Windows 10 comes with the classic command prompt and the newer PowerShell. But what is the difference and what is this "PowerShell" program? And what do you do with it anyway?
What is Windows PowerShell?
PowerShell from Microsoft is a program for entering commands into the computer. Some functions can be activated in PowerShell with a simple command, while this is complicated or not possible at all with a mouse click in the Windows settings.
To start PowerShell, simply enter " PowerShell " in the start menu . If you then click on the entry, PowerShell will start normally. Right click on it and select " Run as administrator " to use all of the features of this input console..
What can I do with PowerShell?
Using Windows PowerShell, you can type commands directly into an input window. We've rounded up some of the most useful features and tricks:
- This command is certainly very important, especially for beginners. This gives you a (very long) overview of all commands.
- [F7]
- If you press the [F7] key, the last lines entered will be displayed. However, this entry no longer works under the latest Windows version, but only on older systems.
-
clear + [Enter]
- This will hide the last lines entered. Only the current command line is displayed.
-
&& + [Enter]
- If you want to enter several commands at the same time, just separate them with a double ampersand. It is important that you do not use spaces before, between or after the ampersands.
- Drag file paths directly into PowerShell
- There is the option of opening Windows Explorer and dragging the file path there directly from the header in PowerShell. This saves you a lot of typing and you can also be sure that you are definitely using the correct path name.
-
dir [Dateiname] + [Enter]
- You can easily search for files with this command. For [Filename], enter the name of your file. If you do not know the full name, you can replace unknown parts with an asterisk *. The star can stand for a single letter or multiple letters. So if you want to search for a file named "File", it doesn't matter whether you enter "Date *" or "Dat *". You can get all the details about the dir command by
dir /? typing " ".
What is the difference between PowerShell and classic command prompt?
The difference between the classic command prompt and PowerShell is important: PowerShell is a newer version of the classic command prompt. This means that all commands from the command prompt work without any problems in Windows PowerShell. Since the PowerShell input is newer, the newer commands that are exclusive for it do not work in the classic command prompt. For example, if commands can also be created in PowerShell. PowerShell works object-oriented, which makes it much more flexible.
Another, insignificant difference is the background color: While the command prompt uses white text on a black background, PowerShell uses white text on a blue background. In itself this coloring has no meaning. However, it can help to find out which command input you are currently in..
The classic command prompt and PowerShell are very closely intertwined: If you enter " cmd " or " cmd.exe " in PowerShell , you will still see the blue background, but the commands are entered as in the classic command prompt.