List of Available PowerShell Cmdlets
PowerShell is a completly new scripting language to me and as such there’s so much I don’t know about it, and while I can browse the net all day looking for information, I wanted to see how I could get PowerShell to tell me everything it knows first before I turn to the almighty Google. Searching for available Microsoft PowerShell Cmdlet descriptions (pronounced command-lets) and what they do I used the get-help command. After I ran this, I immediately noticed a Get-Help * command appear, so off I went.
Get-Help *
Well honestly this returned more than I was expecting in included aliases, providers, and help files, I on the otherhand was only interested in cmdlets, at least for the moment. So in true PowerShell style, I ran the following query against PowerShell to only show me the cmdlets in the help section.
Get-Help * | Where-Object { $_.Category -eq 'Cmdlet' }
Of course, this also told me that that the category was a Cmdlet and to keep things looking nice, I decided to filter out only what I wanted by taking it a step further and running another query against my query…
Get-Help * | Where-Object { $_.Category -eq 'Cmdlet' } | Select Name,Synopsis,PSSnapIn | Sort Name
The following command returned a lot of useful information about PowerShell cmdlets. Every item in the PSSnapIn should be prefixed with “Microsoft.PowerShell,” I just edited it out room to make it look cleaner.
| Name | Synopsis | PSSnapIn |
| Add-Content | Adds content to the specified item(s). | Management |
| Add-History | Appends entries to the session history. | Core |
| Add-Member | Adds a user-defined custom member to an instance of a Windows PowerShell object. | Utility |
| Add-PSSnapin | Adds one or more Windows PowerShell snap-ins to the current console. | Core |
| Clear-Content | Deletes the contents of a item, such as deleting the text from a file, but does not delete the item. | Management |
| Clear-Item | Deletes the contents of an item, but does not delete the item. | Management |
| Clear-ItemProperty | Deletes the value of a property but it does not delete the property. | Management |
| Clear-Variable | Deletes the value of a variable. | Utility |
| Compare-Object | Compares two sets of objects. | Utility |
| ConvertFrom-SecureString | Converts a secure string into an encrypted standard string. | Security |
| Convert-Path | Converts a path from a Windows PowerShell path to a Windows PowerShell provider path. | Management |
| ConvertTo-Html | Creates an HTML page that represents an object or a set of objects. | Utility |
| ConvertTo-SecureString | Converts encrypted standard strings to secure strings. It can also convert plain text to secure strings. It is used with ConvertFrom-SecureString and Read-Host. | .Security |
| Copy-Item | Copies an item from one location to another within a namespace. | Management |
| Copy-ItemProperty | Copies a property and value from a specified location to another location. | Management |
| Export-Alias | Exports information about currently-defined aliases to a file. | Utility |
| Export-Clixml | Creates an XML-based representation of an object or objects and stores it in a file. | Utility |
| Export-Console | Exports the configuration of the current console to a file so that you can reuse or share it. | Core |
| Export-Csv | Creates a comma-separated values (CSV) file that represents the input objects. | Utility |
| ForEach-Object | Performs an operation against each of a set of input objects. | Core |
| Format-Custom | Uses a customized view to format the output. | Utility |
| Format-List | Formats the output as a list of properties in which each property appears on a new line. | Utility |
| Format-Table | Formats the output as a table. | Utility |
| Format-Wide | Formats objects as a wide table that displays only one property of each object. | Utility |
| Get-Acl | Gets the security descriptor for a resource, such as a file or registry key. | Security |
| Get-Alias | Gets the aliases for the current session. | Utility |
| Get-AuthenticodeSignature | Gets information about the Authenticode signature in a file. | Security |
| Get-ChildItem | Gets the items and child items in one or more specified locations. | Management |
| Get-Command | Gets basic information about cmdlets and about other elements of Windows PowerShell commands. | Core |
| Get-Content | Gets the content of the item at the specified location. | Management |
| Get-Credential | Gets a credential object based on a user name and password. | Security |
| Get-Culture | Gets information about the regional settings on a computer. | Utility |
| Get-Date | Gets the current date and time. | Utility |
| Get-EventLog | Gets information about local event logs or the entries stored in those event logs. | Management |
| Get-ExecutionPolicy | Gets the current execution policy for the shell. | Security |
| Get-Help | Displays information about Windows PowerShell cmdlets and concepts. | Core |
| Get-History | Gets a list of the commands entered during the current session. | Core |
| Get-Host | Gets a reference to the current console host object. Displays Windows Powershell version and regional information by default. | Utility |
| Get-Item | Gets the item at the specified location. | Management |
| Get-ItemProperty | Retrieves the properties of a specified item. | Management |
| Get-Location | Gets information about the current working location. | Management |
| Get-Member | Gets information about objects or collections of objects. | Utility |
| Get-PfxCertificate | Gets information about .pfx certificate files on the computer. | Security |
| Get-Process | Gets the processes that are running on the local computer. | Management |
| Get-PSDrive | Gets information about Windows PowerShell drives. | Management |
| Get-PSProvider | Gets information about the specified Windows PowerShell provider. | Management |
| Get-PSSnapin | Gets the Windows PowerShell snap-ins on the computer. | Core |
| Get-Service | Gets the services on the local computer. | Management |
| Get-TraceSource | Gets the Windows PowerShell components that are instrumented for tracing. | Utility |
| Get-UICulture | gets information about the current user interface culture for Windows PowerShell. | Utility |
| Get-Unique | Returns the unique items from a sorted list. | Utility |
| Get-Variable | Gets the variables in the current console. | Utility |
| Get-WmiObject | Gets instances of WMI classes or information about available classes. | Management |
| Group-Object | Groups objects that contain the same value for specified properties. | Utility |
| Import-Alias | Imports an alias list from a file. | Utility |
| Import-Clixml | Imports a CLIXML file and creates corresponding objects within Windows PowerShell. | Utility |
| Import-Csv | Imports comma-separated value (CSV) files in the format produced by the Export-CSV cmdlet and returns objects that correspond to the objects represented in that CSV file. | Utility |
| Invoke-Expression | Runs a Windows PowerShell expression that is provided in the form of a string. | Utility |
| Invoke-History | Runs commands from the session history. | Core |
| Invoke-Item | Invokes the provider-specific default action on the specified item. | Management |
| Join-Path | Combines a path and child-path into a single path. The provider supplies the path delimiters. | Management |
| Measure-Command | Measures the time it takes to run script blocks and cmdlets. | Utility |
| Measure-Object | Measures characteristics of objects and their properties. | Utility |
| Move-Item | Moves an item from one location to another. | Management |
| Move-ItemProperty | Moves a property from one location to another. | Management |
| New-Alias | Creates a new alias. | Utility |
| New-Item | Creates a new item in a namespace. | Management |
| New-ItemProperty | Sets a new property of an item at a location. | Management |
| New-Object | Creates an instance of a .Net or COM object. | Utility |
| New-PSDrive | Installs a new WIndows PowerShell drive. | Management |
| New-Service | Creates a new entry for a Windows Service in the registry and the Service Database. | Management |
| New-TimeSpan | Creates a TimeSpan object. | Utility |
| New-Variable | Creates a new variable. | Utility |
| Out-Default | Send the output to the default formatter and the default output cmdlet. This cmdlet has no effect on the formatting or output. It is a placeholder that lets you write your own Out-Default function or cmdlet. | Utility |
| Out-File | Sends output to a file. | Utility |
| Out-Host | Sends output to the command line. | Utility |
| Out-Null | Deletes output instead of sending it to the console. | Utility |
| Out-Printer | Sends output to a printer. | Utility |
| Out-String | Sends objects to the host as a series of strings. | Utility |
| Pop-Location | Changes the current location to the location most recently pushed onto the stack. You can pop the location from the default stack or from a stack that you create by using Push-Location. | Management |
| Push-Location | Pushes the current location onto the stack. | Management |
| Read-Host | Reads a line of input from the console. | Utility |
| Remove-Item | Deletes the specified items. | Management |
| Remove-ItemProperty | Deletes the property and its value from an item. | Management |
| Remove-PSDrive | Removes a Windows PowerShell drive from its location. | Management |
| Remove-PSSnapin | Removes Windows PowerShell snap-ins from the current console. | Core |
| Remove-Variable | Deletes a variable and its value. | Utility |
| Rename-Item | Renames an item in a Windows PowerShell provider namespace. | Management |
| Rename-ItemProperty | Renames a property of an item. | Management |
| Resolve-Path | Resolves the wildcard characters in a path and displays the path contents. | Management |
| Restart-Service | Stops and then starts one or more services. | Management |
| Resume-Service | Resumes one or more suspended (paused) services. | Management |
| Select-Object | Selects specified properties of an object or set of objects. It can also select unique objects from an array of objects or it can select a specified number of objects from the beginning or end of an array of objects. | Utility |
| Select-String | Identifies patterns in strings. | Utility |
| Set-Acl | Changes the security descriptor of a specified resource, such as a file or a registry key. | Security |
| Set-Alias | Creates or changes an alias (alternate name) for a cmdlet or other command element in the current Windows PowerShell session. | Utility |
| Set-AuthenticodeSignature | Uses an authenticode signature to sign a Windows PowerShell script or other file. | Security |
| Set-Content | Writes or replaces the content in an item with new content. | Management |
| Set-Date | Changes the system time on the computer to a time that you specify. | Utility |
| Set-ExecutionPolicy | Changes the user preference for the execution policy of the shell. | Security |
| Set-Item | Changes the value of an item to the value specified in the command. | Management |
| Set-ItemProperty | Sets the value of a property at the specified location. | Management |
| Set-Location | Sets the current working location to a specified location. | Management |
| Set-PSDebug | Turns script debugging features on and off, sets the trace level and toggles strict mode. | Core |
| Set-Service | Changes the display name, description, or starting mode of a service. | Management |
| Set-TraceSource | Configures, starts, and stops a trace of Windows PowerShell components. | Utility |
| Set-Variable | Sets the value of a variable. Creates the variable if one with the requested name does not exist. | Utility |
| Sort-Object | Sorts objects by property values. | Utility |
| Split-Path | Returns the specified part of a path. | Management |
| Start-Service | Starts one or more stopped services. | Management |
| Start-Sleep | Suspend shell, script, or runspace activity for the specified period of time. | Utility |
| Start-Transcript | Creates a record of all or part of a Windows PowerShell session in a text file. | Host |
| Stop-Process | Stops one or more running processes. | Management |
| Stop-Service | Stops one or more running services. | Management |
| Stop-Transcript | Stops a transcript. | Host |
| Suspend-Service | Suspends (pauses) one or more running services. | Management |
| Tee-Object | Pipes object input to a file or variable, then passes the input along the pipeline. | Utility |
| Test-Path | Determines whether all elements of a path exist. | Management |
| Trace-Command | The Trace-Command cmdlet configures and starts a trace of the specified expression or command. | Utility |
| Update-FormatData | Updates and appends format data files. | Utility |
| Update-TypeData | Updates the current extended type configuration by reloading the *.types.ps1xml files into memory. | Utility |
| Where-Object | Creates a filter that controls which objects will be passed along a command pipeline. | Core |
| Write-Debug | Writes a debug message to the host display. | Utility |
| Write-Error | Writes an object to the error pipeline. | Utility |
| Write-Host | Displays objects by using the host user interface | Utility |
| Write-Output | Writes objects to the success pipeline. | Utility |
| Write-Progress | Displays a progress bar within a Windows PowerShell command window. | Utility |
| Write-Verbose | Writes a string to the verbose display of the host. | Utility |
| Write-Warning | Writes a warning message. | Utility |