PowerShell Wait-Process
last modified February 15, 2025
In this article, we will cover the Wait-Process cmdlet in
PowerShell. This cmdlet waits for processes to stop before continuing
script execution. It's useful for process synchronization.
Wait-Process basics
The Wait-Process cmdlet waits for one or more running processes
to stop before accepting input. It can wait for processes specified by name,
ID, or process object. This is helpful when scripts need to wait for
applications to complete.
Basic Wait-Process usage
The simplest way to use Wait-Process is with a process name.
The cmdlet will wait until all instances of that process terminate. This
blocks script execution until the condition is met.
Wait-Process -Name "notepad"
This command waits for all Notepad processes to exit. The PowerShell session will be unresponsive until Notepad closes. No output is produced unless using -Verbose.
Wait for process by ID
You can wait for a specific process using its process ID (PID). This is precise as each process has a unique ID. Use the -Id parameter followed by the PID. This is useful when targeting a specific instance.
Wait-Process -Id 1234
This command waits for the process with ID 1234 to terminate. The script will pause execution until this specific process exits. Useful for monitoring specific application instances.
Timeout for waiting
You can specify a timeout period for waiting using the -Timeout parameter. This prevents indefinite waiting if a process hangs. The value is in seconds. After timeout, an error is thrown if the process is still running.
Wait-Process -Name "calc" -Timeout 30
This waits for Calculator to exit, but only for 30 seconds. If Calculator is still running after 30 seconds, an error occurs. This prevents scripts from hanging indefinitely.
Wait for multiple processes
Wait-Process can wait for multiple processes simultaneously.
Provide multiple process names or IDs separated by commas. The cmdlet waits
until all specified processes terminate.
Wait-Process -Name "notepad", "calc"
This command waits for both Notepad and Calculator to close. The script continues only when neither process is running. Useful for complex dependency scenarios.
Pipeline input
Wait-Process accepts process objects from the pipeline. This
allows combining with Get-Process for flexible process
selection. The pipeline approach is powerful for complex filtering.
Get-Process -Name "chrome" | Wait-Process
This gets all Chrome processes and waits for them to exit. The pipeline
passes process objects directly to Wait-Process. This is
cleaner than using intermediate variables.
Error handling
By default, Wait-Process throws errors for non-existent
processes. Use -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue to suppress these errors.
This is useful when process termination is uncertain.
Wait-Process -Name "nonexistent" -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
This attempts to wait for a non-existent process but suppresses the error. The script continues immediately since the process isn't running. Useful for cleanup scripts.
Verbose output
The -Verbose parameter provides detailed information about the waiting process. This helps with debugging and monitoring script execution. Verbose output shows which processes are being monitored.
Wait-Process -Name "explorer" -Verbose
This waits for Windows Explorer to close with verbose output. The console shows real-time status updates. Helpful for understanding script behavior.
Combining with Stop-Process
Wait-Process is often used with Stop-Process to
ensure processes terminate. First request termination, then wait for
completion. This creates reliable process management sequences.
Stop-Process -Name "notepad" -PassThru | Wait-Process
This stops Notepad and waits for it to fully terminate. -PassThru passes
the process object to Wait-Process. Ensures clean shutdown
before continuing.
Source
In this article, we have covered the Wait-Process cmdlet in PowerShell.
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