ConvertTo-Json in PowerShell (With Examples)

ConvertTo-Json turns PowerShell objects, hashtables and arrays into JSON text. Pipe the data to it, and use [ordered] so the keys keep your order:

$employee = [ordered]@{
    Name   = 'Alice Johnson'
    Office = 'Austin'
    Skills = 'PowerShell', 'Azure'
}

$employee | ConvertTo-Json

Output in PowerShell 7:

{
  "Name": "Alice Johnson",
  "Office": "Austin",
  "Skills": [
    "PowerShell",
    "Azure"
  ]
}

Output in Windows PowerShell 5.1:

{
    "Name":  "Alice Johnson",
    "Office":  "Austin",
    "Skills":  [
                   "PowerShell",
                   "Azure"
               ]
}

Both are valid JSON with the same data, only the spacing differs. I ran every example in PowerShell 7.6 and Windows PowerShell 5.1 and point out each difference.

Compact JSON with -Compress

-Compress removes the spaces and line breaks, which is what APIs and log files usually want:

[ordered]@{ Name = 'Alice Johnson'; Office = 'Austin' } | ConvertTo-Json -Compress

Output:

{"Name":"Alice Johnson","Office":"Austin"}

Convert an array of objects

An array of objects becomes a JSON array, and $true and $false become true and false:

$servers = @(
    [pscustomobject]@{ Name = 'WEB01'; Role = 'Web'; Online = $true }
    [pscustomobject]@{ Name = 'SQL01'; Role = 'Database'; Online = $false }
)
$servers | ConvertTo-Json -Compress

Output:

[{"Name":"WEB01","Role":"Web","Online":true},{"Name":"SQL01","Role":"Database","Online":false}]

A one-item array loses its brackets

When you pipe a single-item array, the pipeline unrolls it and ConvertTo-Json sees one value. Pass it with -InputObject to keep the array:

$list = @('WEB01')

"Piped:        $($list | ConvertTo-Json -Compress)"
"-InputObject: $(ConvertTo-Json -InputObject $list -Compress)"

Output:

Piped:        "WEB01"
-InputObject: ["WEB01"]

This bites when an API expects a list and your filter happens to return one item. PowerShell 7 also has -AsArray, shown at the end.

Nested data needs -Depth

ConvertTo-Json only serializes two levels deep by default. Deeper data turns into a type name, which creating JSON files shows in full. Add -Depth for nested settings, such as -Depth 5.

Dates and enums

Dates are where the two versions differ most. PowerShell 7 writes ISO 8601, while 5.1 writes an old Microsoft format:

$when = [datetime]::SpecifyKind([datetime]'2026-09-28 14:30', 'Utc')

"As a DateTime: $(@{ Updated = $when } | ConvertTo-Json -Compress)"
"As text:       $(@{ Updated = $when.ToString('o') } | ConvertTo-Json -Compress)"

Output in PowerShell 7:

As a DateTime: {"Updated":"2026-09-28T14:30:00Z"}
As text:       {"Updated":"2026-09-28T14:30:00.0000000Z"}

Output in Windows PowerShell 5.1:

As a DateTime: {"Updated":"\/Date(1790605800000)\/"}
As text:       {"Updated":"2026-09-28T14:30:00.0000000Z"}

Convert dates to text with ToString(‘o’) first, and every system reads them the same way. Enums, like the day of the week, come out as numbers in both versions:

$day = ([datetime]'2026-09-28').DayOfWeek

"Enum:         $(@{ Day = $day } | ConvertTo-Json -Compress)"
"As a string:  $(@{ Day = $day.ToString() } | ConvertTo-Json -Compress)"

Output:

Enum:         {"Day":1}
As a string:  {"Day":"Monday"}

Convert a string to JSON, and JSON text to objects

A plain string becomes a quoted JSON string with its quotes escaped. To go the other way, from JSON text to objects, use ConvertFrom-Json:

$text = 'Order 1042 shipped to "Austin, TX"'
$text | ConvertTo-Json

$json = '{ "Order": 1042, "City": "Austin", "Paid": true }'
$order = $json | ConvertFrom-Json
"Order $($order.Order) for $($order.City), paid: $($order.Paid)"

Output:

"Order 1042 shipped to \"Austin, TX\""
Order 1042 for Austin, paid: True

ConvertFrom-Json gives you objects with real properties, so $order.City just works. The ConvertFrom-Json documentation covers -Depth for reading.

Validate JSON text

Catching a ConvertFrom-Json error is the usual check, but PowerShell 7 accepts a trailing comma that 5.1 rejects:

$good = '{ "Order": 1042 }'
$bad  = '{ "Order": 1042, }'

foreach ($json in $good, $bad) {
    try { $null = $json | ConvertFrom-Json -ErrorAction Stop; "Valid:   $json" }
    catch { "Invalid: $json" }
}

Output in PowerShell 7:

Valid:   { "Order": 1042 }
Valid:   { "Order": 1042, }

Output in Windows PowerShell 5.1:

Valid:   { "Order": 1042 }
Invalid: { "Order": 1042, }

For a strict check in PowerShell 7, use Test-Json, which rejects the trailing comma.

Extra options in PowerShell 7

PowerShell 7 adds -AsArray, -EnumsAsStrings and the Test-Json cmdlet. None of them exist in Windows PowerShell 5.1:

"-AsArray:        $(@('WEB01') | ConvertTo-Json -Compress -AsArray)"
"-EnumsAsStrings: $(@{ Day = ([datetime]'2026-09-28').DayOfWeek } | ConvertTo-Json -Compress -EnumsAsStrings)"
"Test-Json good:  $(Test-Json -Json '{ "Order": 1042 }')"
"Test-Json bad:   $(Test-Json -Json '{ "Order": 1042, }' -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue)"

Output in PowerShell 7:

-AsArray:        ["WEB01"]
-EnumsAsStrings: {"Day":"Monday"}
Test-Json good:  True
Test-Json bad:   False

PowerShell 7 also has -EscapeHandling, which controls escaping of characters like & and quotes. The ConvertTo-Json documentation lists every parameter.

Frequently Asked Questions

More guides for working with data formats:

• Create JSON and XML files
• Convert JSON to CSV
• Hashtables and ordered dictionaries
• Create an array of objects