Remove Top Line of Text File with PowerShell

user_23571 0
Viewed 170894

I am trying to just remove the first line of about 5000 text files before importing them.

I am still very new to PowerShell so not sure what to search for or how to approach this. My current concept using pseudo-code:

set-content file (get-content unless line contains amount)

However, I can't seem to figure out how to do something like contains.

powershell
11 Answers

It is not the most efficient in the world, but this should work:

get-content $file |
    select -Skip 1 |
    set-content "$file-temp"
move "$file-temp" $file -Force
user_744390

Using variable notation, you can do it without a temporary file:

${C:\file.txt} = ${C:\file.txt} | select -skip 1

function Remove-Topline ( [string[]]$path, [int]$skip=1 ) {
  if ( -not (Test-Path $path -PathType Leaf) ) {
    throw "invalid filename"
  }

  ls $path |
    % { iex "`${$($_.fullname)} = `${$($_.fullname)} | select -skip $skip" }
}
user_2301350

Another approach to remove the first line from file, using multiple assignment technique. Refer Link

 $firstLine, $restOfDocument = Get-Content -Path $filename 
 $modifiedContent = $restOfDocument 
 $modifiedContent | Out-String | Set-Content $filename
user_6349350

Following on from Michael Soren's answer.

If you want to edit all .txt files in the current directory and remove the first line from each.

Get-ChildItem (Get-Location).Path -Filter *.txt | 
Foreach-Object {
    (Get-Content $_.FullName | Select-Object -Skip 1) | Set-Content $_.FullName
}
user_193295540
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