Essential PowerShell Commands

1. File and Directory Management

Get-ChildItem (gci / ls / dir) – Lists files and directories.
Syntax: Get-ChildItem [-Path] <string> [-Recurse] [-Force]
Examples:

• Get-ChildItem → List items in current directory
• Get-ChildItem -Path C:Users -Recurse → Recursively list items
• Get-ChildItem -Force → Include hidden files

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Set-Location (cd / sl) – Change current directory.
Syntax: Set-Location [-Path] <string>
Examples:

• Set-Location C:Users → Move to folder
• Set-Location .. → Move to parent directory

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Copy-Item (cp / copy) – Copies files or folders.
Syntax: Copy-Item [-Path] <string> [-Destination] <string> [-Recurse] [-Force]
Examples:

• Copy-Item .file.txt C:Backupfile.txt
• Copy-Item .* C:Backup -Recurse → Copy all files recursively

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Move-Item (mv / move) – Moves files or directories.
Syntax: Move-Item [-Path] <string> [-Destination] <string> [-Force]
Examples:

• Move-Item .file.txt C:Archivefile.txt

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Remove-Item (rm / del / rmdir) – Deletes files or directories.
Syntax: Remove-Item [-Path] <string> [-Recurse] [-Force]
Examples:

• Remove-Item .temp.txt → Delete a file
• Remove-Item C:Temp -Recurse -Force → Delete folder with all contents

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New-Item – Creates a new file or directory.
Syntax: New-Item [-Path] <string> [-ItemType <string>]
Examples:

• New-Item -Path . -Name "NewFolder" -ItemType Directory
• New-Item -Path . -Name "file.txt" -ItemType File

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2. System and Process Management

Get-Process (ps / gps) – Lists running processes.
Syntax: Get-Process [-Name] <string>
Examples:

• Get-Process → Show all processes
• Get-Process -Name notepad

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Stop-Process (kill) – Stops a process.
Syntax: Stop-Process [-Name] <string> [-Id] <int> [-Force]
Examples:

• Stop-Process -Name notepad
• Stop-Process -Id 1234 -Force

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Get-Service – Lists Windows services.
Syntax: Get-Service [-Name] <string>
Examples:

• Get-Service → List all services
• Get-Service -Name wuauserv

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Start-Service / Stop-Service – Starts or stops a service.
Syntax: Start-Service [-Name] <string> / Stop-Service [-Name] <string>
Examples:

• Start-Service wuauserv
• Stop-Service wuauserv

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Restart-Computer – Restarts the system.
Syntax: Restart-Computer [-Force] [-Wait] [-Delay <int>]
Example:

• Restart-Computer -Force

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Get-EventLog – Retrieves event logs.
Syntax: Get-EventLog -LogName <string> [-Newest <int>]
Example:

• Get-EventLog -LogName System -Newest 10 → Last 10 system events

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3. Network Management

Test-Connection (ping) – Tests connectivity.
Syntax: Test-Connection [-ComputerName] <string> [-Count <int>]
Example:

• Test-Connection google.com -Count 4

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Get-NetIPAddress – Shows IP configuration.
Syntax: Get-NetIPAddress
Example:

• Get-NetIPAddress → List all IP addresses

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Resolve-DnsName – DNS query.
Syntax: Resolve-DnsName [-Name] <string>
Example:

• Resolve-DnsName google.com

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Get-NetTCPConnection – Displays TCP connections (like netstat).
Syntax: Get-NetTCPConnection
Example:

• Get-NetTCPConnection

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4. Environment and Variables

Get-Variable / Set-Variable / Remove-Variable – Manage PowerShell variables.
Syntax:

• Get-Variable -Name <string>
• Set-Variable -Name <string> -Value <object>
• Remove-Variable -Name <string>
  Example:
• Set-Variable -Name myVar -Value 42
• Get-Variable -Name myVar
• Remove-Variable -Name myVar

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Get-ChildItem Env: – List environment variables.
Syntax: Get-ChildItem Env:
Example:

• Get-ChildItem Env:PATH

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5. Output and Formatting

Write-Output / Write-Host – Print text to console.
Syntax:

• Write-Output "text"
• Write-Host "text"
  Example:
• Write-Output "Hello World"
• Write-Host "Warning!" -ForegroundColor Red

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Format-Table / Format-List – Format output.
Example:

• Get-Process | Format-Table -AutoSize
• Get-Service | Format-List Name, Status

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Out-File / Tee-Object – Redirect output to file.
Example:

• Get-Process | Out-File C:tempprocesses.txt
• Get-Process | Tee-Object -FilePath C:tempprocesses.txt

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6. Scripting & Control Flow

If / Else – Conditional execution.
Example:

if (Test-Path "C:tempfile.txt") {
    Write-Host "File exists"
} else {
    Write-Host "File not found"
}

ForEach-Object / ForEach – Loop through collection.
Example:

Get-ChildItem | ForEach-Object { Write-Host $_.Name }

Switch – Multi-condition branching.
Example:

switch ($day) {
    "Mon" { Write-Host "Monday" }
    "Tue" { Write-Host "Tuesday" }
}

Try / Catch / Finally – Error handling.
Example:

try {
    Remove-Item "C:tempnofile.txt"
} catch {
    Write-Host "File not found"
} finally {
    Write-Host "Operation finished"
}