PowerShell Cheatsheet

Updated September 2026 · Quick reference

PowerShell is an object-based shell and scripting language common on Windows and available cross-platform as PowerShell 7+.

Think in objects flowing through pipelines—not only text—and prefer approved verbs in cmdlet names.

Full lessons: PowerShell Tutorials

Basics

Get-Command / Get-Help

Discover cmdlets and read help.

Get-Command *process*
Get-Help Get-ChildItem -Examples

Verb-Noun

Cmdlets use approved verbs: Get, Set, New, Remove, etc.

Get-Process
Get-Service

Variables

Names start with $.

$name = "Ada"
Write-Output "Hi, $name"

Providers & paths

Navigate filesystems (and other providers) with familiar path cmdlets.

Set-Location C:\Projects
Get-ChildItem

Aliases

Shortcuts like ls, cd, gc exist—learn real cmdlet names for scripts.

Get-Alias ls

Pipeline & objects

Pipeline

Pass objects to the next cmdlet—not just strings.

Get-Process | Where-Object CPU -gt 10 | Select-Object Name, CPU

Where-Object

Filter objects. Script-block form is flexible.

Get-Service | Where-Object { $_.Status -eq 'Running' }

ForEach-Object

Run a block per object (% alias).

1..3 | ForEach-Object { $_ * 2 }

Select-Object

Pick properties or limit rows.

Get-ChildItem | Select-Object Name, Length -First 5

Files & JSON

Read / write text

Common file cmdlets for content.

Get-Content .\notes.txt
'Saved' | Set-Content .\out.txt

Copy / remove

File operations with clear cmdlets.

Copy-Item .\a.txt .\b.txt
Remove-Item .\temp.txt

ConvertFrom-Json

Parse JSON into objects.

$obj = Get-Content .\data.json -Raw | ConvertFrom-Json

ConvertTo-Json

Serialize objects for APIs or files.

$user | ConvertTo-Json -Depth 5

Scripts & errors

Parameters

Declare script or function parameters with types.

param(
  [Parameter(Mandatory)]
  [string]$Path
)

if / switch

Branching similar to other languages.

if (Test-Path $Path) {
  Write-Output "exists"
}

try / catch

Handle terminating errors.

try {
  Get-Content .\missing.txt -ErrorAction Stop
} catch {
  Write-Error $_
}

Execution policy peek

Policy can block unsigned scripts on Windows—learn your environment's rules before changing them.

Get-ExecutionPolicy -List

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