How do I get a file extension in PowerShell?

Use (Get-Item -Path .\file.csv).Extension, which returns .csv with the dot, as the FileSystemInfo.Extension reference describes. For a path string, use [System.IO.Path]::GetExtension($path).

How do I get a file name without the extension in PowerShell?

Read the BaseName property of a file from Get-Item or Get-ChildItem, or call [System.IO.Path]::GetFileNameWithoutExtension($path) for a path string.

Does Split-Path -Extension work in PowerShell 5.1?

No. -Extension and -LeafBase were added in PowerShell 6.0, per the Split-Path documentation . Use the .NET Path methods in 5.1.

How do I get the extension without the dot?

Use $ext.TrimStart('.'). It returns an empty string for files without an extension, where Substring(1) would throw.

Why is the extension of .gitignore the whole name?

Everything after the last dot counts as the extension, so .gitignore has an empty base name and .gitignore as its extension.

Get File Extension and Name Without It in PowerShell

Every file object PowerShell hands you already knows its extension. Read the Extension property to get the file extension, and BaseName for the file name without the extension:

$file = Get-Item -Path C:\Reports\sales-2026-10.csv
$file.Extension    # .csv
$file.BaseName     # sales-2026-10

For a path that’s only text, [System.IO.Path]::GetExtension() and GetFileNameWithoutExtension() do the same job without touching the disk.

In this tutorial, I’ll show you how to get a file extension in PowerShell and the name without it, using Get-Item, .NET and Split-Path. I’ll also cover the edge cases and the PowerShell 7 vs 5.1 differences I hit while testing.

This Tutorial Covers:

Get the file extension and base name with Get-Item

Get-Item returns a FileInfo object. Its Name, Extension and BaseName properties split the file name for you:

$file = Get-Item -Path .\Reports\sales-2026-10.csv
"Name:      $($file.Name)"
"Extension: $($file.Extension)"
"BaseName:  $($file.BaseName)"

Output:

Name:      sales-2026-10.csv
Extension: .csv
BaseName:  sales-2026-10

PowerShell get file extension and BaseName with Get-Item — Extension keeps the dot, BaseName drops the extension (PowerShell 7)

Notice that Extension includes the leading dot. Get-Item fails when the file doesn’t exist, so check the path with Test-Path first when you aren’t sure.

Get the extension from a path string with GetExtension

The .NET Path class only reads the text, so the file can be missing, on another PC or not created yet:

$path = 'C:\Reports\2026\invoice-7001.pdf'
[System.IO.Path]::GetExtension($path)
[System.IO.Path]::GetFileNameWithoutExtension($path)
"README: [$([System.IO.Path]::GetExtension('C:\Reports\README'))]"

Output:

.pdf
invoice-7001
README: []

A name with no extension gives an empty string, not an error. These methods pair well with getting the file name from a full path when you parse log lines or CSV columns.

Split-Path -Extension and -LeafBase in PowerShell 7

PowerShell 6 added two switches to Split-Path: -Extension returns the extension and -LeafBase the name without it. Windows PowerShell 5.1 doesn’t have either:

$path = 'C:\Reports\sales-2026-10.csv'
try {
    Split-Path -Path $path -Extension -ErrorAction Stop
    Split-Path -Path $path -LeafBase -ErrorAction Stop
}
catch { "Failed. $($_.Exception.Message)" }

Output:

.csv
sales-2026-10

That output is from PowerShell 7. Here’s what 5.1 printed for the same script: