How to Use Get-Member in PowerShell: Syntax and Examples

Use Get-Member in PowerShell to list the properties and methods of objects. Pipe any object to Get-Member to see its members, helping you understand what you can do with that object.

Syntax

The basic syntax of Get-Member is:

• Get-Member [-InputObject] <PSObject>: Gets members of a specific object.
• Get-Member [-MemberType] <String[]>: Filters members by type like Property, Method, etc.
• Get-Member [-Name] <String>: Shows members with a specific name.

You usually use it by piping an object to Get-Member.

powershell

Get-Process | Get-Member
Get-Item C:\Windows\System32 | Get-Member -MemberType Property
"Hello" | Get-Member -Name Length

Example

This example shows how to use Get-Member to find out what properties and methods the Get-Process cmdlet returns. It helps you see what information you can access or what actions you can perform on those objects.

powershell

Get-Process | Get-Member

Output

   TypeName: System.Diagnostics.Process

Name                      MemberType   Definition
----                      ----------   ----------
Equals                    Method       bool Equals(System.Object obj)
GetHashCode               Method       int GetHashCode()
GetType                   Method       type GetType()
ToString                  Method       string ToString()
... (many more properties and methods listed) ...

Common Pitfalls

One common mistake is running Get-Member without piping an object, which returns no useful information. Another is expecting Get-Member to show values instead of member names and types. Also, filtering by -MemberType requires exact member type names like Property or Method.

powershell

Get-Member

# Correct usage:
Get-Process | Get-Member

# Filtering by member type:
Get-Process | Get-Member -MemberType Property

Quick Reference

Parameter	Description
-InputObject	Specify the object to examine directly.
-MemberType	Filter members by type (Property, Method, NoteProperty, etc.).
-Name	Show members with a specific name.
-Force	Show all members, including hidden or private ones.
-Static	Show static members of a type.

Key Takeaways

Pipe any object to Get-Member to see its properties and methods.

Use -MemberType to filter members by type like Property or Method.

Get-Member helps you understand what you can do with PowerShell objects.

Always pipe an object to Get-Member; running it alone shows no members.

Use -Name to find a specific member by its name.