Active Directory (AD) objects have many attributes stored in, but most PowerShell cmdlets show only a default subset when you query them.

The -Properties parameter lets you specify which additional attributes you want to retrieve.

Default Behavior

When you run a cmdlet without -Properties PowerShell returns only default properties.

You can specify additional attributes with -Properties:

# User example
Get-ADUser -Filter * -Properties EmailAddress, Department

# Group example
Get-ADGroup -Filter * -Properties Description, ManagedBy, Members

This retrieves the requested properties along with the default ones.

Retrieve All Properties

To get every attribute stored in AD for an object:

# User example
Get-ADUser -Identity <UserName> -Properties *

# Group example
Get-ADGroup -Identity <GroupName> -Properties *