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SharePoint Online: PowerShell to Get a File

October 27, 2022 Salaudeen Rajack 0 Comments powershell command to retrieve sharepoint online document, powershell get file from sharepoint online, powershell sharepoint online get file by url, sharepoint online csom get file by url

Requirement: Get a File from SharePoint Online using PowerShell.

powershell to get a file in SharePoint Online

PowerShell to Get a File from SharePoint Online

In this blog post, we will take a look at how you can use PowerShell to get a file from a SharePoint Online site. This can be useful if you need to access a file property, such as the file’s size or last modified date, etc. Let’s get started!

Here is my nifty collection of PowerShell scripts to get a file from SharePoint Online:

#Load SharePoint CSOM Assemblies
Add-Type -Path "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Web Server Extensions\16\ISAPI\Microsoft.SharePoint.Client.dll"
Add-Type -Path "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Web Server Extensions\16\ISAPI\Microsoft.SharePoint.Client.Runtime.dll"
   
#Variables for Processing
$SiteUrl = "https://crescent.sharepoint.com/sites/marketing"
$FileRelativeURL ="/sites/marketing/Shared Documents/Compliance Process.xlsx"

#Get Credentials to connect
$Cred = Get-Credential
 
Try { 
    #Set up the context
    $Ctx = New-Object Microsoft.SharePoint.Client.ClientContext($SiteUrl) 
    $Ctx.Credentials = New-Object Microsoft.SharePoint.Client.SharePointOnlineCredentials($Cred.UserName,$Cred.Password)
 
    #powershell get file from sharepoint online
    $File = $Ctx.web.GetFileByServerRelativeUrl($FileRelativeURL)
    $Ctx.Load($File)
    $Ctx.ExecuteQuery()
 
    Write-host "File Size:" ($File.Length/1KB)
}
catch {
    write-host "Error: $($_.Exception.Message)" -Foregroundcolor Red
}

Get File from Absolute URL in SharePoint Online

Here is the PowerShell to get a file by URL in SharePoint Online:

#Load SharePoint CSOM Assemblies
Add-Type -Path "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Web Server Extensions\16\ISAPI\Microsoft.SharePoint.Client.dll"
Add-Type -Path "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Web Server Extensions\16\ISAPI\Microsoft.SharePoint.Client.Runtime.dll"
   
#Variables for Processing
$SiteUrl = "https://crescent.sharepoint.com/sites/marketing"
$FileURL = "https://crescent.sharepoint.com/sites/marketing/Shared Documents/Compliance Process.xlsx"

#Get Credentials to connect
$Cred = Get-Credential
 
Try { 
    #Set up the context
    $Ctx = New-Object Microsoft.SharePoint.Client.ClientContext($SiteUrl) 
    $Ctx.Credentials = New-Object Microsoft.SharePoint.Client.SharePointOnlineCredentials($Cred.UserName,$Cred.Password)
 
    #powershell sharepoint online get file by url
    $File = $Ctx.web.GetFileByUrl($FileURL)
    $Ctx.Load($File)
    $Ctx.ExecuteQuery()
    
    Write-host "File Size:" ($File.Length/1KB)    
}
catch {
    write-host "Error: $($_.Exception.Message)" -Foregroundcolor Red
}

SharePoint Online: PowerShell to Get File by Name from a Document Library

Here is the PowerShell script to retrieve SharePoint Online document:

#Load SharePoint CSOM Assemblies
Add-Type -Path "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Web Server Extensions\16\ISAPI\Microsoft.SharePoint.Client.dll"
Add-Type -Path "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Web Server Extensions\16\ISAPI\Microsoft.SharePoint.Client.Runtime.dll"
   
#Variables for Processing
$SiteUrl = "https://crescent.sharepoint.com/sites/marketing"
$ListName ="Documents"
$FileName = "Compliance Process.xlsx"

#Get Credentials to connect
$Cred = Get-Credential
 
Try { 
    #Set up the context
    $Ctx = New-Object Microsoft.SharePoint.Client.ClientContext($SiteUrl) 
    $Ctx.Credentials = New-Object Microsoft.SharePoint.Client.SharePointOnlineCredentials($Cred.UserName,$Cred.Password)
 
    #Get List Items
    $List = $Ctx.web.Lists.GetByTitle($ListName)
    $ListItems = $List.GetItems([Microsoft.SharePoint.Client.CamlQuery]::CreateAllItemsQuery()) 
    $Ctx.Load($ListItems)
    $Ctx.ExecuteQuery()

    #Get File from by Name
    $Item =  $ListItems | where {$_["FileLeafRef"] -eq $FileName} | Select -First 1

    If($Item -ne $Null)
    {
        #Get the File from List Item
        $File = $Item.File
        $Ctx.Load($File)
        $Ctx.ExecuteQuery()

        Write-host "File Size:" ($File.Length/1KB)
    }
    else
    {
        Write-host -f Yellow "File Not Found!"
    }
}
catch {
    write-host "Error: $($_.Exception.Message)" -Foregroundcolor Red
}

PowerShell to Get File from List Item in SharePoint Online with CAML Query

#Load SharePoint CSOM Assemblies
Add-Type -Path "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Web Server Extensions\16\ISAPI\Microsoft.SharePoint.Client.dll"
Add-Type -Path "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Web Server Extensions\16\ISAPI\Microsoft.SharePoint.Client.Runtime.dll"
   
#Variables for Processing
$SiteUrl = "https://crescent.sharepoint.com/sites/marketing"
$ListName ="Documents"
$FileName = "Compliance Process.xlsx"

#Get Credentials to connect
$Cred = Get-Credential
 
Try { 
    #Set up the context
    $Ctx = New-Object Microsoft.SharePoint.Client.ClientContext($SiteUrl) 
    $Ctx.Credentials = New-Object Microsoft.SharePoint.Client.SharePointOnlineCredentials($Cred.UserName,$Cred.Password)
 
    #Get List
    $List = $Ctx.web.Lists.GetByTitle($ListName)

    #Frame CamlQuery to retrieve items by File name
    $CAMLQuery= New-Object Microsoft.SharePoint.Client.CamlQuery
    $CAMLQuery.ViewXml = "<View Scope='RecursiveAll'><Query><Where><Eq><FieldRef Name='FileLeafRef'/><Value Type='Text'>$FileName</Value></Eq></Where></Query></View>"

    #Get List Items matching given File Name
    $ListItems = $List.GetItems($CAMLQuery)
    $Ctx.Load($ListItems)
    $Ctx.ExecuteQuery()

    #Get the First File matching File Name
    If($ListItems -ne $Null)
    {
        #sharepoint online powershell get file
        $File = $ListItems[0].File
        $Ctx.Load($File)
        $Ctx.ExecuteQuery()

        Write-host "File Size:" ($File.Length/1KB)
    }
    else
    {
        Write-host -f Yellow "File Not Found!"
    }
}
catch {
    write-host "Error: $($_.Exception.Message)" -Foregroundcolor Red
}

SharePoint Online: Get a File using PowerShell

Here is how to access a file in SharePoint Online through PowerShell:

#Parameters
$SiteURL= "https://crescent.sharepoint.com/sites/marketing"
$FileRelativeURL = "/sites/marketing/Shared Documents/Proposal Template.docx"

#Connect to PnP Online
Connect-PnPOnline -Url $SiteURL -Interactive
 
#Get the File as List Item
$File = Get-PnPFile -Url $FileRelativeURL -AsListItem
 
#Get File Size
Write-host "File Size (KB):"$File["File_x0020_Size"]

Get Contents of a File Stored in SharePoint Online

How about reading the contents of a log file stored in a SharePoint Online document library?

#Parameters
$SiteURL= "https://crescent.sharepoint.com/sites/PMO"
$FileRelativeURL = "/sites/PMO/Shared Documents/Log.txt"
 
#Connect to PnP Online
Connect-PnPOnline -Url $SiteURL -Interactive
  
#Get the Contents of the File
$File = Get-PnPFile -Url $FileRelativeURL -AsString

Write-host $File

If you are looking for downloading a file, refer to PowerShell script to download a file from SharePoint Online

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Salaudeen Rajack

Salaudeen Rajack - SharePoint Expert with Two decades of SharePoint Experience. Love to Share my knowledge and experience with the SharePoint community, through real-time articles!

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