Find large files in PowerShell with Get-ChildItem and Sort-Object

Syntax

The command chains three cmdlets with the pipeline. Get-ChildItem lists the files, Sort-Object puts them in size order, and Select-Object keeps the top of the list^1,2,3.

Get-ChildItem -LiteralPath <folder> -Recurse -File |
    Sort-Object -Property Length -Descending |
    Select-Object -First <number>

• -LiteralPath is the folder to search. PowerShell uses it exactly as typed and reads no characters as wildcards¹.
• -Recurse gets the items in that folder and in all its child folders¹.
• -File returns files only. It works in the FileSystem provider¹.
• -Property Length sorts on Length, the file size that Get-ChildItem lists by default^1,2.
• -Descending sorts from largest to smallest. The default is ascending order².
• -First keeps that number of objects from the start of the list³.

Why -LiteralPath and not -Path? With -Recurse, Get-ChildItem treats the last part of a -Path value as something to search for. Microsoft advises you to avoid -Path with -Recurse and to name the target folder with -LiteralPath instead¹.

Examples

Find the 10 largest files on drive C

This lists every file on C: and in its subfolders, sorts the files by size and keeps the 10 largest^1,2,3.

Get-ChildItem -LiteralPath C:\ -Recurse -File |
    Sort-Object -Property Length -Descending |
    Select-Object -First 10

It returns 10 file objects. They show with the usual Get-ChildItem columns: Mode, LastWriteTime, Length and Name, under Directory: headings that name each folder¹.

Show the full path and the size in megabytes

A calculated property turns Length into a size you can read. The Select-Object docs build one with a Label and an Expression, and divide Length by 1KB³. This version divides by 1MB, which PowerShell reads as 1,024 squared⁴.

$size = @{Label="Size(MB)";Expression={$_.Length/1MB}}
Get-ChildItem -LiteralPath C:\ -Recurse -File |
    Sort-Object -Property Length -Descending |
    Select-Object -First 10 -Property FullName, $size

It returns a table with two columns. FullName is the full path of each file², and Size(MB) is the calculated size³.

Include hidden and system files

By default, Get-ChildItem doesn't show hidden items. Add -Force to get hidden and system files too¹.

Get-ChildItem -LiteralPath C:\ -Recurse -File -Force |
    Sort-Object -Property Length -Descending |
    Select-Object -First 10

The output has the same columns. Hidden files show an h in the Mode column¹.

Search one folder for one file type

-Filter keeps only the files that match a pattern, such as *.log. The FileSystem provider applies the filter while it gets the files, which is more efficient than filtering afterward¹. Replace C:\Test with your folder.

Get-ChildItem -LiteralPath C:\Test -Recurse -File -Filter '*.log' |
    Sort-Object -Property Length -Descending |
    Select-Object -First 5

It returns the five largest .log files in that folder and its subfolders^1,2,3.

Use Sort-Object -Top in PowerShell 7

-Top gets a number of objects from the start of the sorted list, so you don't need Select-Object².

Get-ChildItem -LiteralPath C:\ -Recurse -File |
    Sort-Object -Property Length -Descending -Top 10

It returns the same 10 files as the first example. -Top was introduced in PowerShell 6.0, so it isn't available in Windows PowerShell 5.1².

Common errors

Folders appear in the results. Add -File. Without it, Get-ChildItem lists folders as well as files¹.

Hidden files are missing. Get-ChildItem doesn't show hidden items by default. Add -Force¹.

Some folders are skipped. -Force gets hidden and system files, but it doesn't override security restrictions¹. Files in folders your account can't open won't be listed.

-Top is not accepted. Windows PowerShell 5.1 has no -Top parameter, because it arrived in PowerShell 6.0². Use Select-Object -First instead³.

-Path with -Recurse returns odd results. With -Recurse, Get-ChildItem searches for the last part of the -Path value in every subfolder. Use -LiteralPath for the folder, and -Filter for the pattern you want to match¹.

Questions

How do I check one folder without its subfolders?

Leave out -Recurse. Without it, Get-ChildItem gets only the items in the folder you name¹. To go a few levels down instead, use -Depth, which sets how many subfolder levels to include¹.

What unit is the Length column in?

Length is the file size¹. The Select-Object docs divide Length by 1KB to show a size in kilobytes³. In PowerShell, 1KB is 1,024 and 1MB is 1,024 squared⁴.

How do I list the smallest files instead?

Leave out -Descending. Sort-Object sorts in ascending order by default, so the smallest files come first².

Are there shorter names for these cmdlets?

Yes. On Windows, Get-ChildItem has the aliases dir, gci and ls¹. Sort-Object has the alias sort on Windows², and Select-Object has the alias select³.

26 Sept 2026: Published.