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PowerShell cheat sheet

Every command on the site, grouped by task. Print it, or choose Save as PDF in the print dialog.

Files

Append text to a file: Add-Content -Path .\notes.txt -Value 'Another line'
Build a path safely: Join-Path -Path .\docs -ChildPath 'notes.txt'
Change the current directory: Set-Location -Path .\docs
Check a file's hash (checksum): Get-FileHash -Path .\installer.exe -Algorithm SHA256
Check whether a path exists: Test-Path -Path .\docs
Copy a file or folder: Copy-Item -Path .\notes.txt -Destination .\backup\notes.txt
Create a file or folder: New-Item -Path .\docs -ItemType Directory
Delete a file or folder: Remove-Item -Path .\temp\old.log
Get one file, folder, or item: Get-Item -Path .\notes.txt
List files in a folder: Get-ChildItem -Path .\docs
Move or rename by moving: Move-Item -Path .\notes.txt -Destination .\archive\notes.txt
Overwrite a text file: Set-Content -Path .\notes.txt -Value 'Hello'
Pull a folder or name out of a path: Split-Path -Path .\docs\notes.txt -Parent
Read a text file: Get-Content -Path .\notes.txt
Read item properties: Get-ItemProperty -Path .\notes.txt
Rename a file or folder: Rename-Item -Path .\draft.txt -NewName final.txt
See who can access a file or folder: (Get-Acl -Path .\docs).Access | Select-Object IdentityReference, FileSystemRights, AccessControlType
Send output to a file: Get-ChildItem | Out-File -FilePath .\listing.txt
Show the current folder: Get-Location
Turn a relative path into a full path: Resolve-Path -Path .\docs
Unzip a file: Expand-Archive -Path .\docs.zip -DestinationPath .\docs-unzipped
Zip a folder or files: Compress-Archive -Path .\docs -DestinationPath .\docs.zip

Help and discovery

Allow a downloaded script to run: Unblock-File -Path .\script.ps1
Allow scripts to run on this computer: Set-ExecutionPolicy -ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned -Scope CurrentUser
Find a cmdlet by name: Get-Command -Name *Item
Install a module from the PowerShell Gallery: Install-Module -Name ImportExcel -Scope CurrentUser
List command aliases: Get-Alias -Name gci
Read help for a command: Get-Help Get-ChildItem -Full
Search the PowerShell Gallery: Find-Module -Tag Excel | Select-Object -First 10 Name, Version, Description
See commands you ran earlier: Get-History -Count 20
See loaded and available modules: Get-Module -ListAvailable
See properties and methods on an object: Get-ChildItem | Get-Member
See whether scripts are allowed to run: Get-ExecutionPolicy -List

Network

Call a JSON API: Invoke-RestMethod -Uri 'https://example.com'
Fetch a web page or file: Invoke-WebRequest -Uri 'https://example.com' -UseBasicParsing
Find which program is using a port: Get-NetTCPConnection -LocalPort 8080 | Select-Object LocalAddress, LocalPort, State, OwningProcess
List local IP addresses: Get-NetIPAddress -AddressFamily IPv4 | Select-Object InterfaceAlias, IPAddress
Look up a DNS name: Resolve-DnsName -Name example.com
Ping a host: Test-Connection -ComputerName 1.1.1.1 -Count 2
Test a TCP port or route: Test-NetConnection -ComputerName example.com -Port 443

System

Check free disk space: Get-Volume | Select-Object DriveLetter, FileSystemLabel, SizeRemaining, Size
Clear the screen: Clear-Host
Get the current date and time: Get-Date -Format 'yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss'
List drives PowerShell can see: Get-PSDrive
List local user accounts: Get-LocalUser | Select-Object Name, Enabled, LastLogon
List running processes: Get-Process | Sort-Object CPU -Descending | Select-Object -First 10
List Windows services: Get-Service | Where-Object Status -eq 'Running'
Open a file or start a program: Start-Process -FilePath .\notes.txt
Pause for N seconds: Start-Sleep -Seconds 5
Query system details (WMI/CIM): Get-CimInstance -ClassName Win32_OperatingSystem | Select-Object Caption, Version, LastBootUpTime
Read the Windows event log: Get-WinEvent -LogName System -MaxEvents 20
Record the session to a log file: Start-Transcript -Path (Join-Path $env:TEMP 'ps-transcript.txt')
Restart a Windows service: Restart-Service -Name Spooler -WhatIf
Restart the computer: Restart-Computer -WhatIf
Run a command on another computer: Invoke-Command -ComputerName PC01 -ScriptBlock { Get-Service -Name Spooler }
Start a Windows service: Start-Service -Name Spooler
Stop a process: Stop-Process -Name notepad -WhatIf
Stop a Windows service: Stop-Service -Name Spooler -WhatIf
Summarize this computer: Get-ComputerInfo | Select-Object CsName, WindowsVersion, OsArchitecture
Time how long a command takes: Measure-Command { Get-ChildItem -Path .\docs -Recurse }

Text and objects

Browse and filter results in a window: Get-Process | Out-GridView
Compare two lists: Compare-Object -ReferenceObject $old -DifferenceObject $new
Copy output to the clipboard: Get-ChildItem -Name | Set-Clipboard
Count, sum, or average: Get-ChildItem -File | Measure-Object -Property Length -Sum
Filter objects in the pipeline: Get-ChildItem | Where-Object { $_.Extension -eq '.md' }
Group objects by a property: Get-ChildItem -File | Group-Object -Property Extension
Parse JSON text: Get-Content -Path .\data.json -Raw | ConvertFrom-Json
Pick properties or the first N objects: Get-ChildItem | Select-Object -First 5 Name, Length
Print a message (Write-Output vs Write-Host): Write-Output 'Backup finished'
Read a CSV file as objects: Import-Csv -Path .\people.csv
Read what is on the clipboard: Get-Clipboard
Run a block on each object: Get-ChildItem -File | ForEach-Object { $_.Name }
Search text like grep: Select-String -Path .\docs\*.md -Pattern 'TODO'
Show objects as a list: Get-Item -Path .\notes.txt | Format-List *
Show objects as a table: Get-ChildItem | Format-Table Name, Length -AutoSize
Sort pipeline objects: Get-ChildItem | Sort-Object -Property Length -Descending
Turn objects into JSON: Get-ChildItem -File | Select-Object Name, Length | ConvertTo-Json
Turn results into an HTML report: Get-Service | ConvertTo-Html -Property Name, Status -Title 'Services' | Out-File -FilePath .\services.html
Write objects to a CSV file: Get-ChildItem -File | Select-Object Name, Length | Export-Csv -Path .\files.csv -NoTypeInformation

Stay safe

Preview a change: -WhatIf
Ask before each change: -Confirm
Help for any command: Get-Help Get-ChildItem -Examples
What is in this object?: Get-ChildItem | Get-Member

More commands, scripts, and builders: https://tmhsdigital.github.io/copy-paste-powershell/