# Windows PowerShell Cheat Sheet
> A practical reference guide for new and intermediate PowerShell users.

---

## Table of Contents
1. [Getting Started](#getting-started)
2. [Core Concepts](#core-concepts)
3. [Navigation & File System](#navigation--file-system)
4. [File & Folder Management](#file--folder-management)
5. [Working with Text & Output](#working-with-text--output)
6. [Processes & Services](#processes--services)
7. [Networking](#networking)
8. [User & System Info](#user--system-info)
9. [Variables & Data Types](#variables--data-types)
10. [Piping & Filtering](#piping--filtering)
11. [Loops & Conditionals](#loops--conditionals)
12. [Functions & Scripts](#functions--scripts)
13. [Error Handling](#error-handling)
14. [Useful Tips & Tricks](#useful-tips--tricks)
15. [Common Aliases](#common-aliases)

---

## Getting Started

### Launching PowerShell
| Method | Notes |
|--------|-------|
| `Win + X` → Windows Terminal | Recommended on Windows 10/11 |
| Search "PowerShell" in Start | Right-click → **Run as Administrator** for elevated tasks |
| `pwsh` in Run dialog | Opens PowerShell 7+ if installed |

### Check Your Version
```powershell
$PSVersionTable
$PSVersionTable.PSVersion
```

### Get Help
```powershell
Get-Help <cmdlet>              # Basic help
Get-Help <cmdlet> -Detailed    # More detail with examples
Get-Help <cmdlet> -Examples    # Examples only
Get-Help <cmdlet> -Online      # Opens Microsoft docs in browser
Update-Help                    # Downloads latest help files (run as Admin)
```

### Discover Commands
```powershell
Get-Command                        # List all available commands
Get-Command -Verb Get              # All cmdlets that start with 'Get'
Get-Command -Noun Service          # All cmdlets related to 'Service'
Get-Command *firewall*             # Wildcard search
```

---

## Core Concepts

### Verb-Noun Naming Convention
PowerShell cmdlets follow a **Verb-Noun** pattern. Common verbs:

| Verb | Purpose |
|------|---------|
| `Get` | Retrieve information |
| `Set` | Change/configure something |
| `New` | Create something new |
| `Remove` | Delete something |
| `Start` / `Stop` | Start or stop a process/service |
| `Enable` / `Disable` | Toggle a feature |
| `Invoke` | Run a command or expression |
| `Export` / `Import` | Move data in/out |

### Objects, Not Text
PowerShell outputs **objects**, not plain text. This means you can access properties directly:
```powershell
$process = Get-Process notepad
$process.Name       # "notepad"
$process.Id         # Process ID number
$process.CPU        # CPU usage
```

---

## Navigation & File System

### Basic Navigation
```powershell
Get-Location          # Show current directory (like 'pwd')
Set-Location C:\      # Change directory (like 'cd')
Set-Location ..       # Go up one level
Set-Location ~        # Go to home directory
Push-Location C:\Temp # Save current location and navigate
Pop-Location          # Return to saved location
```

### Listing Contents
```powershell
Get-ChildItem                        # List files/folders (like 'ls' or 'dir')
Get-ChildItem -Force                 # Include hidden files
Get-ChildItem *.log                  # Filter by extension
Get-ChildItem -Recurse               # Recurse into subfolders
Get-ChildItem -Recurse -Filter *.txt # Recursive search for .txt files
Get-ChildItem | Sort-Object Length   # Sort by file size
```

### Useful Shortcuts
```powershell
# Tab completion — press Tab to autocomplete paths and cmdlet names
# Ctrl+R         — reverse search command history
# F7             — show command history in a popup window
# Up/Down arrows — cycle through previous commands
```

---

## File & Folder Management

### Create
```powershell
New-Item -Path "C:\Temp\test.txt" -ItemType File
New-Item -Path "C:\Temp\NewFolder" -ItemType Directory
New-Item -Path "C:\Temp\test.txt" -ItemType File -Force  # Overwrite if exists
```

### Copy, Move, Rename
```powershell
Copy-Item "C:\source.txt" "C:\dest.txt"
Copy-Item "C:\SourceFolder" "C:\DestFolder" -Recurse   # Copy entire folder
Move-Item "C:\old.txt" "C:\new.txt"
Rename-Item "C:\oldname.txt" "newname.txt"
```

### Delete
```powershell
Remove-Item "C:\Temp\test.txt"
Remove-Item "C:\Temp\OldFolder" -Recurse               # Delete folder and contents
Remove-Item "C:\Temp\*.log"                             # Delete all .log files
Remove-Item "C:\Temp\test.txt" -WhatIf                  # Preview — does NOT delete
```

> ⚠️ **Tip:** Always use `-WhatIf` first to preview what a destructive command will do before running it.

### Read & Write Files
```powershell
Get-Content "C:\log.txt"                        # Read file contents
Get-Content "C:\log.txt" -Tail 20               # Last 20 lines (like 'tail')
Set-Content "C:\out.txt" "Hello, World!"        # Write (overwrites file)
Add-Content "C:\out.txt" "New line"             # Append to file
"Some text" | Out-File "C:\out.txt"             # Write via pipe
"More text" | Out-File "C:\out.txt" -Append     # Append via pipe
```

---

## Working with Text & Output

### Formatting Output
```powershell
Get-Process | Format-Table                   # Table view
Get-Process | Format-Table -AutoSize         # Auto-fit columns
Get-Process | Format-List                    # Detailed list view
Get-Process | Format-List *                  # Show ALL properties
Get-Process | Out-GridView                   # Interactive GUI grid (Windows only)
```

### Selecting & Filtering
```powershell
Get-Process | Select-Object Name, CPU, Id          # Select specific columns
Get-Process | Select-Object -First 5               # First 5 results
Get-Process | Where-Object { $_.CPU -gt 10 }       # Filter by condition
Get-Service | Where-Object { $_.Status -eq "Running" }
```

### Sorting
```powershell
Get-Process | Sort-Object CPU                      # Sort ascending
Get-Process | Sort-Object CPU -Descending          # Sort descending
Get-Process | Sort-Object CPU | Select-Object -Last 10  # Top 10 by CPU
```

### String Operations
```powershell
"Hello World".ToLower()           # hello world
"Hello World".ToUpper()           # HELLO WORLD
"Hello World".Replace("World","PS")  # Hello PS
"Hello World".Split(" ")          # Split into array
"  trim me  ".Trim()              # Remove whitespace
"Hello" -like "*ell*"             # Wildcard match (True)
"Hello" -match "^H"               # Regex match (True)
```

### Output to File
```powershell
Get-Process | Out-File "C:\processes.txt"
Get-Process | Export-Csv "C:\processes.csv" -NoTypeInformation
Get-Service | ConvertTo-Json | Out-File "C:\services.json"
```

---

## Processes & Services

### Processes
```powershell
Get-Process                                # List all running processes
Get-Process notepad                        # Find specific process by name
Get-Process | Sort-Object CPU -Descending | Select-Object -First 10  # Top CPU users
Start-Process notepad                      # Launch an application
Stop-Process -Name notepad                 # Kill by name
Stop-Process -Id 1234                      # Kill by PID
Stop-Process -Name notepad -Force          # Force kill
```

### Services
```powershell
Get-Service                                # List all services
Get-Service -Name "wuauserv"               # Windows Update service
Get-Service | Where-Object {$_.Status -eq "Stopped"}  # Stopped services
Start-Service -Name "Spooler"              # Start a service
Stop-Service -Name "Spooler"               # Stop a service
Restart-Service -Name "Spooler"            # Restart a service
Set-Service -Name "Spooler" -StartupType Automatic  # Change startup type
```

---

## Networking

### Network Info
```powershell
Get-NetIPAddress                           # All IP addresses
Get-NetIPAddress -AddressFamily IPv4       # IPv4 only
Get-NetAdapter                             # Network adapters
Get-NetAdapter | Where-Object {$_.Status -eq "Up"}  # Active adapters
Get-DnsClientServerAddress                 # DNS server settings
```

### Connectivity & Testing
```powershell
Test-Connection google.com                 # Ping (returns objects)
Test-Connection google.com -Count 4        # Ping 4 times
Test-NetConnection google.com -Port 443    # Test TCP port connectivity
Resolve-DnsName google.com                 # DNS lookup
```

### Firewall
```powershell
Get-NetFirewallRule | Where-Object {$_.Enabled -eq "True"}   # Active rules
Get-NetFirewallRule -DisplayName "*Remote*"                   # Search rules
```

---

## User & System Info

### System Information
```powershell
Get-ComputerInfo                           # Detailed system info
Get-ComputerInfo | Select-Object CsName, WindowsVersion, OsArchitecture
[System.Environment]::OSVersion           # OS version
Get-HotFix                                # Installed Windows patches
Get-HotFix | Sort-Object InstalledOn -Descending  # Most recent first
```

### Disk & Hardware
```powershell
Get-PSDrive                                # All drives and free space
Get-Volume                                 # Disk volumes
Get-PhysicalDisk                           # Physical disks
Get-Disk                                   # Disk info
```

### Users & Groups
```powershell
Get-LocalUser                              # Local user accounts
Get-LocalGroup                             # Local groups
Get-LocalGroupMember Administrators        # Members of Administrators group
whoami                                     # Current user
[System.Security.Principal.WindowsIdentity]::GetCurrent().Name  # Full username
```

### Environment Variables
```powershell
$env:USERNAME          # Current user
$env:COMPUTERNAME      # Machine name
$env:PATH              # System PATH
$env:TEMP              # Temp folder
Get-ChildItem Env:     # List all environment variables
$env:PATH += ";C:\MyTools"  # Temporarily add to PATH
```

---

## Variables & Data Types

### Declaring Variables
```powershell
$name = "Alice"
$count = 42
$pi = 3.14159
$isAdmin = $true
$nothing = $null

# Strongly typed
[string]$text = "Hello"
[int]$number = 100
[bool]$flag = $false
[array]$items = @(1, 2, 3)
[hashtable]$map = @{ Key = "Value"; Name = "Test" }
```

### Arrays
```powershell
$fruits = @("Apple", "Banana", "Cherry")
$fruits[0]                   # "Apple"
$fruits[-1]                  # "Cherry" (last item)
$fruits.Count                # 3
$fruits += "Date"            # Add item
$fruits | ForEach-Object { Write-Host $_ }  # Iterate
```

### Hash Tables (Dictionaries)
```powershell
$person = @{
    Name = "Alice"
    Age  = 30
    City = "Melbourne"
}
$person["Name"]              # "Alice"
$person.Name                 # "Alice" (dot notation)
$person["Email"] = "a@b.com" # Add/update key
$person.Keys                 # List all keys
$person.Values               # List all values
```

---

## Piping & Filtering

The **pipeline** (`|`) passes the output of one command as input to the next.

```powershell
# Basic pipe
Get-Process | Stop-Process

# Filter with Where-Object (alias: '?')
Get-Service | Where-Object { $_.Status -eq "Running" }
Get-Service | ? { $_.StartType -eq "Automatic" }

# Select properties with Select-Object (alias: 'select')
Get-Process | Select-Object Name, Id, CPU

# ForEach-Object (alias: '%') — run a block for each item
Get-Service | ForEach-Object { Write-Host $_.Name }
1..10 | ForEach-Object { $_ * 2 }

# Measure
Get-ChildItem C:\Windows | Measure-Object               # Count items
Get-ChildItem C:\Windows -Recurse | Measure-Object Length -Sum  # Total size
```

---

## Loops & Conditionals

### If / ElseIf / Else
```powershell
$x = 10

if ($x -gt 10) {
    Write-Host "Greater"
} elseif ($x -eq 10) {
    Write-Host "Equal"
} else {
    Write-Host "Less"
}
```

### Comparison Operators
| Operator | Meaning |
|----------|---------|
| `-eq` | Equal to |
| `-ne` | Not equal to |
| `-gt` | Greater than |
| `-lt` | Less than |
| `-ge` | Greater than or equal |
| `-le` | Less than or equal |
| `-like` | Wildcard match |
| `-match` | Regex match |
| `-in` | Value exists in array |
| `-contains` | Array contains value |
| `-and` | Logical AND |
| `-or` | Logical OR |
| `-not` | Logical NOT |

### ForEach Loop
```powershell
$servers = @("Server01", "Server02", "Server03")

foreach ($server in $servers) {
    Write-Host "Pinging $server..."
    Test-Connection $server -Count 1 -Quiet
}
```

### For Loop
```powershell
for ($i = 0; $i -lt 5; $i++) {
    Write-Host "Iteration $i"
}
```

### While Loop
```powershell
$count = 0
while ($count -lt 5) {
    Write-Host $count
    $count++
}
```

### Switch Statement
```powershell
$status = "Running"

switch ($status) {
    "Running"  { Write-Host "Service is active" }
    "Stopped"  { Write-Host "Service is stopped" }
    default    { Write-Host "Unknown status" }
}
```

---

## Functions & Scripts

### Writing a Function
```powershell
function Get-DiskFreeSpace {
    param (
        [string]$DriveLetter = "C"
    )

    $drive = Get-PSDrive -Name $DriveLetter
    $freeGB = [math]::Round($drive.Free / 1GB, 2)
    Write-Host "$DriveLetter drive has $freeGB GB free"
}

# Call it
Get-DiskFreeSpace
Get-DiskFreeSpace -DriveLetter "D"
```

### Script Parameters (at top of .ps1 file)
```powershell
param (
    [Parameter(Mandatory=$true)]
    [string]$ServerName,

    [int]$Timeout = 30,

    [switch]$Verbose
)

Write-Host "Connecting to $ServerName with timeout $Timeout..."
```

### Running Scripts
```powershell
.\MyScript.ps1                           # Run script in current directory
.\MyScript.ps1 -ServerName "Server01"    # Pass parameters
. .\MyScript.ps1                         # Dot-source (loads functions into session)
```

### Execution Policy
```powershell
Get-ExecutionPolicy                       # Check current policy
Set-ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned          # Allow local scripts (run as Admin)
Set-ExecutionPolicy Bypass -Scope Process # Bypass for current session only
```

> ⚠️ **Note:** Never set execution policy to `Unrestricted` in production environments.

---

## Error Handling

### Try / Catch / Finally
```powershell
try {
    $result = Get-Content "C:\nonexistent.txt" -ErrorAction Stop
    Write-Host "Success: $result"
}
catch {
    Write-Host "Error: $($_.Exception.Message)"
}
finally {
    Write-Host "This always runs"
}
```

### ErrorAction Parameter
```powershell
# Control how cmdlets respond to errors
Get-Item "badpath" -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue  # Suppress error
Get-Item "badpath" -ErrorAction Stop              # Turn error into terminating
Get-Item "badpath" -ErrorAction Continue          # Default — show error, keep going
```

### $Error Variable
```powershell
$Error[0]              # Most recent error
$Error[0].Exception    # Exception details
$Error.Clear()         # Clear error history
```

---

## Useful Tips & Tricks

### Multi-Line Commands
```powershell
# Use backtick ` to continue on next line
Get-Process `
    | Where-Object { $_.CPU -gt 5 } `
    | Sort-Object CPU -Descending `
    | Select-Object -First 10
```

### Here-Strings (multi-line text)
```powershell
$text = @"
This is line one
This is line two
Server: $env:COMPUTERNAME
"@
```

### Measure Script Performance
```powershell
Measure-Command { Get-Process | Sort-Object CPU }
```

### Quick Calculations
```powershell
[math]::Round(3.14159, 2)      # 3.14
[math]::Sqrt(144)              # 12
1GB / 1MB                      # 1024 (PowerShell understands KB, MB, GB, TB)
"{0:N2}" -f 1234567.89         # "1,234,567.89" (formatted number)
```

### Clipboard
```powershell
Get-Process | Clip                   # Copy output to clipboard
Set-Clipboard "text to copy"         # Copy text to clipboard
Get-Clipboard                        # Paste from clipboard
```

### Scheduled Tasks (Quick Reference)
```powershell
Get-ScheduledTask                             # List all tasks
Get-ScheduledTask -TaskName "MyTask"          # Specific task
Start-ScheduledTask -TaskName "MyTask"        # Run immediately
Disable-ScheduledTask -TaskName "MyTask"      # Disable task
```

### Registry
```powershell
Get-ItemProperty "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion"
Get-ItemProperty "HKCU:\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run"
```

---

## Common Aliases

PowerShell includes many short aliases for common cmdlets. Useful to know, but **avoid aliases in scripts** — use full cmdlet names for readability.

| Alias | Full Cmdlet |
|-------|-------------|
| `ls` / `dir` / `gci` | `Get-ChildItem` |
| `cd` / `sl` | `Set-Location` |
| `pwd` / `gl` | `Get-Location` |
| `cls` / `clear` | `Clear-Host` |
| `cp` / `copy` | `Copy-Item` |
| `mv` / `move` | `Move-Item` |
| `rm` / `del` / `ri` | `Remove-Item` |
| `cat` / `gc` | `Get-Content` |
| `echo` / `write` | `Write-Output` |
| `ps` / `gps` | `Get-Process` |
| `kill` | `Stop-Process` |
| `man` / `help` | `Get-Help` |
| `?` | `Where-Object` |
| `%` | `ForEach-Object` |
| `select` | `Select-Object` |
| `sort` | `Sort-Object` |
| `ft` | `Format-Table` |
| `fl` | `Format-List` |

---

## Quick Reference Card

```
HELP          Get-Help <cmd> -Examples
FIND CMD      Get-Command *keyword*
FIND PROPERTY Get-Process | Get-Member
FILTER        ... | Where-Object { $_.Property -eq "Value" }
SELECT COLS   ... | Select-Object Name, Id
SORT          ... | Sort-Object Property -Descending
TOP N         ... | Select-Object -First 10
LOOP ITEMS    ... | ForEach-Object { Write-Host $_ }
EXPORT CSV    ... | Export-Csv file.csv -NoTypeInformation
TO FILE       ... | Out-File file.txt
PREVIEW       <destructive command> -WhatIf
```

---

*Last updated: 2026 | PowerShell 5.1 / 7.x compatible*