What Is PowerShell? A Simple Guide

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PowerShell is a tool for controlling your computer using commands. It’s made by Microsoft and is especially useful if you want to automate tasks or do things faster than clicking around.

What Can PowerShell Do?

With PowerShell, you can:

  • See a list of running programs
  • Copy and move files
  • Get information about your computer
  • Do the same task over and over—automatically

How Is It Different from Command Prompt?

PowerShellCommand Prompt
Smarter and more powerfulOlder and simpler
Works with files, programs, and settingsBasic commands only
It can be used on Windows, Mac, and LinuxMostly Windows only

Easy Examples

Here are some simple things you can type into PowerShell:

# Show all open programs
Get-Process

# Copy a file
Copy-Item "C:\MyFile.txt" "D:\Backup\"

# Show computer info
Get-ComputerInfo

Just type these into PowerShell and hit Enter!


Why Should You Care?

If you:

  • Work with a lot of files
  • Want to save time
  • Like learning cool computer tricks

Ready to Try?

To open PowerShell:

  1. Click the Start button.
  2. Type PowerShell.
  3. Press Enter.

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