How to Add a New Line in a PowerShell String

To add a new line in a PowerShell string, put `n (backtick n) inside a double-quoted string. The text after it starts on the next line:

$message = "Order 1042 has shipped.`nIt should arrive by Friday, October 2, 2026."
$message

Output:

Order 1042 has shipped.
It should arrive by Friday, October 2, 2026.

That covers most scripts. Below I show the other new line options, when each one matters, and how to turn spaces into new lines.

I ran every example in PowerShell 7.6 and Windows PowerShell 5.1, and the results were identical.

`n vs `r`n vs [Environment]::NewLine

PowerShell has three common ways to write a line break. This shows the actual characters each one produces on Windows:

function Show-Breaks([string]$Text) { $Text.Replace("`r", '\r').Replace("`n", '\n') }

'Backtick n:           ' + (Show-Breaks "A`nB")
'Backtick r n:         ' + (Show-Breaks "A`r`nB")
'Environment NewLine:  ' + (Show-Breaks "A$([Environment]::NewLine)B")

Output:

Backtick n:           A\nB
Backtick r n:         A\r\nB
Environment NewLine:  A\r\nB

Syntax	Characters	Use it for
`n	Line feed (LF)	Console output and most strings
`r`n	Carriage return + line feed (CRLF)	Windows text files and tools that expect CRLF
[Environment]::NewLine	CRLF on Windows, LF on Linux and macOS	Scripts that run on more than one OS

In the console, `n and `r`n look the same. The difference only shows up in files and in programs that read them.

Why `n doesn’t work in single quotes

Backtick escapes only work in double-quoted strings. Single quotes print everything exactly as typed:

'Single quotes: Line one`nLine two'
"Double quotes: Line one`nLine two"

Output:

Single quotes: Line one`nLine two
Double quotes: Line one
Line two

If your `n shows up as literal text, check the quotes first. Microsoft lists every escape sequence in about_Special_Characters.

Use [Environment]::NewLine for cross-platform scripts

[Environment]::NewLine returns the line break of the OS the script runs on. It’s handy when you build a string by adding parts together:

$address = '1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW' + [Environment]::NewLine + 'Washington, DC 20500'
$address

Output:

1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW
Washington, DC 20500

PowerShell 7 runs on Linux and macOS too, so this keeps your output right everywhere without checking the OS yourself.

Write multi-line text with a here-string

For longer text, like an email body, a here-string is easier to read than a string full of `n. Everything between @" and "@ keeps its line breaks, and variables still expand:

$name  = 'Alice'
$total = 149

$body = @"
Hi $name,

Your order total is `$$total.
Thanks for shopping with us.
"@

$body

Output:

Hi Alice,

Your order total is $149.
Thanks for shopping with us.

The closing "@ must start at the beginning of its own line. Use @' and '@ instead when you don’t want variables to expand. about_Quoting_Rules covers both forms.

One thing to know: a here-string gets its line breaks from the script file itself. I saved the same script with CRLF and LF endings, and the here-string had CRLF in one and LF in the other.

Join lines into one string

If your lines are already in an array, -join puts a new line between them:

$report = 'Server: WEB01', 'Status: Running', 'Uptime: 12 days'
$report -join [Environment]::NewLine

Output:

Server: WEB01
Status: Running
Uptime: 12 days

For console output only, Write-Host can do the same with -Separator:

Write-Host 'Backup started' 'Copied 12 files' 'Backup finished' -Separator "`n"

Output:

Backup started
Copied 12 files
Backup finished

See how to concatenate strings in PowerShell for more ways to combine text.

Convert spaces to new lines

To put each word of a string on its own line, replace the spaces with `n. The .Replace() method is the simplest way:

$fruits = 'Apple Banana Cherry Mango'
$fruits.Replace(' ', "`n")

Output:

Apple
Banana
Cherry
Mango

Handle tabs and double spaces

.Replace() only matches one exact space. The -replace operator takes a regular expression, so \s+ matches any run of spaces and tabs:

$servers = "WEB01  WEB02`tSQL01 `t FILE01"
$servers -replace '\s+', "`n"

Output:

WEB01
WEB02
SQL01
FILE01

Split, clean up, then join

With extra spaces, splitting on a single space leaves empty items. Trim the string and split on \s+ instead, then join with a new line:

$servers = '  WEB01  WEB02   SQL01  '

"Split on one space:  $(($servers -split ' ').Count) items"
"Split on whitespace: $(($servers.Trim() -split '\s+').Count) items"

($servers.Trim() -split '\s+') -join "`n"

Output:

Split on one space:  10 items
Split on whitespace: 3 items
WEB01
WEB02
SQL01

This way you get an array in the middle, so you can filter or sort the items before joining. Splitting strings in PowerShell goes deeper.

Turn a space-separated file into one item per line

Say servers.txt holds WEB01 WEB02 SQL01 FILE01 PRINT01 on one line. Read it, split it, and write one name per line:

$names = (Get-Content -Path C:\psfaqs\servers.txt -Raw).Trim() -split '\s+'
$names | Set-Content -Path C:\psfaqs\server-list.txt

Get-Content -Path C:\psfaqs\server-list.txt
"Lines in the new file: $((Get-Content -Path C:\psfaqs\server-list.txt).Count)"

Output:

WEB01
WEB02
SQL01
FILE01
PRINT01
Lines in the new file: 5

Set-Content writes each array item on its own line, so you don’t need to add any new line characters yourself.

Split a string into lines

To go the other way, split on "`r?`n". It matches both Windows and Linux line breaks:

$log = "Started`r`nCopied 12 files`nFinished"
$lines = $log -split "`r?`n"

"Lines: $($lines.Count)"
"Second line: $($lines[1])"

Output:

Lines: 3
Second line: Copied 12 files

To remove the line breaks instead, see how to remove a newline from a string.

Watch out for mixed line endings in files

Set-Content ends each line with CRLF on Windows. If your string also has `n inside it, the file ends up with both kinds:

function Show-Breaks([string]$Text) { $Text.Replace("`r", '\r').Replace("`n", '\n') }

$text = "Line one`nLine two"

$text | Set-Content -Path C:\psfaqs\notes.txt
'Before: ' + (Show-Breaks ([System.IO.File]::ReadAllText('C:\psfaqs\notes.txt')))

$text -replace "`r?`n", "`r`n" | Set-Content -Path C:\psfaqs\notes.txt
'After:  ' + (Show-Breaks ([System.IO.File]::ReadAllText('C:\psfaqs\notes.txt')))

Output:

Before: Line one\nLine two\r\n
After:  Line one\r\nLine two\r\n

Most editors handle this, but diff tools and older programs may not. Replacing "`r?`n" with "`r`n" before writing gives you a clean Windows file.

Frequently Asked Questions

You might also find these string guides useful:

• Remove a newline from a string
• Convert a multiline string to a single line
• Escape special characters in PowerShell
• Split a string in PowerShell