Repository navigation
Why does Get-ChildItem arbitrarily limit its width?
#20322
Answered
by
MartinGC94
Mr Beedell, Roke Julian Lockhart (beedell-roke)
asked this question in
Q&A
#!/usr/bin/env -S pwsh -File
#Requires -PSEdition Core
Get-ChildItem "$Home/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/common/Terraria/Content/Images/Backgrounds/"…outputs:
There's no reason for it to wrap my username, considering that PS /home/beedell.roke_julian_lockhart> Get-ChildItem "$Home/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/common/Terraria/Content/Images/Backgrounds/" | Format-Table -AutoSize
Directory: /home/beedell.roke_julian_lockhart/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/common/Terraria/Content/Images/Backgrounds
UnixMode User Group LastWriteTime Size Name
-------- ---- ----- ------------- ---- ----
drwxr-xr-x beedell.roke_julian_lockhart beedell.roke_julian_lockhart 27/09/2026 10:53 728 Ambience
-rwxr-xr-x beedell.roke_julian_lockhart beedell.roke_julian_lockhart 27/09/2026 10:52 19686 Underworld 0.xnb
-rwxr-xr-x beedell.roke_julian_lockhart beedell.roke_julian_lockhart 27/09/2026 10:52 128722 Underworld 1.xnb
-rwxr-xr-x beedell.roke_julian_lockhart beedell.roke_julian_lockhart 27/09/2026 10:52 60522 Underworld 10.xnb
-rwxr-xr-x beedell.roke_julian_lockhart beedell.roke_julian_lockhart 27/09/2026 10:52 76996 Underworld 11.xnb
-rwxr-xr-x beedell.roke_julian_lockhart beedell.roke_julian_lockhart 27/09/2026 10:53 27574 Underworld 12.xnb
-rwxr-xr-x beedell.roke_julian_lockhart beedell.roke_julian_lockhart 27/09/2026 10:52 68836 Underworld 13.xnb
-rwxr-xr-x beedell.roke_julian_lockhart beedell.roke_julian_lockhart 27/09/2026 10:52 15900 Underworld 2.xnb
-rwxr-xr-x beedell.roke_julian_lockhart beedell.roke_julian_lockhart 27/09/2026 10:52 6812 Underworld 3.xnb
-rwxr-xr-x beedell.roke_julian_lockhart beedell.roke_julian_lockhart 27/09/2026 10:52 894 Underworld 4.xnb
-rwxr-xr-x beedell.roke_julian_lockhart beedell.roke_julian_lockhart 27/09/2026 10:52 12270 Underworld 5.xnb
-rwxr-xr-x beedell.roke_julian_lockhart beedell.roke_julian_lockhart 27/09/2026 10:53 109208 Underworld 6.xnb
-rwxr-xr-x beedell.roke_julian_lockhart beedell.roke_julian_lockhart 27/09/2026 10:52 55416 Underworld 7.xnb
-rwxr-xr-x beedell.roke_julian_lockhart beedell.roke_julian_lockhart 27/09/2026 10:52 41298 Underworld 8.xnb
-rwxr-xr-x beedell.roke_julian_lockhart beedell.roke_julian_lockhart 27/09/2026 10:53 5606 Underworld 9.xnbFootnotes |
Answered by
MartinGC94
Nov 6, 2026
Replies: 3 comments 7 replies
|
The wrapping in your example comes from the default table view, rather than the username being truncated in the underlying object. In the 7.4.0-preview.3 view definition, Choose the columns explicitly and let PowerShell size them from their values: Get-ChildItem -LiteralPath '/path/to/Backgrounds' |
Format-Table User, Group, Name -AutoSizeAdd If you want to inspect the values independently of the default table, use: Get-ChildItem -LiteralPath '/path/to/Backgrounds' |
Format-List User, Group, NameThis also explains why |
2 replies
|
kokoc30, but why not utilise |
|
Because -AutoSize has to collect all the output first to know what the widest content is, and that can slow down the display. You can compare these 2 examples: |
Answer selected by
beedell-roke
I do not remember this is by default or not:
|
3 replies
|
237dmitry, I presume not: PowerShell 7.6.3-0-ga1994c19a0badf524d714cacffe7986c5c8613c6
PS /home/beedell.roke_julian_lockhart> $PSStyle.AutoSizeDefaultFormatting
PropertyNotFoundException: The property 'AutoSizeDefaultFormatting' cannot be found on this object. Verify that the property exists.Something, like that, would be a significant improvement. |
|
Mr Beedell, Roke Julian Lockhart (@beedell-roke) please update from 7.6.3 as only the latest patch version is supported |
|
Ryan Yates (@kilasuit), thanks, and apologies. I'd missed 237dmitry's environment. I've asked |
|
You can use numerical UID/GID: $ dir -af -ah
Directory: ~
UnixMode Num UID GID LastWriteTime Size Name
-------- --- --- --- ------------- ---- ----
-rw------- 600 1000 1000 11/7/2026 10:27 AM 8.4K .bash_history
-rw-r--r-- 644 1000 1000 5/21/2023 2:56 PM 21 .bash_logout
-rw-r--r-- 644 1000 1000 5/21/2023 2:56 PM 57 .bash_profile
-rw------- 600 1000 1000 10/20/2026 1:46 PM 3.9K .bashrc
-rw-r--r-- 644 1000 1000 5/3/2025 9:16 AM 21 .dmrc
-rwxr-xr-- 754 1000 1000 11/6/2026 5:14 PM 94 .fehbg
-rw-r--r-- 644 1000 1000 11/5/2026 10:47 AM 597 .gtkrc-2.0
-rw------- 600 1000 1000 3/1/2025 9:11 AM 0 .ICEauthority
-rw------- 600 1000 1000 11/7/2026 10:22 AM 479 .profile
-rw------- 600 1000 1000 1/9/2026 10:40 AM 1024 .rnd
-rw------- 600 1000 1000 10/31/2026 9:37 PM 1K .sqlite_history
-rw------- 600 1000 1000 5/4/2025 1:43 PM 0 .Xauthority
-rw-r--r-- 644 1000 1000 4/12/2023 8:46 AM 214 .xinitrc
-rw------- 600 1000 1000 8/22/2026 4:45 PM 102 .xprofile
-rw-r--r-- 644 1000 1000 11/5/2026 10:47 AM 65 .Xresources
-rw-r--r-- 644 1000 1000 4/12/2023 8:46 AM 63 .xsession
-rw-r--r-- 644 1000 1000 4/12/2023 8:46 AM 212 .xsessionrc
|
2 replies
|
237dmitry, I observe no obvious difference: PowerShell 7.6.3-0-ga1994c19a0badf524d714cacffe7986c5c8613c6
PS /home/beedell.roke_julian_lockhart> Get-ChildItem -af -ah
Directory: /home/beedell.roke_julian_lockhart
UnixMode User Group LastWriteTime Size Name
-------- ---- ----- ------------- ---- ----
-rw------- beedell.ro beedell.ro 30/07/2026 20:19 131 .arcrc
ke_julian_ ke_julian_
lockhart lockhart
-rw------- beedell.ro beedell.ro 05/11/2026 18:59 20972 .bash_history
ke_julian_ ke_julian_
lockhart lockhart
-rw-r--r-- beedell.ro beedell.ro 16/01/2026 00:00 18 .bash_logout
ke_julian_ ke_julian_
lockhart lockhart
-rw-r--r-- beedell.ro beedell.ro 16/01/2026 00:00 144 .bash_profile
ke_julian_ ke_julian_
lockhart lockhart
-rw-r--r-- beedell.ro beedell.ro 16/01/2026 00:00 522 .bashrc
ke_julian_ ke_julian_
lockhart lockhart
-rw------- beedell.ro beedell.ro 04/10/2026 16:16 569 .claude.json
ke_julian_ ke_julian_
lockhart lockhart
-rw------- beedell.ro beedell.ro 19/05/2026 21:22 16 .emulator_console_auth_token
ke_julian_ ke_julian_
lockhart lockhart
-rw------- beedell.ro beedell.ro 07/11/2026 03:05 111 .git-credentials
ke_julian_ ke_julian_
lockhart lockhart
-rw-r--r-- beedell.ro beedell.ro 06/11/2026 18:21 393 .gitconfig
ke_julian_ ke_julian_
lockhart lockhart
-rw-r--r-- beedell.ro beedell.ro 07/11/2026 11:44 340 .gtkrc-2.0
ke_julian_ ke_julian_
lockhart lockhart
-rw-r--r-- beedell.ro beedell.ro 29/05/2026 17:10 128 .hgrc
ke_julian_ ke_julian_
lockhart lockhart
-rw-r--r-- beedell.ro beedell.ro 30/07/2026 20:17 572 .moz-phab-config
ke_julian_ ke_julian_
lockhart lockhart
-rw------- beedell.ro beedell.ro 27/10/2026 21:15 52872 .python_history
ke_julian_ ke_julian_
lockhart lockhart
-rw------- beedell.ro beedell.ro 31/08/2026 23:58 16209 .pythonhist
ke_julian_ ke_julian_
lockhart lockhart
lrwxrwxrwx beedell.ro beedell.ro 18/05/2026 20:48 53 .steampath -> /home/beedell.roke_julian_lockhart/.steam/sdk32/steam
ke_julian_ ke_julian_
lockhart lockhart
lrwxrwxrwx beedell.ro beedell.ro 18/05/2026 20:48 51 .steampid -> /home/beedell.roke_julian_lockhart/.steam/steam.pid
ke_julian_ ke_julian_
lockhart lockhart |
|
Edit FormatData: $ Get-FormatData System.IO.FileInfo | Export-FormatData -Path $HOME/.config/powershell/fd.ps1xml
# edit fd.ps1xml
$ Update-FormatData -PrependPath $HOME/.config/powershell/fd.ps1xml # Add to $profile (if liked it)Like this: |
Sign up for free
to join this conversation on GitHub.
Already have an account?
Sign in to comment
Because -AutoSize has to collect all the output first to know what the widest content is, and that can slow down the display. You can compare these 2 examples:
ls C:\ | foreach {Start-Sleep -Milliseconds 200; $_}VSls C:\ | foreach {Start-Sleep -Milliseconds 200; $_} | ft -AutoSizethe first one streams the content slowly, while the other waits for all items to be collected before showing them.