📖 Guide

PowerShell Cheat Sheet — Complete Reference

Every PowerShell cmdlet and pattern you need, from basic commands to scripting and remote management.

172 commands across 12 categories

Basic Commands Navigation & Files Pipeline & Filtering String Operations Variables & Types Control Flow Functions Error Handling Remote Management Processes & Services Modules & Packages Common Aliases

Basic Commands

Command	Description
`Get-Help <cmdlet>` e.g. Get-Help Get-Process	Get help for a cmdlet
`Get-Help <cmdlet> -Examples`	Show usage examples
`Get-Help <cmdlet> -Full`	Show full help documentation
`Get-Command`	List all available commands
`Get-Command -Name process`	Find commands matching a pattern
`Get-Command -Module ActiveDirectory`	List commands from a module
`Get-Alias`	List all aliases
`Get-Alias -Name ls`	Find what command an alias maps to
`Set-Alias -Name np -Value notepad`	Create a custom alias
`Clear-Host`	Clear the console (alias: cls)
`Write-Output 'Hello'`	Write to output stream
`Write-Host 'Hello' -ForegroundColor Green`	Write colored text to console
`$PSVersionTable`	Show PowerShell version info
`Get-History`	Show command history

Navigation & Files

Command	Description
`Get-Location`	Show current directory (alias: pwd)
`Set-Location C:\Users`	Change directory (alias: cd)
`Get-ChildItem`	List directory contents (alias: ls, dir)
`Get-ChildItem -Recurse -Filter *.log`	Find files recursively by pattern
`Get-ChildItem -Hidden`	Show hidden files
`New-Item -ItemType File -Name test.txt`	Create a new file
`New-Item -ItemType Directory -Name mydir`	Create a new directory
`Copy-Item src.txt dest.txt`	Copy a file (alias: cp, copy)
`Copy-Item -Recurse ./src ./dest`	Copy directory recursively
`Move-Item old.txt new.txt`	Move or rename file (alias: mv, move)
`Remove-Item file.txt`	Delete a file (alias: rm, del)
`Remove-Item -Recurse -Force ./dir`	Delete directory recursively
`Get-Content file.txt`	Read file contents (alias: cat, type)
`Set-Content file.txt 'Hello'`	Write string to file (overwrite)
`Add-Content file.txt 'More text'`	Append to file
`Get-Content file.txt \| Select-Object -First 10`	Show first 10 lines
`Get-Content file.txt -Tail 20`	Show last 20 lines
`Get-Content file.txt -Wait`	Follow file in real-time (like tail -f)
`Test-Path ./file.txt`	Check if file or path exists
`Resolve-Path ./relative`	Resolve to absolute path
`Get-ItemProperty file.txt`	Get file properties (size, dates, etc.)

Pipeline & Filtering

Command	Description
`Get-Process \| Where-Object { $_.CPU -gt 100 }`	Filter objects by condition
`Get-Service \| Select-Object Name, Status`	Select specific properties
`Get-Process \| Sort-Object CPU -Descending`	Sort by property
`Get-Process \| Group-Object ProcessName`	Group objects by property
`Get-Process \| Measure-Object WorkingSet -Sum -Average`	Calculate statistics
`Get-ChildItem \| ForEach-Object { $_.Name }`	Iterate over each object
`1..10 \| ForEach-Object { $_ * 2 }`	Transform each item
`Get-Process \| Format-Table Name, CPU, WS -AutoSize`	Display as formatted table
`Get-Process \| Format-List *`	Display all properties as list
`Get-Process \| Out-File processes.txt`	Write pipeline output to file
`Get-Process \| Export-Csv procs.csv -NoTypeInformation`	Export to CSV
`Import-Csv procs.csv`	Import from CSV
`Get-Process \| ConvertTo-Json`	Convert to JSON
`Get-Content data.json \| ConvertFrom-Json`	Parse JSON
`Get-Process \| Select-Object -First 5`	Take first 5 results
`Get-Process \| Select-Object -Unique`	Remove duplicates
`Get-Process \| Tee-Object -FilePath log.txt`	Output to both pipeline and file

String Operations

Command	Description
`"Hello $name"`	String interpolation (double quotes)
`'Hello $name'`	Literal string (no interpolation, single quotes)
`@" Multi-line string "@`	Here-string (multi-line)
`"hello".ToUpper()`	Convert to uppercase
`"HELLO".ToLower()`	Convert to lowercase
`"hello world".Contains("world")`	Check if string contains substring
`"hello world".Replace("world", "there")`	Replace substring
`"hello world".Split(" ")`	Split string into array
`" hello ".Trim()`	Remove leading/trailing whitespace
`"hello" -match "^he"`	Regex match (returns boolean)
`"hello" -replace "l+", "L"`	Regex replace
`"hello".Substring(0, 3)` e.g. hel	Extract substring
`-join ("a", "b", "c")`	Join array into string
`"hello".Length`	Get string length
`[string]::IsNullOrEmpty($str)`	Check if null or empty

Variables & Types

Command	Description
`$name = 'Daniel'`	Create a variable
`$num = 42`	Integer variable
`$arr = @(1, 2, 3)`	Create an array
`$hash = @{ key = 'value'; num = 42 }`	Create a hashtable
`$hash['key']`	Access hashtable value
`$hash.key`	Access with dot notation
`$arr += 4`	Add element to array
`$arr.Count`	Get array length
`$arr[0]`	Access array element (0-indexed)
`$arr[-1]`	Access last element
`$arr[1..3]`	Array slice
`[int]$x = '42'`	Type casting
`$x.GetType()`	Get variable type
`$null`	Null value
`$true / $false`	Boolean values
`$env:PATH`	Access environment variable
`$env:MY_VAR = 'value'`	Set environment variable (session only)
`Get-Variable`	List all variables
`Remove-Variable name`	Delete a variable

Control Flow

Command	Description
`if ($x -eq 5) { ... }`	If statement
`if ($x -gt 0) { ... } else { ... }`	If-else
`if ($x -gt 0) { ... } elseif ($x -eq 0) { ... }`	If-elseif-else
`-eq, -ne, -gt, -lt, -ge, -le`	Comparison operators
`-and, -or, -not, !`	Logical operators
`-like 'test*'`	Wildcard match
`-match '^\d+'`	Regex match
`-contains 'item'`	Array contains value
`-in @(1,2,3)`	Value in array
`switch ($val) { 1 {'one'} 2 {'two'} default {'other'} }`	Switch statement
`for ($i=0; $i -lt 10; $i++) { ... }`	For loop
`foreach ($item in $collection) { ... }`	Foreach loop
`while ($x -lt 10) { $x++ }`	While loop
`do { ... } while ($x -lt 10)`	Do-while loop
`1..10`	Range operator (generates 1 to 10)
`break`	Exit loop
`continue`	Skip to next iteration

Functions

Command	Description
`function Get-Greeting { 'Hello' }`	Simple function
`function Add ($a, $b) { $a + $b }`	Function with parameters
`function Test { param([string]$Name, [int]$Age) ... }`	Typed parameters with param block
`param([Parameter(Mandatory)]$Name)`	Make parameter mandatory
`param([ValidateSet('A','B')]$Option)`	Validate parameter values
`param([string]$Name = 'Default')`	Default parameter value
`return $result`	Return value from function
`function Test { begin {...} process {...} end {...} }`	Pipeline-aware function
`Get-Greeting \| function`	Functions receive pipeline input via $input or process block

Error Handling

Command	Description
`try { ... } catch { ... }`	Try-catch block
`try { ... } catch { $_.Exception.Message }`	Access error message
`try { ... } catch [System.IO.FileNotFoundException] { ... }`	Catch specific exception type
`try { ... } finally { ... }`	Finally block (always runs)
`$ErrorActionPreference = 'Stop'`	Make all errors terminating
`-ErrorAction Stop`	Make single command error terminating
`-ErrorAction SilentlyContinue`	Suppress errors silently
`$Error[0]`	Most recent error
`$Error.Clear()`	Clear error history
`Write-Error 'Something failed'`	Write an error to error stream
`throw 'Fatal error'`	Throw a terminating error

Remote Management

Command	Description
`Enter-PSSession -ComputerName server1`	Start interactive remote session
`Exit-PSSession`	Exit remote session
`Invoke-Command -ComputerName server1 -ScriptBlock { Get-Process }`	Run command on remote machine
`Invoke-Command -ComputerName s1,s2,s3 -ScriptBlock { ... }`	Run on multiple machines
`$session = New-PSSession -ComputerName server1`	Create persistent session
`Invoke-Command -Session $session -ScriptBlock { ... }`	Run command in persistent session
`Copy-Item -ToSession $session -Path ./file -Destination C:\temp`	Copy file to remote session
`Remove-PSSession $session`	Close remote session
`Enable-PSRemoting -Force`	Enable PowerShell remoting on machine
`Invoke-WebRequest -Uri 'https://api.example.com'`	Make HTTP request (alias: curl, wget)
`Invoke-RestMethod -Uri 'https://api.example.com/data'`	Make REST API call (auto-parse JSON)

Processes & Services

Command	Description
`Get-Process`	List all running processes
`Get-Process -Name chrome`	Get process by name
`Stop-Process -Name notepad`	Kill process by name
`Stop-Process -Id 1234 -Force`	Force kill by PID
`Start-Process notepad`	Launch a program
`Start-Process cmd -ArgumentList '/c dir' -Wait`	Start process with arguments
`Get-Service`	List all services
`Get-Service -Name wuauserv`	Get service by name
`Start-Service -Name wuauserv`	Start a service
`Stop-Service -Name wuauserv`	Stop a service
`Restart-Service -Name wuauserv`	Restart a service
`Set-Service -Name svc -StartupType Automatic`	Set service startup type

Modules & Packages

Command	Description
`Get-Module -ListAvailable`	List all installed modules
`Import-Module ActiveDirectory`	Import a module
`Install-Module -Name Az`	Install module from PowerShell Gallery
`Update-Module -Name Az`	Update installed module
`Uninstall-Module -Name OldModule`	Remove a module
`Find-Module -Name azure`	Search PowerShell Gallery
`Get-InstalledModule`	List modules installed via Install-Module
`Install-Script -Name script-name`	Install a script from Gallery
`Set-ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned`	Allow running local scripts
`Get-ExecutionPolicy`	Check current execution policy

Common Aliases

Command	Description
`ls → Get-ChildItem`	List directory
`cd → Set-Location`	Change directory
`pwd → Get-Location`	Print working directory
`cat → Get-Content`	Read file
`cp → Copy-Item`	Copy file
`mv → Move-Item`	Move/rename
`rm → Remove-Item`	Delete
`echo → Write-Output`	Print output
`cls → Clear-Host`	Clear screen
`where → Where-Object`	Filter pipeline
`select → Select-Object`	Select properties
`sort → Sort-Object`	Sort pipeline
`% → ForEach-Object`	Iterate pipeline
`? → Where-Object`	Filter (shorthand)
`curl → Invoke-WebRequest`	HTTP request
`wget → Invoke-WebRequest`	Download