COMMAND EVERYTHING.

Select-Object

Take the first three items from an ordered input stream.

Last verified: 2026-10-26

Returns one, two, and three. This operation selects objects rather than sorting them.

Select-Object [-InputObject <PSObject>] [[-Property] <Object[]>]
 [-ExcludeProperty <String[]>] [-ExpandProperty <String>] [-Unique] [-CaseInsensitive]
 [-Last <Int32>] [-First <Int32>] [-Skip <Int32>] [-Wait] [<CommonParameters>]

Required permissions

No elevation is required for the in-memory examples. Filesystem operations require read or traversal access to the selected path.

Supported environments

PowerShell · 7.6; filesystem examples require the FileSystem provider

Parameters

-First

Limits output to the first requested number of objects.

Prerequisites

PowerShell 7.6 with Microsoft.PowerShell.Utility. For file examples, replace the sample path with an accessible file or directory.

Security considerations

Low risk for the supplied example. Protect file contents, paths, and returned system metadata. Review any modifications to the example before execution.

Examples

1..10 | Select-Object -First 3

Sources

https://learn.microsoft.com/powershell/module/microsoft.powershell.utility/select-object?view=powershell-7.6

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