Is using powershell get list of installed programs hard? Not with this easy step-by-step guide.

To retrieve a list of installed programs using PowerShell, you can use the following methods:

Method 1: Using Get-Package

This cmdlet is designed to retrieve installed software packages.

Get-Package  Where-Object {$_.ProviderName -eq "Programs"}  Select-Object Name, Version

This command filters the results to only show programs and then selects the Name and Version properties.

Method 2: Using Get-ItemProperty from the Registry

Installed programs are typically listed in the Windows Registry.

Get-ItemProperty HKLM:SoftwareWow6432NodeMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionUninstall  Select-Object DisplayName, DisplayVersion, Publisher  Where-Object {$_.DisplayName -ne $null}

For 64-bit systems, you might need to check the Wow6432Node. This retrieves the DisplayName, DisplayVersion, and Publisher for each installed program.

Get-ItemProperty HKLM:SoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionUninstall  Select-Object DisplayName, DisplayVersion, Publisher  Where-Object {$_.DisplayName -ne $null}

This command checks the standard Uninstall registry key.

Method 3: Combining Registry Locations

To ensure you get a comprehensive list, you can combine both registry locations:

$regPath = @(
"HKLM:SoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionUninstall",

"HKLM:SoftwareWow6432NodeMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionUninstall"

$installedPrograms = foreach ($path in $regPath) {
Get-ItemProperty $path  Select-Object DisplayName, DisplayVersion, Publisher

$installedPrograms  Where-Object {$_.DisplayName -ne $null}

Method 4: Using Get-WmiObject (Win32_Product) - Slower

This method uses WMI (Windows Management Instrumentation) but can be slower and might not list all installed applications, especially those installed per-user.

Get-WmiObject -Class Win32_Product  Select-Object Name, Version, Vendor

Example Output

The output will vary based on the installed programs, but a typical result might look like:

DisplayName        DisplayVersion   Publisher
-----------        --------------   ---------
Microsoft Edge     123.45.6789.0    Microsoft Corporation
Google Chrome      123.4.5678.90    Google LLC

Considerations

• Permissions: You might need to run PowerShell as an administrator to access all registry keys.
• Per-User Installations: Some programs are installed per-user and might not be listed in the HKLM registry keys. You'd need to check HKCU (HKEY_CURRENT_USER) as well.
• Speed: Get-WmiObject can be significantly slower than registry-based methods.