Command Lookup¶

Find any cmdlet two ways — by name if you know what you're looking for, or by function if you know what you want to do.

Quick search

Press S or / at any time to search across the entire site, including all command names, descriptions, and keywords.

Find a Command by Name¶

If you know the command name (or part of it), use the A–Z Command Reference.
Common aliases also work in the search bar — type ls, cd, grep, curl, or kill to find the matching cmdlet.

Find a Command by Function¶

Browse the categories below to discover which cmdlet does what you need.

File System¶

Work with files, directories, and file content.

Command	What It Does	Common Aliases
`Get-ChildItem`	List files and directories	`ls`, `dir`, `gci`
`Set-Location`	Change the current directory	`cd`, `chdir`
`Get-Location`	Show the current directory path	`pwd`, `gl`
`New-Item`	Create a new file or directory	`ni`
`Remove-Item`	Delete files or directories	`rm`, `del`, `rmdir`
`Copy-Item`	Copy a file or directory	`cp`, `copy`
`Move-Item`	Move or rename a file or directory	`mv`, `move`
`Rename-Item`	Rename an item	`ren`
`Get-Content`	Read the contents of a file	`cat`, `type`, `gc`
`Set-Content`	Write (overwrite) content to a file	`sc`
`Add-Content`	Append content to a file	`ac`
`Test-Path`	Check whether a file or path exists	—
`Get-Item`	Get metadata about a specific item	`gi`

Example — find all .log files modified in the last 7 days:

Get-ChildItem C:\ -Recurse -Filter *.log |
    Where-Object { $_.LastWriteTime -gt (Get-Date).AddDays(-7) }

Process Management¶

Start, stop, and inspect running processes.

Command	What It Does	Common Aliases
`Get-Process`	List running processes	`ps`, `gps`
`Start-Process`	Launch a new process	`start`, `saps`
`Stop-Process`	Kill a running process	`kill`, `spps`
`Wait-Process`	Wait for a process to exit	`wps`

Example — find the top 10 CPU-hungry processes:

Get-Process | Sort-Object CPU -Descending | Select-Object -First 10

Networking¶

Test connections, resolve names, and inspect network configuration.

Command	What It Does	Common Aliases
`Test-Connection`	Ping a host (ICMP)	`ping`
`Test-NetConnection`	Test TCP connectivity to a host and port	`tnc`
`Get-NetIPConfiguration`	Show IP address, gateway, and DNS	`gip`
`Get-NetIPAddress`	List all IP addresses on the machine	—
`Resolve-DnsName`	Resolve a hostname to an IP address	—
`Get-NetTCPConnection`	List active TCP connections	—

Example — check whether port 443 is open on a remote host:

(Test-NetConnection github.com -Port 443).TcpTestSucceeded

Web & REST APIs¶

Download files and call web services.

Command	What It Does	Common Aliases
`Invoke-RestMethod`	Call a REST API and parse the response	`irm`
`Invoke-WebRequest`	Download a web page or file	`iwr`, `curl`, `wget`

Example — call the GitHub API:

$user = Invoke-RestMethod https://api.github.com/users/octocat
$user.name

System & Services¶

Query system information and manage Windows services.

Command	What It Does	Common Aliases
`Get-ComputerInfo`	Get hardware and OS details	`gin`
`Get-PSDrive`	List all drives (disk, registry, cert…)	`gdr`
`Get-Service`	List Windows services and their status	`gsv`
`Start-Service`	Start a stopped service	`sasv`
`Stop-Service`	Stop a running service	`spsv`
`Restart-Service`	Stop then start a service	—
`Get-EventLog`	Read Windows classic event logs	—
`Get-WinEvent`	Read modern Windows event logs (preferred)	—

Example — find all stopped services:

Get-Service | Where-Object Status -eq Stopped

Pipeline & Filtering¶

Manipulate and transform objects flowing through the pipeline.

Command	What It Does	Common Aliases
`Where-Object`	Filter objects by a condition	`where`, `?`
`Select-Object`	Pick specific properties or items	`select`
`Sort-Object`	Sort objects by a property	`sort`
`ForEach-Object`	Run a script block for each object	`foreach`, `%`
`Group-Object`	Group objects by a property value	`group`
`Measure-Object`	Count, sum, average properties	`measure`
`Tee-Object`	Send output to a file and the pipeline	`tee`

Example — count services by status:

Get-Service | Group-Object Status | Select-Object Name, Count

Output & Formatting¶

Control how results are displayed or saved.

Command	What It Does	Common Aliases
`Write-Host`	Print text to the console (display only)	—
`Write-Output`	Send an object into the pipeline	`echo`, `write`
`Write-Error`	Write to the error stream	—
`Write-Warning`	Write a yellow warning message	—
`Write-Verbose`	Write a verbose message (shown with `-Verbose`)	—
`Write-Debug`	Write a debug message (shown with `-Debug`)	—
`Out-File`	Redirect output to a text file	—
`Out-GridView`	Display output in an interactive grid (Windows)	`ogv`
`Format-Table`	Format output as an aligned table	`ft`
`Format-List`	Format output as a vertical property list	`fl`

Example — save process list to a file:

Get-Process | Format-Table Name, CPU, Id -AutoSize | Out-File .\processes.txt

Data Conversion¶

Import and export structured data.

Command	What It Does	Common Aliases
`ConvertTo-Json`	Serialize an object to JSON	—
`ConvertFrom-Json`	Parse a JSON string into an object	—
`Export-Csv`	Write objects to a CSV file	`epcsv`
`Import-Csv`	Read a CSV file into objects	`ipcsv`

Example — export running processes to CSV:

Get-Process | Select-Object Name, CPU, Id |
    Export-Csv -Path .\procs.csv -NoTypeInformation

Discovery¶

Explore what commands, properties, and methods are available.

Command	What It Does	Common Aliases
`Get-Command`	Find installed cmdlets, functions, and aliases	`gcm`
`Get-Help`	Read documentation for any command	`help`, `man`
`Get-Member`	List properties and methods of an object	`gm`

Example — find all commands that start with the verb Get:

Get-Command -Verb Get

Example — explore what properties a process object has:

Get-Process | Get-Member

Modules¶

Load and install PowerShell modules.

Command	What It Does	Common Aliases
`Import-Module`	Load a module into the current session	`ipmo`
`Get-Module`	List loaded or available modules	`gmo`
`Install-Module`	Download and install a module from PSGallery	—

Security & Credentials¶

Manage credentials, secure strings, and execution policies.

Command	What It Does	Common Aliases
`Get-Credential`	Prompt for a username and password	—
`ConvertTo-SecureString`	Create a `SecureString` from plain text	—
`Set-ExecutionPolicy`	Change the script execution policy	—

Variables¶

Create, inspect, and remove variables.

Command	What It Does	Common Aliases
`Set-Variable`	Create or update a variable	`set`, `sv`
`Get-Variable`	List variables in the current session	`gv`
`Remove-Variable`	Delete a variable	`rv`

Registry¶

Read and write Windows Registry values.

Command	What It Does	Common Aliases
`Get-ItemProperty`	Read a registry value	`gp`
`Set-ItemProperty`	Write or create a registry value	`sp`

Scheduled Tasks¶

Create and manage scheduled tasks.

Command	What It Does	Common Aliases
`Get-ScheduledTask`	List scheduled tasks	—
`Register-ScheduledTask`	Create a new scheduled task	—

Remote Management¶

Run commands on remote machines.

Command	What It Does	Common Aliases
`Invoke-Command`	Run a script block on a remote computer	`icm`
`New-PSSession`	Open a persistent remote session	`nsn`

Utilities¶

Handy everyday commands.

Command	What It Does	Common Aliases
`Get-Date`	Get the current date and time	—
`Start-Sleep`	Pause execution for a specified duration	`sleep`
`Clear-Host`	Clear the terminal screen	`cls`, `clear`
`Read-Host`	Prompt the user for input	—
`Select-String`	Search for text patterns in files or strings (like `grep`)	`sls`

Example — search all .ps1 files for the word error:

Select-String -Pattern 'error' -Path .\*.ps1 -CaseSensitive

Common Task Quick-Reference¶

I want to…	Use this command
List files in a folder	`Get-ChildItem`
Read a text file	`Get-Content`
Write to a text file	`Set-Content` / `Add-Content`
Check if a file exists	`Test-Path`
Copy a file	`Copy-Item`
Delete a file	`Remove-Item`
Find running processes	`Get-Process`
Kill a process	`Stop-Process`
Ping a server	`Test-Connection`
Check a TCP port	`Test-NetConnection`
Call a REST API	`Invoke-RestMethod`
Download a file	`Invoke-WebRequest`
Filter a list	`Where-Object`
Sort results	`Sort-Object`
Pick columns	`Select-Object`
Count items	`Measure-Object`
Export to CSV	`Export-Csv`
Read a CSV	`Import-Csv`
Convert to / from JSON	`ConvertTo-Json` / `ConvertFrom-Json`
Get system info	`Get-ComputerInfo`
Manage services	`Get-Service`, `Start-Service`, `Stop-Service`
Read event logs	`Get-WinEvent`
Search file contents	`Select-String`
Look up a command	`Get-Command`
Read command help	`Get-Help`
Explore object properties	`Get-Member`