How to enter a multi-line command

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Is it possible to split a PowerShell command line over multiple lines?

In Visual Basic I can use the underscore (_) to continue the command in the next line.

15 Answers

Just add a corner case here. It might save you 5 minutes. If you use a chain of actions, you need to put "." at the end of line, leave a space followed by the "`" (backtick). I found this out the hard way.

$yourString = "HELLO world! POWERSHELL!". `
                  Replace("HELLO", "Hello"). `
                  Replace("POWERSHELL", "Powershell")

Just use ` character to separate command on multiline

I started by doing

if ($true) {
"you can write multiple lines here, and the command doesn't run untill you close the bracket"

"like this"
}

Recently found out I could just

&{
get-date
"more stuff"
}
  1. Use a semi-colon ; to separate command
  2. Replace double backslash \\ on any backslashes \.
  3. Use "' for passing safe address to switch command like "'PATH'".

This ps1 command install locale pfx certificate.

powershell -Command "$pfxPassword = ConvertTo-SecureString -String "12345678" -Force -AsPlainText ; Import-PfxCertificate -FilePath "'C:\\Program Files\\VpnManagement\\resources\\assets\\cert\\localhost.pfx'" Cert:\\LocalMachine\\My -Password $pfxPassword ; Import-PfxCertificate -FilePath "'C:\\Program Files\\VpnManagement\\resources\\assets\\cert\\localhost.pfx'" Cert:\\LocalMachine\\Root -Password $pfxPassword"

This is an old post, so here's the modern method.

If you're not using legacy powershell, the cleanest way to continue lines is the pipe at the start of the line.

enter image description here

Note: The command doesn't break with some lines commented out. This is great on the command line.

> Get-ChildItem -path 'c:\' -Depth 1                 
    | Sort-Object LastWriteTime                       
    # | Sort-Object Length -Descending                   
    | Select-Object -First 3 -Skip 3                   
    | Foreach-Object {                                 
      $_.Name, $_.Length | Join-String -Separator ' = '                                                       
    }                                                  

output:

explorer.exe = 4826160                                 
procexp.old.exe = 2925760                              
RtlExUpd.dll = 2839488                                 

Windows Powershell ( Version < 6 )

Unfortunately windows powershell does not support it. A bunch of alternatives are linked above. You can remove the backtick completely: 2017/07/bye-bye-backtick-natural-line

$scriptBlock = [Scriptblock]::Create(@'
  echo 'before'
  ipconfig /all
  echo 'after'
'@)

Invoke-Command -ComputerName AD01 -ScriptBlock $scriptBlock

source
don't use backquote

In windows terminal (powershell profile) I can simply click Shift-Enter works fine for me.

PS C:\xxx2021> Get-ChildItem -Include *remote* -Recurse |
>> Sort-Object -Property LastWriteTime -Descending  |
>> Select-Object LastWriteTime, Name -First 25

LastWriteTime        Name
-------------        ----
12/5/2021 5:04:02 PM remote-control-car-BatteryPack-Number-2021-12-03.pdf

PS C:\xxx2021>enter code here
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