PowerShell Genie

Get-Error

Use Get-Error to display the most recent errors in full detail, including nested exceptions and invocation information.

Command 2 min read Windows PowerShell 5.1 and PowerShell 7

Documentation: Microsoft Learn — Get-Error

Written and tested by Dhrub Bharali · Updated

Syntax

1PS> Get-Error [[-Newest] <int32>] [-InputObject <PSObject>] [<CommonParameters>]
See the command anatomy

Read the command and its supplied arguments. This example requires real PowerShell or its module; this diagram does not execute it.

Get-Error [[-Newest] <int32>] [-InputObject <PSObject>] [<CommonParameters>]
  1. Stage 1Get-Error-Newest -InputObject

    Try it

    Windows PowerShell

    PowerShell example · browser support is limited.

    Execution scope: The full example below requires PowerShell outside this browser. You can edit this runner to use the supported practice commands; unsupported syntax returns an explanation.

    Interactive simulation · fictional data

    Examples

    List all with Get-Error

    1PS> Get-Error # full detail on the most recent error
    Show reference output

    Sample output · fictional data, shaped like the real thing

    Exception             : System.Management.Automation.ItemNotFoundException
TargetObject          : C:\Missing\config.json
CategoryInfo          : ObjectNotFound
FullyQualifiedErrorId : PathNotFound

    Get-Error -Newest 3

    1PS> Get-Error -Newest 3
    Show reference output

    Sample output · fictional data, shaped like the real thing

    Exception             : System.Management.Automation.ItemNotFoundException
TargetObject          : C:\Missing\config.json
CategoryInfo          : ObjectNotFound
FullyQualifiedErrorId : PathNotFound

    Get-Error -Force #

    1PS> $Error[0] | Format-List * -Force # the PowerShell 5.1 equivalent
    Show reference output

    Sample output · fictional data, shaped like the real thing

    Exception             : System.Management.Automation.ItemNotFoundException
TargetObject          : C:\Missing\config.json
CategoryInfo          : ObjectNotFound
FullyQualifiedErrorId : PathNotFound

    Parameters

    Parameter definitions:

    • -Newest
    • -InputObject

    Get-Error on Microsoft Learn

    Practical use and troubleshooting

    Practical scenario: Use Get-Error when you need to display the most recent errors in full detail, including nested exceptions and invocation information. Start with one identified target and inspect the returned values before extending the operation to a list. Keep the identity in your report so you can trace each result back to the object or path that produced it.

    Common error and fix: No useful record can mean the relevant error was cleared or a different failure is most recent. Capture the error in catch and inspect that record rather than assuming the last global error belongs to this task. In an unattended script, capture this failure with its original error record and record which target failed. An empty result and an unsuccessful query must remain distinguishable in the final report.

    See also: Write-Error. Get-Error displays detailed error information; Write-Error produces an error record. Inspecting an error is separate from deciding whether an operation should stop. Read the linked command before substituting it; similar names do not imply identical inputs or output.

    Get-Error reference on Microsoft Learn

    Recap

    Get-Error Use Get-Error to display the most recent errors in full detail, including nested exceptions and invocation information.

    Next: Write-Error
    Genie guideGet-Error

    Use Get-Error to display the most recent errors in full detail, including nested exceptions and invocation information. The console below is pre-loaded — run it, then change a value and run it again.

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