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From bash to PowerShell

You know ls, grep, and tail -f. Here is what to type in PowerShell instead. Copy the right-hand column. Also see From cmd.

bash	PowerShell	Learn more
`echo 'Another line' >> notes.txt`	`Add-Content -Path .\notes.txt -Value 'Another line'`	Add-Content
`curl -s https://api.example.com/items \| jq`	`Invoke-RestMethod -Uri 'https://api.example.com/items'`	Invoke-RestMethod
`cd docs`	`Set-Location -Path .\docs`	Set-Location
`sha256sum installer.exe`	`Get-FileHash -Path .\installer.exe -Algorithm SHA256`	Get-FileHash
`df -h`	`Get-Volume \| Select-Object DriveLetter, FileSystemLabel, SizeRemaining, Size`	Get-Volume
`test -e docs && echo yes`	`Test-Path -Path .\docs`	Test-Path
`clear`	`Clear-Host`	Clear-Host
`diff a.txt b.txt`	`Compare-Object (Get-Content -Path .\a.txt) (Get-Content -Path .\b.txt)`	Compare-Object
`cp notes.txt backup/`	`Copy-Item -Path .\notes.txt -Destination .\backup\notes.txt`	Copy-Item
`ls \| pbcopy`	`Get-ChildItem -Name \| Set-Clipboard`	Set-Clipboard
`wc -l notes.txt`	`(Get-Content -Path .\notes.txt \| Measure-Object -Line).Lines`	Measure-Object
`mkdir -p docs`	`New-Item -Path .\docs -ItemType Directory`	New-Item
`rm -rf temp/`	`Remove-Item -Path .\temp -Recurse -Force -WhatIf`	Remove-Item
`curl -O https://example.com/file.zip`	`Invoke-WebRequest -Uri 'https://example.com/file.zip' -OutFile .\file.zip`	Invoke-WebRequest
`ls \| grep '\.md$'`	`Get-ChildItem \| Where-Object { $_.Extension -eq '.md' }`	Where-Object
`which git`	`Get-Command git`	Get-Command
`sudo lsof -i :8080`	`Get-NetTCPConnection -LocalPort 8080 \| Select-Object LocalAddress, LocalPort, State, OwningProcess`	Get-NetTCPConnection
`date '+%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S'`	`Get-Date -Format 'yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss'`	Get-Date
`alias`	`Get-Alias`	Get-Alias
`df -h`	`Get-PSDrive`	Get-PSDrive
`ls -la`	`Get-ChildItem -Force`	Get-ChildItem
`ip addr`	`Get-NetIPAddress -AddressFamily IPv4 \| Select-Object InterfaceAlias, IPAddress`	Get-NetIPAddress
`ps aux --sort=-%cpu \| head`	`Get-Process \| Sort-Object CPU -Descending \| Select-Object -First 10`	Get-Process
`systemctl list-units --type=service --state=running`	`Get-Service \| Where-Object Status -eq 'Running'`	Get-Service
`dig example.com`	`Resolve-DnsName -Name example.com`	Resolve-DnsName
`mv notes.txt archive/`	`Move-Item -Path .\notes.txt -Destination .\archive\notes.txt`	Move-Item
`xdg-open notes.txt`	`Start-Process -FilePath .\notes.txt`	Start-Process
`echo 'Hello' > notes.txt`	`Set-Content -Path .\notes.txt -Value 'Hello'`	Set-Content
`jq . data.json`	`Get-Content -Path .\data.json -Raw \| ConvertFrom-Json`	ConvertFrom-Json
`sleep 5`	`Start-Sleep -Seconds 5`	Start-Sleep
`ls \| head -5`	`Get-ChildItem \| Select-Object -First 5`	Select-Object
`ping -c 2 1.1.1.1`	`Test-Connection -ComputerName 1.1.1.1 -Count 2`	Test-Connection
`echo 'Backup finished'`	`Write-Output 'Backup finished'`	Write-Output
`dirname docs/notes.txt`	`Split-Path -Path .\docs\notes.txt -Parent`	Split-Path
`cat notes.txt`	`Get-Content -Path .\notes.txt`	Get-Content
`man ls`	`Get-Help Get-ChildItem -Examples`	Get-Help
`journalctl -p err -n 20`	`Get-WinEvent -LogName System -MaxEvents 20`	Get-WinEvent
`pbpaste`	`Get-Clipboard`	Get-Clipboard
`script session.log`	`Start-Transcript -Path (Join-Path $env:TEMP 'ps-transcript.txt')`	Start-Transcript
`mv draft.txt final.txt`	`Rename-Item -Path .\draft.txt -NewName final.txt`	Rename-Item
`sudo systemctl restart nginx`	`Restart-Service -Name Spooler -WhatIf`	Restart-Service
`sudo reboot`	`Restart-Computer -WhatIf`	Restart-Computer
`for f in *; do echo "$f"; done`	`Get-ChildItem -File \| ForEach-Object { $_.Name }`	ForEach-Object
`ssh pc01 'systemctl status cups'`	`Invoke-Command -HostName pc01 -ScriptBlock { systemctl status cups }`	Invoke-Command
`grep -rn 'TODO' docs/`	`Get-ChildItem -Path .\docs -Recurse -File \| Select-String -Pattern 'TODO'`	Select-String
`history 20`	`Get-History -Count 20`	Get-History
`ls -ld docs`	`(Get-Acl -Path .\docs).Access \| Select-Object IdentityReference, FileSystemRights, AccessControlType`	Get-Acl
`ls > listing.txt`	`Get-ChildItem \| Out-File -FilePath .\listing.txt`	Out-File
`pwd`	`Get-Location`	Get-Location
`ls -S`	`Get-ChildItem \| Sort-Object -Property Length -Descending`	Sort-Object
`sudo systemctl start nginx`	`Start-Service -Name Spooler`	Start-Service
`kill 1234`	`Stop-Process -Id 1234 -WhatIf`	Stop-Process
`sudo systemctl stop nginx`	`Stop-Service -Name Spooler -WhatIf`	Stop-Service
`uname -a`	`Get-ComputerInfo \| Select-Object CsName, WindowsVersion, OsArchitecture`	Get-ComputerInfo
`nc -zv example.com 443`	`Test-NetConnection -ComputerName example.com -Port 443`	Test-NetConnection
`time ls -R docs`	`Measure-Command { Get-ChildItem -Path .\docs -Recurse }`	Measure-Command
`realpath docs`	`Resolve-Path -Path .\docs`	Resolve-Path
`unzip docs.zip -d docs-unzipped`	`Expand-Archive -Path .\docs.zip -DestinationPath .\docs-unzipped`	Expand-Archive
`zip -r docs.zip docs`	`Compress-Archive -Path .\docs -DestinationPath .\docs.zip`	Compress-Archive

Gotchas for bash users

Output is objects, not text. Get-ChildItem | Select-Object Name, Length picks properties. You rarely need awk or cut. See Pipelines.
ls -la does not work. ls is an alias for Get-ChildItem, which has its own parameters. Use Get-ChildItem -Force to include hidden files.
rm -rf becomes Remove-Item -Recurse -Force. Add -WhatIf first. There is no recycle bin.
curl and wget are aliases on Windows PowerShell 5.1 for Invoke-WebRequest, so flags like -O fail. PowerShell 7 removed those aliases, so curl runs the real curl.exe.
Comparison uses words. -eq, -ne, -gt, -lt. A bare > is redirection and will create a file. See Operators.
Environment variables are $env:PATH, not $PATH. Set one with $env:NAME = 'value'.
&& and || only work in PowerShell 7. In 5.1, use ; or if ($?) { ... }.
Case-insensitive by default. -eq, -like, and Select-String ignore case. Use -ceq, -clike, or -CaseSensitive when it matters.
Strings: double quotes expand $variables, single quotes do not. The escape character is the backtick `, not the backslash.

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