Expand-Archive
Extracts files from a specified archive (zipped) file.
Syntax
Path (Default)
Expand-Archive
[-Path] <String>
[[-DestinationPath] <String>]
[-Force]
[-PassThru]
[-WhatIf]
[-Confirm]
[<CommonParameters>]
LiteralPath
Expand-Archive
[[-DestinationPath] <String>]
-LiteralPath <String>
[-Force]
[-PassThru]
[-WhatIf]
[-Confirm]
[<CommonParameters>]
Description
The Expand-Archive cmdlet extracts files from a specified zipped archive file to a specified
destination folder. An archive file allows multiple files to be packaged, and optionally compressed,
into a single zipped file for easier distribution and storage.
Examples
Example 1: Extract the contents of an archive
This example extracts the contents of an existing archive file into the folder specified by the DestinationPath parameter.
Expand-Archive -LiteralPath 'C:\Archives\Draft[v1].zip' -DestinationPath C:\Reference
In this example, the LiteralPath parameter is used because the filename contains characters that could be interpreted as wildcards.
Example 2: Extract the contents of an archive in the current folder
This example extracts the contents of an existing archive file in the current folder into the folder specified by the DestinationPath parameter.
Expand-Archive -Path Draftv2.zip -DestinationPath C:\Reference
Parameters
-Confirm
Prompts you for confirmation before running the cmdlet.
Parameter properties
| Type: | SwitchParameter |
| Default value: | False |
| Supports wildcards: | False |
| DontShow: | False |
| Aliases: | cf |
Parameter sets
(All)
| Position: | Named |
| Mandatory: | False |
| Value from pipeline: | False |
| Value from pipeline by property name: | False |
| Value from remaining arguments: | False |
-DestinationPath
By default, Expand-Archive creates a folder in the current ___location that's the same name as the
ZIP file. The parameter allows you to specify the path to a different folder. The target folder is
created if it doesn't exist.
Parameter properties
| Type: | String |
| Default value: | A folder in the current ___location |
| Supports wildcards: | False |
| DontShow: | False |
Parameter sets
(All)
| Position: | 1 |
| Mandatory: | False |
| Value from pipeline: | False |
| Value from pipeline by property name: | False |
| Value from remaining arguments: | False |
-Force
Use this parameter to overwrite existing files. By default, Expand-Archive doesn't overwrite.
Parameter properties
| Type: | SwitchParameter |
| Default value: | None |
| Supports wildcards: | False |
| DontShow: | False |
Parameter sets
(All)
| Position: | Named |
| Mandatory: | False |
| Value from pipeline: | False |
| Value from pipeline by property name: | False |
| Value from remaining arguments: | False |
-LiteralPath
Specifies the path to an archive file. Unlike the Path parameter, the value of LiteralPath is used exactly as it's typed. Wildcard characters aren't supported. If the path includes escape characters, enclose each escape character in single quotation marks, to instruct PowerShell not to interpret any characters as escape sequences.
Parameter properties
| Type: | String |
| Default value: | None |
| Supports wildcards: | False |
| DontShow: | False |
| Aliases: | PSPath |
Parameter sets
LiteralPath
| Position: | Named |
| Mandatory: | True |
| Value from pipeline: | False |
| Value from pipeline by property name: | True |
| Value from remaining arguments: | False |
-PassThru
Causes the cmdlet to output a list of the files expanded from the archive.
Parameter properties
| Type: | SwitchParameter |
| Default value: | None |
| Supports wildcards: | False |
| DontShow: | False |
Parameter sets
(All)
| Position: | Named |
| Mandatory: | False |
| Value from pipeline: | False |
| Value from pipeline by property name: | False |
| Value from remaining arguments: | False |
-Path
Specifies the path to the archive file.
Parameter properties
| Type: | String |
| Default value: | None |
| Supports wildcards: | False |
| DontShow: | False |
Parameter sets
Path
| Position: | 0 |
| Mandatory: | True |
| Value from pipeline: | True |
| Value from pipeline by property name: | True |
| Value from remaining arguments: | False |
-WhatIf
Shows what would happen if the cmdlet runs. The cmdlet isn't run.
Parameter properties
| Type: | SwitchParameter |
| Default value: | False |
| Supports wildcards: | False |
| DontShow: | False |
| Aliases: | wi |
Parameter sets
(All)
| Position: | Named |
| Mandatory: | False |
| Value from pipeline: | False |
| Value from pipeline by property name: | False |
| Value from remaining arguments: | False |
CommonParameters
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.
Inputs
String
You can pipe a string that contains a path to an existing archive file.
Outputs
None
By default, this cmdlet returns no output.
FileSystemInfo
When you use the PassThru parameter, this cmdlet returns a list of files that were expanded from the archive.
Notes
The Compress-Archive cmdlet uses UTF-8 encoding. Other ZIP archive tools may use a different
encoding scheme. When extracting files with filenames not stored using UTF-8 encoding,
Expand-Archive uses the raw value found in the archive. This can result in a filename that's
different than the source filename stored in the archive.
