-Object` works on any object. Here is the PowerShell window you're typing in, with three of its 50-plus properties: ```powershell Get-Process -Id $PID | Select-Object -Property Name, Id, StartTime ``` ```text Name Id StartTime ---- -- --------- pwsh 52216 11/9/2026 4:49:52 AM ``` Your Id and time will differ. Windows PowerShell 5.1 works the same way, and so does PowerShell on a Mac or Linux. **Try it.** List the first three file names in your own Downloads folder with `Get-ChildItem "$HOME\Downloads" -File | Select-Object -First 3 -ExpandProperty Name`. Then show their names and `LastWriteTime` instead. ## Check yourself 2 questions to try on the lesson page. ## So what `Select-Object` turns "everything about everything" into exactly the facts and rows you need, and with `-ExpandProperty` into a plain list you can save or send. ## Key terms - [Select-Object](https://www.ask-codey.com/glossary/select-object) - [Object Pipeline](https://www.ask-codey.com/glossary/object-pipeline) - [Property](https://www.ask-codey.com/glossary/property-oop) ## Cheat sheets - [Picking Columns: Select-Object](https://www.ask-codey.com/cheat-sheets/powershell-select-object-cheat-sheet) ## Related - [Properties and Methods](https://www.ask-codey.com/lessons/powershell-properties-and-methods) - [Tables and Lists: Format-Table and Format-List](https://www.ask-codey.com/lessons/powershell-format-output) Source: https://www.ask-codey.com/lessons/powershell-select-object