PowerShell is a command-line shell, scripting language, and automation platform widely used for Windows administration, troubleshooting, automation, and everyday system tasks. Unlike traditional command-line tools that primarily work with plain text, PowerShell usually works with structured objects.

Most PowerShell commands follow a simple Verb-Noun naming convention. For example, Get-Process retrieves running processes, Start-Service starts a Windows service, and Remove-Item deletes a file, folder, or another supported item.

This reference covers the essential PowerShell commands that beginners and system administrators use most frequently.

PowerShell Help and Command Discovery

PowerShell includes built-in tools to find commands and learn how they work.

To list all available commands:

Get-Command

To search for commands related to processes:

Get-Command *process*

File and Folder Commands

PowerShell provides commands to create, copy, move, rename, delete, and list files and directories.

List files:

Get-ChildItem C:\Logs

List files recursively:

Get-ChildItem C:\Logs -Recurse

Create a directory:

New-Item -Path C:\Backup -ItemType Directory

Copy a directory:

Copy-Item C:\Data C:\Backup -Recurse

Delete a directory and everything inside it:

Remove-Item C:\OldData -Recurse

Use Remove-Item, especially with -Recurse or -Force, carefully because it can permanently delete data.

Path and Directory Navigation Commands

These commands help you navigate the filesystem and work with paths.

Change directory:

Set-Location C:\Windows

Check whether a file exists:

Test-Path C:\Backup\backup.zip

File Content Commands

PowerShell can read, write, append, clear, and search text files.

Read a file:

Get-Content C:\Logs\application.log

Read only the last 20 lines:

Get-Content C:\Logs\application.log -Tail 20

Monitor a log file continuously:

Get-Content C:\Logs\application.log -Wait

Search for errors:

Select-String -Path C:\Logs\*.log -Pattern "error"

Process Commands

PowerShell can display, start, stop, and monitor running processes.

Find a process:

Get-Process chrome

Start an application:

Start-Process notepad.exe

Stop a process:

Stop-Process -Name notepad

Stop a process by ID:

Stop-Process -Id 4528

Windows Service Commands

You can manage Windows services directly from PowerShell.

Show running services:

Get-Service | Where-Object Status -eq Running

Search for a service:

Get-Service *update*

Basic Computer Information Commands

These commands provide useful information about the local Windows system.

Display selected system information:

Get-ComputerInfo |
    Select-Object WindowsProductName, WindowsVersion, CsName

Variable Commands

PowerShell variables begin with $.

Example:

$server = "server01"

PowerShell also provides commands to manage variables explicitly.

In most scripts, variables are created directly:

$name = "John"
$count = 10
$enabled = $true

Environment Variables

You can access environment variables through the PowerShell Env: provider.

List environment variables:

Get-ChildItem Env:

Display the PATH variable:

$env:PATH

Create an environment variable for the current process:

$env:APP_ENV = "production"

Date and Time Commands

Format the current date:

Get-Date -Format "yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss"

Pause execution:

Start-Sleep -Seconds 10

Input and Output Commands

Example:

$name = Read-Host "Enter your name"
Write-Output "Hello $name"

Basic Formatting Commands

Example:

Get-Service |
    Format-Table Name, Status

Place formatting commands at the end of a pipeline.

Archive Commands

PowerShell includes built-in support for ZIP archives.

Create an archive:

Compress-Archive `
    -Path C:\Logs\* `
    -DestinationPath C:\Backup\logs.zip

Extract an archive:

Expand-Archive `
    -Path C:\Backup\logs.zip `
    -DestinationPath C:\Logs

PowerShell Command History

Example:

Get-History

Run command number 10 again:

Invoke-History 10

Common PowerShell Aliases

Aliases provide shorter names for commonly used PowerShell commands.

To see all aliases available on the system:

Get-Alias

To check a specific alias:

Get-Alias ls

Clear the PowerShell Console

Use:

Clear-Host

Common alias:

cls

Check the PowerShell Version

The automatic $PSVersionTable variable contains version information.

$PSVersionTable

To display only the PowerShell version:

$PSVersionTable.PSVersion

How to List All PowerShell Commands

The exact command set available on a computer depends on the installed PowerShell version, operating system, modules, Windows features, and third-party software.

To list available commands:

Get-Command

To list only cmdlets:

Get-Command -CommandType Cmdlet

To list installed modules:

Get-Module -ListAvailable