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about_Registry_Provider

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Provider name

Registry

Drives

HKLM:, HKCU:

Capabilities

ShouldProcess, UseTransactions

Short description

Provides access to the registry keys, entries, and values in PowerShell.

Detailed description

The PowerShell Registry provider lets you get, add, change, clear, and delete registry keys, entries, and values in PowerShell.

The Registry drives are a hierarchical namespace containing the registry keys and subkeys on your computer. Registry entries and values aren't components of that hierarchy. Instead, they're properties of each of the keys.

The Registry provider supports the following cmdlets:

Types exposed by this provider

The Registry provider returns registry data in one of two types:

The Registry provider exposes its data store as two default drives.

  • HKLM: maps to the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE registry hive
  • HKCU: maps to the HKEY_CURRENT_USER registry hive

To work with the registry, you can change your location to the HKLM: drive using the following command.

Set-Location HKLM:

To return to a file system drive, type the drive name. For example, type:

Set-Location C:

You can also work with the Registry provider from any other PowerShell drive. To reference a registry key from another location, use the drive name (HKLM:, HKCU:) in the path. Use a backslash (\) or a forward slash (/) to indicate a level of the Registry drive.

PS C:\> cd HKLM:\Software

Note

PowerShell uses aliases to allow you a familiar way to work with provider paths. Commands such as dir and ls are aliases for Get-ChildItem, cd is an alias for Set-Location, and pwd is an alias for Get-Location.

This last example shows another path syntax you can use to navigate the Registry provider. This syntax uses the provider name, followed by two colons ::. This syntax allows you to use the full HIVE name, instead of the mapped drive name HKLM.

cd "Registry::HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software"

Displaying the contents of registry keys

The registry is divided into keys, subkeys, and entries. For more information about registry structure, see Structure of the Registry.

In a Registry drive, each key is a container. A key can contain any number of keys. A registry key that has a parent key is called a subkey. You can use Get-ChildItem to view registry keys and Set-Location to navigate to a key path.

Registry values are attributes of a registry key. In the Registry drive, they're called Item Properties. A registry key can have both children keys and item properties.

In this example, the difference between Get-Item and Get-ChildItem is shown. When you use Get-Item on the "Spooler" registry key, you can view its properties.

Get-Item -Path HKLM:\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Spooler

    Hive: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services


Name        Property
----        --------
Spooler     DependOnService    : {RPCSS, http}
            Description        : @%systemroot%\system32\spoolsv.exe,-2
            DisplayName        : @%systemroot%\system32\spoolsv.exe,-1
            ErrorControl       : 1
            FailureActions     : {16, 14, 0, 0...}
            Group              : SpoolerGroup
            ImagePath          : C:\WINDOWS\System32\spoolsv.exe
            ObjectName         : LocalSystem
            RequiredPrivileges : {SeTcbPrivilege, SeImpersonatePrivilege, ...
            ServiceSidType     : 1
            Start              : 2
            Type               : 27

Each registry key can also have subkeys. When you use Get-Item on a registry key, the subkeys aren't displayed. The Get-ChildItem cmdlet shows you subkeys of the "Spooler" key, including each subkey's properties. The parent keys properties aren't shown when using Get-ChildItem.

Get-ChildItem -Path HKLM:\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Spooler

    Hive: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Spooler


Name             Property
----             --------
Performance      Close           : PerfClose
                 Collect         : PerfCollect
                 Collect Timeout : 2000
                 Library         : C:\Windows\System32\winspool.drv
                 Object List     : 1450
                 Open            : PerfOpen
                 Open Timeout    : 4000
Security         Security : {1, 0, 20, 128...}

The Get-Item cmdlet can also be used on the current location. The following example navigates to the "Spooler" registry key and gets the item properties. The dot . is used to indicate the current location.

cd HKLM:\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\Spooler
Get-Item .

    Hive: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services

Name             Property
----             --------
Spooler          DependOnService    : {RPCSS, http}
                 Description        : @%systemroot%\system32\spoolsv.exe,-2
...

For more information on the cmdlets covered in this section, see the following articles.

-Get-Item -Get-ChildItem

Viewing registry key values

Registry key values are stored as properties of each registry key. The Get-ItemProperty cmdlet views registry key properties using the name you specify. The result is a PSCustomObject containing the properties you specify.

The Following example uses the Get-ItemProperty cmdlet to view all properties. Storing the resulting object in a variable allows you to access the desired property value.

$p = Get-ItemProperty -Path HKLM:\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Spooler
$p.DependOnService

RPCSS
http

Specifying a value for the -Name parameter selects the properties you specify and returns the PSCustomObject. The following example shows the difference in output when you use the -Name parameter.

Get-ItemProperty -Path HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Wbem

BUILD                      : 17134.1
Installation Directory     : C:\WINDOWS\system32\WBEM
MOF Self-Install Directory : C:\WINDOWS\system32\WBEM\MOF
PSPath                     : Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\Registry::HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Wbem
PSParentPath               : Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\Registry::HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft
PSChildName                : Wbem
PSDrive                    : HKLM
PSProvider                 : Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\Registry

Get-ItemProperty -Path HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Wbem -Name BUILD

BUILD        : 17134.1
PSPath       : Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\Registry::HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Wbem
PSParentPath : Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\Registry::HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft
PSChildName  : Wbem
PSDrive      : HKLM
PSProvider   : Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\Registry

Beginning in PowerShell 5.0, the Get-ItemPropertyValue cmdlet returns only the value of the property you specify.

Get-ItemPropertyValue -Path HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Wbem -Name BUILD

17134.1

For more information on the cmdlets used in this section, see the following articles.

Changing registry key values

The Set-ItemProperty cmdlet sets registry values associated with a registry key. The following example uses Set-ItemProperty to change the spooler service start type to manual. The example changes the StartType back to Automatic using the Set-Service cmdlet.

Get-Service spooler | Select-Object Name, StartMode

Name    StartType
----    ---------
spooler Automatic

$path = "HKLM:\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Spooler\"
Set-ItemProperty -Path $path -Name Start -Value 3
Get-Service spooler | Select-Object Name, StartMode

Name    StartType
----    ---------
spooler    Manual

Set-Service -Name Spooler -StartupType Automatic

Each registry key has a default value. You can change the default value for a registry key with either Set-Item or Set-ItemProperty.

Set-ItemProperty -Path HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Contoso -Name "(default)" -Value "one"
Set-Item -Path HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Contoso -Value "two"

For more information on the cmdlets used in this section, see the following articles.

Creating registry keys and values

The New-Item cmdlet creates new registry keys with a name that you provide. You can also use the mkdir function, which calls the New-Item cmdlet internally.

mkdir ContosoCompany

    Hive: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE

Name                           Property
----                           --------
ContosoCompany

You can use the New-ItemProperty cmdlet to create values in a registry key that you specify. The following example creates a new DWORD value on the ContosoCompany registry key.

$path = "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\ContosoCompany"
New-ItemProperty -Path $path -Name Test -Type DWORD -Value 1

Note

Review the dynamic parameters section in this article for other allowed type values.

For detailed cmdlet usage, see New-ItemProperty.

Copying registry keys and values

In the Registry provider, use the Copy-Item cmdlet copies registry keys and values. Use the Copy-ItemProperty cmdlet to copy registry values only. The following command copies the "Contoso" registry key, and its properties to the specified location HKLM:\Software\Fabrikam.

Copy-Item creates the destination key if it doesn't exist. If the destination key exists, Copy-Item creates a duplicate of the source key as a child item (subkey) of the destination key.

Copy-Item -Path  HKLM:\Software\Contoso -Destination HKLM:\Software\Fabrikam

The following command uses the Copy-ItemProperty cmdlet to copy the "Server" value from the "Contoso" key to the "Fabrikam" key.

$source = "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Contoso"
$dest = "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Fabrikam"
Copy-ItemProperty -Path $source -Destination $dest -Name Server

For more information on the cmdlets used in this section, see the following articles.

Moving registry keys and values

The Move-Item and Move-ItemProperty cmdlets behave like their "Copy" counterparts. If the destination exists, Move-Item moves the source key underneath the destination key. If the destination key doesn't exist, the source key is moved to the destination path.

The following command moves the "Contoso" key to the path HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Fabrikam.

Move-Item -Path HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Contoso -Destination HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Fabrikam

This command moves all properties from HKLM:\SOFTWARE\ContosoCompany to HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Fabrikam.

$source = "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Contoso"
$dest = "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Fabrikam"
Move-ItemProperty -Path $source -Destination $dest -Name *

For more information on the cmdlets used in this section, see the following articles.

Renaming registry keys and values

You can rename registry keys and values just like you would files and folders. Rename-Item renames registry keys, while Rename-ItemProperty renames registry values.

$path = "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Contoso"
Rename-ItemProperty -Path $path -Name ContosoTest -NewName FabrikamTest
Rename-Item -Path $path -NewName Fabrikam

Changing security descriptors

You can restrict access to registry keys using the Get-Acl and Set-Acl cmdlets. The following example adds a new user with full control to the HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Contoso registry key.

$acl = Get-Acl -Path HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Contoso
$rule = New-Object System.Security.AccessControl.RegistryAccessRule `
("CONTOSO\jsmith", "FullControl", "Allow")
$acl.SetAccessRule($rule)
$acl | Set-Acl -Path HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Contoso

For more examples and cmdlet usage details see the following articles.

Removing and clearing registry keys and values

You can remove contained items using Remove-Item. You are prompted to confirm the removal if the item contains anything else. The following example attempts to delete a key HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Contoso.

dir HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Contoso\

    Hive: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Contoso

Name                           Property
----                           --------
ChildKey

Remove-Item -Path HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Contoso

Confirm
The item at HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Contoso has children and the -Recurse
parameter wasn't specified. If you continue, all children will be removed
with the item. Are you sure you want to continue?
[Y] Yes  [A] Yes to All  [N] No  [L] No to All  [S] Suspend  [?] Help
(default is "Y"):

To delete contained items without prompting, specify the -Recurse parameter.

Remove-Item -Path HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Contoso -Recurse

If you wanted to remove all items within HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Contoso but not HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Contoso itself, use a trailing backslash \ followed by a wildcard.

Remove-Item -Path HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Contoso\* -Recurse

This command deletes the "ContosoTest" registry value from the HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Contoso registry key.

Remove-ItemProperty -Path HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Contoso -Name ContosoTest

Clear-Item clears all registry values for a key. The following example clears all values from the HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Contoso registry key. To clear only a specific property, use Clear-ItemProperty.

Get-Item .\Contoso\

    Hive: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE

Name           Property
----           --------
Contoso        Server     : {a, b, c}
               HereString : {This is text which contains
               newlines. It also contains "quoted" strings}
               (default)  : 1

Clear-Item .\Contoso\
Get-Item .\Contoso\

    Hive: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE

Name                           Property
----                           --------
Contoso

For more examples and cmdlet usage details see the following articles.

Dynamic parameters

Dynamic parameters are cmdlet parameters that are added by a PowerShell provider and are available only when the cmdlet is being used in the provider-enabled drive.

Type <Microsoft.Win32.RegistryValueKind>

Establishes or changes the data type of a registry value. The default is String (REG_SZ).

This parameter works as designed on the Set-ItemProperty cmdlet. It's also available on the Set-Item cmdlet in the registry drives, but it has no effect.

  • String - Used for REG_SZ values. Pass a [System.String] object to the Value parameter.
  • ExpandString - Used for REG_EXPAND_SZ values. Pass a [System.String] object to the Value parameter. The string should contain unexpanded references to environment variables that are expanded when the value is retrieved.
  • Binary - Used for REG_BINARY values. Pass a [System.Byte[]] object to the Value parameter.
  • DWord - Used for REG_DWORD values. Pass a [System.Int32] object to the Value parameter.
  • MultiString - Used for REG_MULTI_SZ values. Pass a [System.String[]] object to the Value parameter.
  • QWord - Used for REG_QWORD values. Pass a [System.Int64] object to the Value parameter.
  • Unknown - Indicates an unsupported registry data type, such as REG_RESOURCE_LIST values.

Using the pipeline

Provider cmdlets accept pipeline input. You can use the pipeline to simplify task by sending provider data from one cmdlet to another provider cmdlet. To read more about how to use the pipeline with provider cmdlets, see the cmdlet references provided throughout this article.

Getting help

Beginning in Windows PowerShell 3.0, you can get customized help topics for provider cmdlets that explain how those cmdlets behave in a file system drive.

To get the help topics that are customized for the file system drive, run a Get-Help command in a file system drive or use the Path parameter to specify a file system drive.

Get-Help Get-ChildItem

Get-Help Get-ChildItem -Path HKLM:

See also