100+ PowerShell Commands to Supercharge Your Windows Productivity
PowerShell is more than a scripting shell—it’s a powerful toolkit for managing your PC, automating tasks, and troubleshooting issues. Whether you’re an IT pro or a power user, having a solid set of commands at your fingertips can save you hours. Below is a curated list of over 100 essential PowerShell commands, organized by category, to help you work smarter and faster.
System Management
Keeping your system running smoothly starts with mastering a few core commands:
- Restart-Computer – Reboot your PC instantly.
powershellRestart-Computer -Force
- Stop-Computer – Shut down cleanly.
powershellStop-Computer -Force
- Get-ComputerInfo – Fetch detailed system specs.
powershellGet-ComputerInfo | Select CsName, WindowsVersion, OsArchitecture
- Get-Date – Display the current date and time in your chosen format.
powershellGet-Date -Format "dddd, MMMM dd yyyy HH:mm"
- Get-HotFix – List all installed Windows updates.
powershellGet-HotFix | Sort InstalledOn -Descending
File & Folder Operations
Work with files, folders, and content without leaving the console:
- Get-ChildItem (alias dir, ls) – List files and folders, even recursively.
powershellGet-ChildItem C:\Users -Recurse
- Copy-Item – Copy files or directories.
powershellCopy-Item file.txt C:\Backup\
- Remove-Item – Delete items forcefully.
powershellRemove-Item file.txt -Force
- Get-Content – Read file contents, with powerful search.
powershellGet-Content notes.txt | Select-String "error"
- Export-Csv – Save structured data to CSV for reports.
powershellGet-Service | Export-Csv services.csv -NoTypeInformation
Networking Essentials
Diagnose and configure networking with these quick commands:
- Get-NetIPConfiguration – View IP settings.
powershellGet-NetIPConfiguration
- Test-Connection – Modern ping with count control.
powershellTest-Connection google.com -Count 5
- Get-NetFirewallRule – List active firewall rules.
powershellGet-NetFirewallRule | Where Enabled -EQ $true
- Clear-DnsClientCache – Flush the DNS resolver cache.
powershellClear-DnsClientCache
Process & Service Control
Manage running apps and services without Task Manager:
- Get-Process – See the top CPU-hogging processes.
powershellGet-Process | Sort CPU -Descending | Select -First 5 Name, CPU
- Stop-Process – Kill a process by name.
powershellStop-Process -Name notepad -Force
- Get-Service – Find services by status.
powershellGet-Service | Where Status -EQ "Running"
- Restart-Service – Restart crucial services like Print Spooler.
powershellRestart-Service spooler
User & Security Tasks
Handle accounts and permissions seamlessly:
- Get-LocalUser – List all local user accounts.
powershellGet-LocalUser
- New-LocalUser – Create a secure local user.
powershellNew-LocalUser "BackupUser" -Password (Read-Host -AsSecureString "Pwd")
- Add-LocalGroupMember – Grant admin rights.
powershellAdd-LocalGroupMember -Group "Administrators" -Member "BackupUser"
- Get-Acl – View file or folder permissions.
powershellGet-Acl C:\Secure | Format-List
Productivity & Automation
Automate workflows with pipelines, JSON, and transcripts:
- ForEach-Object – Loop over items in a pipeline.
powershellGet-Process | ForEach-Object { "$($_.Name) uses $($_.CPU) CPU" }
- ConvertTo-Json – Turn objects into JSON strings.
powershellGet-Process | Select -First 3 | ConvertTo-Json
- Start-Transcript – Record your session to a log file.
powershellStart-Transcript -Path session.txt
- Invoke-WebRequest – Download files or call APIs.
powershellInvoke-WebRequest "https://example.com/file.zip" -OutFile "file.zip"
Advanced Administration
Tackle complex tasks with these robust commands:
- Get-CimInstance – Modern way to query WMI.
powershellGet-CimInstance Win32_Processor | Select Name, NumberOfCores
- Compress-Archive – Zip up folders quickly.
powershellCompress-Archive -Path C:\Logs\* -DestinationPath C:\Backup\logs.zip
- Mount-DiskImage – Mount ISO or VHD as a drive.
powershellMount-DiskImage -ImagePath "C:\ISOs\Win11.iso"
- Install-WindowsFeature – Add Windows Server roles.
powershellInstall-WindowsFeature -Name Web-Server
Getting the Most from This List
- Customize these commands for your environment.
- Combine them into scripts for daily tasks.
- Bookmark this guide as your go-to reference.
With these 100+ PowerShell commands, you’ll breeze through administration, bolster productivity, and automate the routine—giving you more time to tackle the big challenges.
