How to Split Directory Path in PowerShell

While working with paths in PowerShell, sometimes you may need to split the directory or file path. PowerShell has a handy cmdlet Split-Path that lets you split a path to a parent path, subfolder, or file name.

This tutorial will teach you to split the directory or file path in PowerShell.

Use Split-Path Cmdlet to Split Directory or File Path in PowerShell

The Split-Path cmdlet returns the specific part of a given path in PowerShell. The part of a path can be the parent folder, subfolder, file name, or a file extension only.

By default, the Split-Path returns the parent folder of the path. The following example will display C:\Windows\System32, the parent folder of the notepad.exe.

Command:

Split-Path -Path "C:\Windows\System32\notepad.exe"

Output:

C:\Windows\System32

The -Qualifier parameter displays the qualifier of the path. The qualifier is the drive of the path, such as C:, D:.

Command:

Split-Path -Path "C:\Windows\System32\notepad.exe" -Qualifier

Output:

C:

The -Leaf parameter prints the last item of the path.

Command:

Split-Path -Path "C:\Windows\System32\notepad.exe" -Leaf

Output:

notepad.exe

To display the base name of the leaf, use the LeafBase parameter. It returns the file name without an extension.

Command:

Split-Path -Path "C:\Windows\System32\notepad.exe" -LeafBase

Output:

notepad

You can use the -Extension parameter to get only the leaf extension.

Command:

Split-Path -Path "C:\Windows\System32\notepad.exe" -Extension

Output:

.exe

You can also split paths of the registry path with Split-Path.

Command:

Split-Path HKCU:\Software\Microsoft

Output:

HKCU:\Software

Use the Split() Method to Split Directory or File Path in PowerShell

To divide a string into an array, use the Split() method. You can use this method to split strings of a path into an array.

Then you can use Select-Object to select specific positions in an array and join them as a path. The following example splits the path C:\Windows\System32\notepad.exe to C:\Windows.

Command:

$path = "C:\Windows\System32\notepad.exe".Split("\") | Select-Object -First 2
$path -join "\"

The split method splits a path string on the delimiter \ in the above script. It is then piped to the Select-Object, selecting only the first two objects from an array.

The outcome of the first command is stored on the variable $path. The second command joins the resulting objects in $path with \ and creates a new path.

Output:

C:\Windows

The following example splits the path C:\Windows\System32\notepad.exe to System32\notepad.exe.

Command:

$path = "C:\Windows\System32\notepad.exe".Split("\") | Select-Object -Last 2
$path -join "\"

Output:

System32\notepad.exe

Suppose you need the second and last element in the path. Then you can use the -Index parameter to select specific positions in an array.

The -Index parameter selects indexes 1 and 3. The index value in an array starts from 0.

Command:

$path = "C:\Windows\System32\notepad.exe".Split("\") | Select-Object -Index 1, 3
$path -join "\"

Output:

Windows\notepad.exe

In this article, we learned several examples to split paths in PowerShell. We also showed you how to join the path with a \ delimiter.