Get-Variable
Gets the variables in the current console.
Syntax
Default (Default)
Get-Variable
[[-Name] <String[]>]
[-ValueOnly]
[-Include <String[]>]
[-Exclude <String[]>]
[-Scope <String>]
[<CommonParameters>]
Description
The Get-Variable cmdlet gets the PowerShell variables in the current console.
You can retrieve just the values of the variables by specifying the ValueOnly parameter, and you
can filter the variables returned by name.
Examples
Example 1: Get variables by letter
This command gets variables with names that begin with the letter m. The command also gets the value of the variables.
Get-Variable m*
Example 2: Get variable values by letter
This command gets only the values of the variables that have names that begin with m.
Get-Variable m* -ValueOnly
Example 3: Get variables by two letters
This command gets information about the variables that begin with either the letter M or the letter P.
Get-Variable -Include M*,P*
Example 4: Get variables by scope
The first command gets only the variables that are defined in the local scope.
It is equivalent to Get-Variable -Scope Local and can be abbreviated as gv -s 0.
The second command uses the Compare-Object cmdlet to find the variables that are defined in the
parent scope (Scope 1) but are visible only in the local scope (Scope 0).
Get-Variable -Scope 0
Compare-Object (Get-Variable -Scope 0) (Get-Variable -Scope 1)
Parameters
-Exclude
Specifies an array of items that this cmdlet excludes from the operation. Wildcards are permitted.
Parameter properties
| Type: | String[] |
| Default value: | None |
| Supports wildcards: | True |
| DontShow: | False |
Parameter sets
(All)
| Position: | Named |
| Mandatory: | False |
| Value from pipeline: | False |
| Value from pipeline by property name: | False |
| Value from remaining arguments: | False |
-Include
Specifies an array of items upon which the cmdlet will act, excluding all others. Wildcards are permitted.
Parameter properties
| Type: | String[] |
| Default value: | None |
| Supports wildcards: | True |
| DontShow: | False |
Parameter sets
(All)
| Position: | Named |
| Mandatory: | False |
| Value from pipeline: | False |
| Value from pipeline by property name: | False |
| Value from remaining arguments: | False |
-Name
Specifies the name of the variable.
Wildcards are permitted.
You can also pipe a variable name to Get-Variable.
Parameter properties
| Type: | String[] |
| Default value: | None |
| Supports wildcards: | True |
| DontShow: | False |
Parameter sets
(All)
| Position: | 0 |
| Mandatory: | False |
| Value from pipeline: | True |
| Value from pipeline by property name: | True |
| Value from remaining arguments: | False |
-Scope
Specifies the variables in the scope.The acceptable values for this parameter are:
- Global
- Local
- Script
- A number relative to the current scope (0 through the number of scopes, where 0 is the current scope and 1 is its parent)
Local is the default. For more information, see about_Scopes.
Parameter properties
| Type: | String |
| Default value: | None |
| Supports wildcards: | False |
| DontShow: | False |
Parameter sets
(All)
| Position: | Named |
| Mandatory: | False |
| Value from pipeline: | False |
| Value from pipeline by property name: | False |
| Value from remaining arguments: | False |
-ValueOnly
Indicates that this cmdlet gets only the value of the variable.
Parameter properties
| Type: | SwitchParameter |
| Default value: | None |
| Supports wildcards: | False |
| DontShow: | False |
Parameter sets
(All)
| Position: | Named |
| Mandatory: | False |
| Value from pipeline: | False |
| Value from pipeline by property name: | False |
| Value from remaining arguments: | False |
CommonParameters
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.
Inputs
String
You can pipe a string that contains the variable name to this cmdlet.
Outputs
PSVariable
By default, this cmdlet returns a AutomationPSVariable object for each variable that it gets. The object type depends on the variable.
Object
When you specify the ValueOnly parameter and the specified variable's value is a collection,
this cmdlet returns a [System.Object[]]. This behavior prevents normal pipeline operation from
processing the variable's values one at a time. A workaround to force collection enumeration is to
enclose the Get-Variable command in parentheses.
Notes
PowerShell includes the following aliases for Get-Variable:
All platforms:
gv
This cmdlet does not manage environment variables. To manage environment variables, you can use the Environment provider.
