Select-Object is the PowerShell cmdlet that picks properties from objects, or picks a number of objects from a list. The examples below use this list of employees: To keep only some properties, list them after -Property: Output: I ran every example in real PowerShell 7.6 and Windows PowerShell 5.1 consoles. Where a parameter exists in … Read more
To prompt for input in PowerShell, use Read-Host. It shows your message, waits until the user types something and presses Enter, and returns what they typed: Output (what I typed follows the colon): PowerShell adds the colon and space after your prompt text, so leave them out of the message. The value goes into $name, … Read more
To create a table with headers in PowerShell, make [pscustomobject] rows. The property names become the column headers, and PowerShell prints the rows as a table: Output: For custom header text, widths and number formats, use Format-Table with calculated columns. I ran every example in PowerShell 7.6 and Windows PowerShell 5.1, and the tables match … Read more
To get the first day of next month in PowerShell, build the first day of the current month, then add one month with AddMonths(1). Using .Date sets the time to midnight: Output: From that first day, every other month boundary is one step away. I used a fixed date of September 29, 2026, so the … Read more
To add days to a date in PowerShell, call the date’s AddDays() method. Use a negative number to go back in time, like AddDays(-7) for a week ago: Output: For today’s date, start from (Get-Date), as in (Get-Date).AddDays(30). I used fixed dates so you get the same output, and I ran every example in PowerShell … Read more
Recently, I gave an online session on pipeline variables for a PowerShell user group. In this tutorial, I will explain everything about PowerShell pipeline variables with examples. Pipeline variables in PowerShell, introduced with the -PipelineVariable parameter in PowerShell 7, allow you to store the output of a command within a pipeline for reuse later in the same … Read more
To increment a variable in PowerShell, use the ++ operator, like $count++, to add 1. Use += to add any other amount, and — to subtract 1: Output: That covers numbers. Strings, IDs with leading zeros and variables inside functions need a little more care, which I show below. Every example ran in PowerShell 7.6 … Read more
Recently, one of my clients asked me to create a random password generator. I suggested PowerShell for it. In this tutorial, I will show you how to create a random password generator using PowerShell. Generate Random Password Using PowerShell Now, let me show you different methods to generate random passwords using PowerShell. Method 1: Using … Read more
To generate a random string in PowerShell, turn a list of allowed characters into an array, pick characters with Get-Random in a loop, and join them with -join: Output (yours will differ): That’s fine for test data and file names. For passwords, API keys or tokens, use the secure method further down, since Get-Random isn’t … Read more
To extract text between two delimiters in PowerShell, match it with a regular expression and a capture group. The part in parentheses lands in $Matches[1]: Output: The ? after .* matters more than it looks, and -match only returns the first match. Both are covered below. I ran every example in PowerShell 7.6 and Windows … Read more
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