PowerShell script examples

Version

To display the PowerShell version installed on the computer, you can use:

Online help

The command:provides information about commands (cmdlets) and their syntax.

Example:

Create a directory

Use the cmdlet:If you only specify the directory name, it will be created in the current directory.
The -ItemType option defines the type of object to create.
To create a file, you can use:

Copy a directory

To copy a directory with all its content, use the cmdlet:The copy can be between drives or within the same drive.

Remove a directory

To delete a directory with all its content, use:If you omit -Recurse and the directory contains items, confirmation will be requested.

Move a directory

Use:

Rename a directory

Use the cmdlet:

Check if a directory exists

Use:Output will be true if the directory exists, otherwise false.

Create a file

Use New–Item as shown above to create files:

Copy a file between directories

Use:If you omit the destination filename, the file keeps its original name.

Delete a file

Use:

Move a file

Use the same cmdlet as for directories:If you omit the destination filename, the file keeps its original name.

Rename a file

Use:

Check if a file exists

Use:Output will be true if the file exists, orfalse if not.

Read file contents

Use:

Show current date and time

Use:By default the full format for date and time is displayed.
To display date and time in short format:To display only the current date, use -DisplayHint Date:To display only the current time, use:

Change system date/time

You can set the system date/time with:To move system time back by 15 minutes:

Create an XML file

We've already seen how to create a file with New–Item. To create an XML file specify the extension:To add content to the new file use Set-Content:To read the file content use:

Clear file contents

Use:

Append text to a file

Use:

Variables

Variables in PowerShell start with $ followed by letters, numbers or _. To use special characters in a variable name, wrap the name in { and}. Example:Assign values with =:You can assign multiple variables at once:Also assign multiple values to a variable to create an array:Access an element by index:The value will be 134. Sort and remove duplicates with:Get the count with:Initialize a consecutive integer array with:To slice an array:

Measurements

PowerShell provides Measure-Object for different measurements. Examples:

• Count files and folders in the current directory:

• Get minimum/maximum file size, sum and average:

• Count characters, words and lines in a text file:

List directory contents

Use Get-ChildItem:Omitting the path lists the current directory: Filter by extension:

Compare two text files

Use:

Pause script execution

Use for milliseconds or for seconds.

Aliases

Aliases are shortcuts for cmdlet names. For example create an alias for Get-Help:Aliases are valid only for the current session. Use Export-Aliasto save them and to list them.

PowerShell backtick

PowerShell supports escape sequences starting with the backtick `. Common sequences include:

Sequence	Description
`t	Horizontal tab
`n	New line
`v	Vertical tab
`b	Backspace
`e	Escape
`0	Null
`a	Alert
`f	Form feed
`r	Carriage return
`u{x}	Unicode escape sequence

Example:Output:

String operations: Split and Join

Split divides a string using a character or substring. In PowerShell use the -split operator.
For example split a sentence into words:Output:
You can split using another substring:The output is:
The opposite operation join merges strings. Example:Output: