PowerShell file operations

last modified February 15, 2025

In this article we show how to work with files in PowerShell.

PowerShell is a cross-platform task automation solution made up of a command-line shell, a scripting language, and a configuration management framework.

PowerShell provides a rich set of cmdlets for file operations.

Get-ChildItem

The Get-ChildItem cmdlet gets the items in one or more specified locations.

Get-ChildItem -Path "C:\"

In this program, we get the child items of the root of the C drive.

PS C:\> .\get_child_item.ps1

    Directory: C:\


Mode                LastWriteTime         Length Name
----                -------------         ------ ----
d-----        15/02/2025     16:23                Config.Msi
d-----        15/02/2025     16:23                Documents and Settings
d-----        15/02/2025     16:23                PerfLogs
d-----        15/02/2025     16:23                Program Files
d-----        15/02/2025     16:23                Program Files (x86)
d-----        15/02/2025     16:23                Recovery
d-----        15/02/2025     16:23                System Volume Information
d-----        15/02/2025     16:23                Users
d-----        15/02/2025     16:23                Windows

We run the script and see the output.

Remove-Item

The Remove-Item cmdlet deletes items such as files, directories, and registry keys.

Remove-Item -Path "test.txt"

In this program, we delete a file named test.txt.

PS C:\> .\remove_item.ps1

We run the script and see no output.

Copy-Item

The Copy-Item cmdlet copies an item from one location to another.

Copy-Item -Path "test.txt" -Destination "test_copy.txt"

In this program, we copy a file named test.txt to a new file named test_copy.txt.

PS C:\> .\copy_item.ps1

We run the script and see no output.

Move-Item

The Move-Item cmdlet moves an item from one location to another.

Move-Item -Path "test.txt" -Destination "test_moved.txt"

In this program, we move a file named test.txt to a new file named test_moved.txt.

PS C:\> .\move_item.ps1

We run the script and see no output.

Test-Path

The Test-Path cmdlet tests whether a path exists.

Test-Path -Path "test_moved.txt"

In this program, we test whether a file named test_moved.txt exists.

PS C:\> .\test_path.ps1
True

We run the script and see the output.

Source

PowerShell documentation

In this article we have shown you how to work with files in PowerShell.

Author

My name is Jan Bodnar, and I am a passionate programmer with extensive programming experience. I have been writing programming articles since 2007. To date, I have authored over 1,400 articles and 8 e-books. I possess more than ten years of experience in teaching programming.

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