Resolve-Path

Resolve-Path
    [-Path] <string[]>
    [-Relative]
    [-RelativeBasePath <string>]
    [-Credential <pscredential>]
    [-Force]
    [<CommonParameters>]

Resolve-Path
    -LiteralPath <string[]>
    [-Relative]
    [-RelativeBasePath <string>]
    [-Credential <pscredential>]
    [-Force]
    [<CommonParameters>]

The Resolve-Path cmdlet displays the items and containers that match the wildcard pattern at the ___location specified. The match can include files, folders, registry keys, or any other object accessible from a PSDrive provider.

The tilde character (~) is shorthand notation for the current user's home folder. This example shows Resolve-Path returning the fully qualified path value.

Resolve-Path ~

Path
----
C:\Users\User01

Resolve-Path -Path "windows"

Path
----
C:\Windows

When run from the root of the C: drive, this command returns the path of the Windows folder in the C: drive.

"C:\windows\*" | Resolve-Path

This command returns all the files and folders in the C:\Windows folder. The command uses a pipeline operator (|) to send a path string to Resolve-Path.

Resolve-Path -Path "\\Server01\public"

This command resolves a Universal Naming Convention (UNC) path and returns the shares in the path.

Resolve-Path -Path "C:\prog*" -Relative

.\Program Files
.\Program Files (x86)
.\programs.txt

This command returns relative paths for the directories at the root of the C: drive.

This example uses the LiteralPath parameter to resolve the path of the Test[xml] subfolder. Using LiteralPath causes the brackets to be treated as normal characters rather than a regular expression.

Resolve-Path -LiteralPath 'test[xml]'

This example uses the RelativeBasePath parameter to resolve the path of the pwsh executable relative to $Env:TEMP. When the command includes the Relative switch parameter, it returns a String representing the relative path from $Env:TEMP to the pwsh executable.

$ExecutablePath = Get-Command -Name pwsh | Select-Object -ExpandProperty Source
Resolve-Path -Path $ExecutablePath -RelativeBasePath $Env:TEMP -Relative

..\..\..\..\..\Program Files\PowerShell\7\pwsh.exe

By default, Resolve-Path does not return hidden items. This example uses the Force parameter to resolve hidden items. The Get-Item command confirms that the .git folder is hidden. Using Resolve-Path without the Force parameter returns only the visible items. Adding the Force parameter returns all items, including hidden items.

PS> Get-Item .git -Force

    Directory: D:\Git\PS-Docs\PowerShell-Docs

Mode                 LastWriteTime         Length Name
----                 -------------         ------ ----
d--h-           9/25/2024  4:46 PM                .git

PS> Resolve-Path .git*

Path
----
D:\Git\PS-Docs\PowerShell-Docs\.github
D:\Git\PS-Docs\PowerShell-Docs\.gitattributes
D:\Git\PS-Docs\PowerShell-Docs\.gitignore

PS> Resolve-Path .git* -Force

Path
----
D:\Git\PS-Docs\PowerShell-Docs\.git
D:\Git\PS-Docs\PowerShell-Docs\.github
D:\Git\PS-Docs\PowerShell-Docs\.gitattributes
D:\Git\PS-Docs\PowerShell-Docs\.gitignore

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.

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

By default, this cmdlet returns a PathInfo object.

If you specify the Relative parameter, this cmdlet returns a string value for the resolved path.

PowerShell includes the following aliases for Resolve-Path:

• All platforms:
  • rvpa

The *-Path cmdlets work with the FileSystem, Registry, and Certificate providers.

Resolve-Path is designed to work with any provider. To list the providers available in your session, type Get-PSProvider. For more information, see about_Providers.

Resolve-Path only resolves existing paths. It cannot be used to resolve a ___location that does not exist yet.