Get-ChildItem | Write-Host

Hi Bosjabouter​,

Write-Host isn't behaving differently. In fact, this actually has nothing to do with Write-Host at all.

While I can't go so far as to debug the compiled .dll that Get-ChildItem is shipped in, the behaviour you're observing (which I can also reproduce across both Windows PowerShell and PowerShell) can be explained by the underlying .NET type, and the ToString() method in particular:

• FileSystemInfo.ToString Method (System.IO) | Microsoft Learn

As noted in the above documentation, ToString() returns the string provided to the class' constructor.

What the key events look like in reverse chronology is:

1. Write-Host (not that it's specific to Write-Host) calls [objectType].ToString();
2. ToString() returns the path provided to the constructor;
3. The Get-ChildItem commandlet creates a new instance of [objectType], passing in a string literal to the constructor. This is where your observed behaviour originates from;
4. The Get-ChildItem commandlet enumerates file system objects.

Leaving Write-Host out of the equation entirely, you can see the behaviour persists even when calling collection-specific methods:

What this comes down to is it's an oversight (bug, if you must) within the Get-ChildItem commandlet itself, where it's what's producing the inconsistent output. But then referring back to the class documentation above, this is what's being acknowledged by the remarks where if you want consistent output, refer to the Name or FullName attributes explicitly:

Cheers,

Lain

Small addition: -Filter is also the most performant option, because the filtering is done by the provider before PowerShell creates any objects.

That’s why it’s generally preferable when possible.

Hi,

The difference you’re seeing doesn’t come from the objects themselves, but from how PowerShell resolves the pattern before sending data into the pipeline.

Here is a simple example that shows it clearly:

Get-ChildItem -Filter *.log | Write-Host   # Filter applied after enumeration → Name
Get-ChildItem -Path *.log   | Write-Host   # Wildcard resolved before GCI runs → FullName
Get-ChildItem *.log         | Write-Host   # Same → FullName

✔️ Why this happens

• With -Filter, PowerShell enumerates the directory first, then applies the filter.
  The pipeline receives directory entries, and their default string representation is the Name.
• With -Path or a direct wildcard (*.log), the wildcard is resolved before Get-ChildItem runs.
  The pipeline receives resolved full paths, so Write-Host prints the FullName.

✔️ If you want to always display only the file name

Get-ChildItem *.log | Select-Object -ExpandProperty Name

or:

Get-ChildItem *.log | ForEach-Object { $_.Name }

Hope this helps!