Windows Command Line

Basic Usage

File and Directory

Get-ChildItem (ls)

A cmdlet that list the content of a specified directory.

PS C:\Users\user> Get-ChildItem


    Directory: C:\Users\user


Mode                 LastWriteTime         Length Name
----                 -------------         ------ ----
d-r---         3/15/2024  11:30 PM                3D Objects
d-r---         3/15/2024  11:30 PM                Contacts
d-r---          4/1/2009  12:10 PM                Desktop
d-r---         3/18/2024  10:39 PM                Documents
d-r---         3/16/2024   9:55 AM                Downloads
d-r---         3/15/2024  11:30 PM                Favorites
d-r---         3/15/2024  11:30 PM                Links
d-r---         3/15/2024  11:30 PM                Music
d-r---         3/15/2024  11:30 PM                Pictures
d-r---         3/15/2024  11:30 PM                Saved Games
d-r---         3/15/2024  11:31 PM                Searches
d-r---         3/15/2024  11:30 PM                Videos

Set-Location (cd)

A cmdlet that changes the working directory.

PS C:\Users\user> Set-Location .\Documents\
PS C:\Users\user\Documents>

New-Item

This cmdlet creates a new file or directory.

If no parameter is provided, it creates an empty file by default.

PS C:\Users\user\Documents> New-Item file.txt


    Directory: C:\Users\user\Documents


Mode                 LastWriteTime         Length Name
----                 -------------         ------ ----
-a----          4/1/2009  10:15 PM              0 file.txt

To create a directory, we can provide the -ItemType Directory parameter.

PS C:\Users\user\Documents> New-Item -ItemType Directory logs


    Directory: C:\Users\user\Documents


Mode                 LastWriteTime         Length Name
----                 -------------         ------ ----
d-----          4/1/2009  10:24 PM                logs

Remove-Item (rm)

This command deletes files or directories.

PS C:\Users\user\Documents> Remove-Item .\logs\