To get the length of a string in PowerShell, read its .Length property. It returns the number of characters, including spaces: Output: That works for everyday text. Arrays, numbers, emoji and byte counts behave differently, and I cover each one below. I ran every example in PowerShell 7.6 and Windows PowerShell 5.1, with the same … Read more
A multidimensional array in PowerShell is usually an array of arrays, called a jagged array. Each inner array is a row, and you read a value with two indexes, $array[row][column]: Output: PowerShell also has true two-dimensional arrays like [int[,]], covered further down. I ran every example in PowerShell 7.6 and Windows PowerShell 5.1, with the … Read more
To convert seconds to hours and minutes in PowerShell, turn the number into a TimeSpan with New-TimeSpan -Seconds. Its Hours, Minutes and Seconds properties hold the parts, and ToString formats it as hh:mm:ss: Output: The backslashes in ‘hh\:mm\:ss’ are required, because a colon means something special in TimeSpan formats. Every example ran in PowerShell 7.6 … Read more
To clear PowerShell history completely, clear the session list and delete the PSReadLine history file, which is what the Up arrow reads from: Then close and reopen PowerShell. Below I show both kinds of history, how to remove only one sensitive line, and how to stop PowerShell from saving commands. PowerShell keeps two kinds of … Read more
To get the BIOS version with PowerShell, run (Get-CimInstance -ClassName Win32_BIOS).SMBIOSBIOSVersion. It works in PowerShell 7 and Windows PowerShell 5.1 and doesn’t need admin rights: Output: I replaced this PC’s real BIOS details with placeholders like Contoso, 1.24.0 and ABC1234XYZ, and blacked them out in the screenshots. Your output will show your own values. Get … Read more
To get the BIOS serial number using PowerShell, read the SerialNumber property of the Win32_BIOS class. One line does it, with no admin rights needed: Output: That’s the same number printed on the sticker of most laptops and desktops. Below I compare the other places Windows stores serials, replace the old wmic command, and collect … Read more
To check hard drive space using PowerShell, run Get-Volume. It shows the free space (SizeRemaining) and total size of each drive, and it works without admin rights in Windows PowerShell 5.1 and PowerShell 7: Output: For a report you can reuse, including free space in GB, percent free and remote servers, query Win32_LogicalDisk. I’ll build … Read more
To list scheduled tasks with PowerShell, run Get-ScheduledTask. It returns every task you have permission to see, with its folder, name and state: On a typical PC that’s a couple of hundred tasks. Below I narrow the list by folder, name and state, read run results, see what each task runs, query remote PCs and … Read more
To append text to a file in PowerShell, use Add-Content with the file path and the text. It adds the text as a new line at the end, and leaves everything already in the file alone: Output: I ran every example in PowerShell 7.6 and Windows PowerShell 5.1. Most behave the same, but mixing Add-Content … Read more
Test-NetConnection checks whether your computer can reach another host, and whether a specific TCP port on it is open. Give it a computer name and a port: Output: TcpTestSucceeded True means the port accepted a connection. I selected three properties because the full output also lists your own IP address and network adapter. Every example … Read more