PowerShell Parameters

Debug db

Displays programmer-level detail about the operation done by the command for troubleshooting

ErrorAction ea

Determines how the cmdlet responds to a non-terminating error (Continue, Stop, SilentlyContinue, Inquire, Ignore, Break, Suspend)

ErrorVariable ev

Stores error messages from the command in the specified variable in addition to $Error

InformationAction infa

Determines how the cmdlet responds to information messages from Write-Information

InformationVariable iv

Stores information messages from the command in the specified variable

OutVariable ov

Stores output objects from the command in the specified variable in addition to sending output along the pipeline

OutBuffer ob

Determines the number of objects to accumulate in a buffer before sending them through the pipeline

PipelineVariable pv

Stores the current pipeline element as a variable that can be accessed by downstream commands

ProgressAction proga

Determines how PowerShell responds to progress updates like progress bars (added in PowerShell 7.4)

Verbose vb

Displays detailed information about the operation done by the command

WarningAction wa

Determines how the cmdlet responds to a warning message

WarningVariable wv

Stores warning messages from the command in the specified variable

WhatIf wi

Displays a message describing what would happen if the command executes, without actually executing it

Confirm cf

Prompts you for confirmation before executing the command

Get-Process -Debug

Shows debugging messages if the cmdlet generates them

Get-Process -Debug:$false

Suppresses debugging messages even if $DebugPreference is set

Continue

Displays the error message and continues executing (default)

Stop

Displays the error message and stops executing

SilentlyContinue

Suppresses the error message and continues executing

Inquire

Displays the error message and prompts for confirmation before continuing

Ignore

Suppresses the error message and doesn't add it to $Error variable

Break

Enters the debugger when an error occurs

Get-Process -ErrorVariable myErrors

Stores errors in $myErrors variable

Get-Process -ErrorVariable +myErrors

Appends errors to existing $myErrors variable

SilentlyContinue

Information messages are not displayed (default)

Continue

Displays information messages and continues

Stop

Stops execution when Write-Information is encountered

Inquire

Displays information message and asks if you want to continue

Ignore

Completely ignores information messages

Get-Process -OutVariable procs

Stores process objects in $procs variable

Get-Process -OutVariable +procs

Appends process objects to existing $procs variable

Get-ChildItem -PipelineVariable file | GetContent

Stores each file object in $file variable for access in downstream
commands

Get-Process -Verbose

Shows verbose messages if the cmdlet generates them

Get-Process -Verbose

$false

Suppresses verbose messages even if $VerbosePreference is set

Continue

Displays warning messages and continues (default)

Stop

Displays warning message and stops

SilentlyContinue

Suppresses warning messages and continues

Inquire

Displays warning and prompts for confirmation

Remove-Item file.txt -WhatIf

Shows what would be removed without actually removing it

New-Item test.txt -WhatIf

Shows what would be created without actually creating it

Remove-Item *.txt -Confirm

Prompts for confirmation before removing each file

Remove-Item file.txt -Confirm:$false

Suppresses confirmation prompts

Yes Y

Perform the action

Yes to All A

Perform all actions and suppress subsequent confirmation prompts

No N

Don't perform the action

No to All L

Don't perform any actions and suppress subsequent confirmation prompts

Suspend S

Pause the command and create a temporary nested session

Help ?

Display help for the confirmation options

Path

Specifies the path to a location

LiteralPath

Specifies a path where wildcards are not interpreted

Filter

Specifies a filter to qualify the Path parameter

Include

Specifies items to include in the operation

Exclude

Specifies items to exclude from the operation

Recurse

Performs the operation on items in subcontainers

Force

Forces the command to run without asking for user confirmation or overrides restrictions

ItemType

Specifies the type of item to create (File, Directory, SymbolicLink, etc.)

Property

Specifies object properties to select or display

Name

Specifies the name of an object

Value

Specifies a value to assign

InputObject

Specifies objects to process via parameter instead of pipeline

PassThru

Returns an object representing the item worked with (many cmdlets don't output by default)

First

Gets only the first specified number of objects

Last

Gets only the last specified number of objects

Skip

Skips the first specified number of objects

Unique

Returns only unique objects

Where

Specifies a filter expression

Sort

Sorts objects by property values

ComputerName

Specifies one or more remote computers

Credential

Specifies a user account with permission to perform the action

Session

Specifies a PSSession to use for the command

AsJob

Runs the command as a background job

Delimiter

Specifies a delimiter to separate values

Encoding

Specifies the file encoding (UTF8, ASCII, Unicode, etc.)

NoTypeInformation

Omits type information header from CSV output

Width

Specifies the width of output

Parameter Aliases

Most parameters have short aliases to reduce typing (e.g., -ea for -ErrorAction)

Switch Parameters

Parameters that don't require a value act as boolean flags (e.g., -Recurse)

Positional Parameters

Some parameters can be used without the parameter name if in the correct position

Tab Completion

Press Tab after typing a dash (-) to cycle through available parameters

Parameter Sets

Some cmdlets have different groups of parameters that can't be used together

Preference Variables

Common parameters override preference variables like $ErrorActionPreference