Introduction
Listing installed applications on a system varies by operating system. Windows uses the registry and PowerShell, macOS uses system_profiler and the /Applications directory, and Linux uses package managers like apt, dnf, or pacman. Each approach returns different levels of detail, from simple application names to full version numbers, install dates, and package sizes. Knowing these commands is essential for system administration, auditing, and automation.
Windows
PowerShell (Recommended)
1# List all installed programs from the registry
2Get-ItemProperty HKLM:\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\* |
3 Select-Object DisplayName, DisplayVersion, Publisher, InstallDate |
4 Sort-Object DisplayName |
5 Format-Table -AutoSize
6
7# Include 32-bit apps on 64-bit systems
8Get-ItemProperty HKLM:\Software\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\* |
9 Select-Object DisplayName, DisplayVersion, Publisher |
10 Sort-Object DisplayName
Combined query for all installed apps
1# Both 64-bit and 32-bit registry paths + current user
2$paths = @(
3 "HKLM:\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\*",
4 "HKLM:\Software\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\*",
5 "HKCU:\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\*"
6)
7
8$apps = $paths | ForEach-Object { Get-ItemProperty $_ } |
9 Where-Object { $_.DisplayName } |
10 Select-Object DisplayName, DisplayVersion, Publisher, InstallDate |
11 Sort-Object DisplayName -Unique
12
13$apps | Format-Table -AutoSize
14$apps | Export-Csv -Path "installed_apps.csv" -NoTypeInformation
Using WMIC (Legacy)
wmic product get name,version,vendor /format:csv > installed_apps.csv
Note: wmic product only lists MSI-installed applications, not all software. It is also deprecated in Windows 11. Use PowerShell instead.
macOS
system_profiler
1# List all installed applications
2system_profiler SPApplicationsDataType
3
4# Just names and versions (parseable output)
5system_profiler SPApplicationsDataType -json | \
6 python3 -c "
7import json, sys
8data = json.load(sys.stdin)
9for app in data.get('SPApplicationsDataType', []):
10 print(f\"{app.get('_name', 'Unknown'):40s} {app.get('version', 'N/A')}\")
11" | sort
List /Applications directory
1# Simple listing
2ls /Applications/
3
4# With .app removed for cleaner output
5ls /Applications/ | sed 's/\.app$//'
6
7# Include user-installed apps
8ls ~/Applications/ 2>/dev/null
Using Homebrew
1# List Homebrew formulae (CLI tools)
2brew list --formula
3
4# List Homebrew casks (GUI applications)
5brew list --cask
6
7# Show versions
8brew list --versions
Mac App Store apps
1# List apps installed from the Mac App Store (requires mas CLI)
2# Install: brew install mas
3mas list
4# 497799835 Xcode (15.2)
5# 409183694 Keynote (14.0)
Linux
Debian/Ubuntu (apt/dpkg)
1# List all installed packages
2dpkg --list
3dpkg -l | grep "^ii" # Only installed packages
4
5# Just names
6dpkg --get-selections | grep -v deinstall
7
8# With versions
9apt list --installed
10
11# Search for a specific package
12dpkg -l | grep nginx
Red Hat/CentOS/Fedora (dnf/rpm)
1# List all installed packages
2dnf list installed
3rpm -qa
4
5# With details
6rpm -qa --queryformat '%{NAME} %{VERSION}-%{RELEASE}\n' | sort
7
8# Search for a package
9rpm -qa | grep httpd
Arch Linux (pacman)
1# All installed packages
2pacman -Q
3
4# Explicitly installed (not dependencies)
5pacman -Qe
6
7# Foreign packages (AUR)
8pacman -Qm
9
10# With sizes
11pacman -Qi | grep -E "^(Name|Installed Size)"
Snap and Flatpak
1# Snap packages
2snap list
3
4# Flatpak applications
5flatpak list
6flatpak list --app # Only apps, not runtimes
1import subprocess
2import platform
3
4def get_installed_apps():
5 system = platform.system()
6
7 if system == "Windows":
8 cmd = ['powershell', '-Command',
9 'Get-ItemProperty HKLM:\\Software\\Microsoft\\Windows\\CurrentVersion\\Uninstall\\* | '
10 'Select-Object -ExpandProperty DisplayName']
11 elif system == "Darwin": # macOS
12 cmd = ['system_profiler', 'SPApplicationsDataType', '-json']
13 elif system == "Linux":
14 cmd = ['dpkg', '--get-selections']
15 else:
16 return []
17
18 result = subprocess.run(cmd, capture_output=True, text=True)
19 return result.stdout.strip().split('\n')
20
21apps = get_installed_apps()
22for app in apps[:10]:
23 print(app)
Common Pitfalls
Windows wmic product is slow and incomplete: wmic product get name triggers MSI consistency checks (slow) and only shows MSI-installed apps. Registry queries via PowerShell are faster and more complete.
Missing 32-bit apps on 64-bit Windows: The Wow6432Node registry path contains 32-bit app entries on 64-bit systems. Query both paths to get a complete list.
macOS /Applications misses non-standard installs: Some apps are installed in /usr/local/, ~/Applications/, or via Homebrew. Check all locations for a complete inventory.
Linux package managers only show their own packages: dpkg does not know about Snap or Flatpak apps. Query each package manager separately to get a full list.
Confusing packages with applications: On Linux, dpkg -l lists thousands of packages including libraries and system components. Filter with dpkg -l | grep -E "^ii" and search by name to find specific applications.
Summary
Windows: Use PowerShell with Get-ItemProperty on the Uninstall registry keys for the most complete list
macOS: Use system_profiler SPApplicationsDataType for all apps, brew list for Homebrew packages
Linux: Use dpkg -l (Debian/Ubuntu), rpm -qa (RHEL/Fedora), or pacman -Q (Arch) depending on the distribution
Always check multiple sources (registry paths, package managers, app stores) for a complete inventory
Export to CSV or JSON for auditing and automation
