11---
22description : This article explains how to use the features of this site including search filtering and version selection.
33ms.date : 01/28/2026
4+ description : This article explains how to use the features of this site including search filtering and version selection.
5+ ms.date : 01/28/2026
46ms.topic : how-to
57title : How to use the PowerShell documentation
68---
79# How to use the PowerShell documentation
810
911Welcome to the PowerShell online documentation.
1012
11- ## Features of the Learn platform
13+ ![ Screenshot showing the various elements of the web page. ] [ 02 ]
1214
1315The web page contains multiple elements that help you use and navigate the documentation.
1416
15- ![ Screenshot showing the various elements of the web page.] [ 02 ]
16-
1717### Navigation elements
1818
1919- ** Site level navigation** - The site level navigation appears at the top of the page. It contains
@@ -26,6 +26,11 @@ The web page contains multiple elements that help you use and navigate the docum
2626
2727### Table of Contents
2828
29+ - ** Article navigation** - The article navigation appears at the top right of the article. It
30+ contains links to sections within the article.
31+
32+ ### Table of Contents
33+
2934- ** Version selector** - The version selector appears above the Table of Contents (TOC) and
3035 controls which version of the ** cmdlet reference** appears in the TOC.
3136- The ** Filter and search** box allows you to quickly find articles in the TOC by filtering on words
@@ -46,39 +51,24 @@ These buttons provide other ways of interacting with the content.
4651- The ** Menu** button provides a way to add content to a collection, provide feedback, edit the
4752 content, or share the content with others.
4853
49- ### Feedback elements
54+ ### Feedback
5055
5156There are two ways to provide feedback on the documentation.
5257
5358- ** Anonymous feedback** - The ** Was this helpful?** section on the right side of the article allows
5459 you to provide a thumbs-up or thumbs-down rating. You can also enter more feedback in a text box.
55- - ** Feedback on GitHub** - At the bottom of each article, you can provide feedback on the
60+ - ** Feeback on GitHub** - At the bottom of each article, you can provide feedback on the
5661 documentation or the product. These links take you to the GitHub repository where you can open an
5762 issue and give feedback.
5863
59- ## Filter and search for articles
60-
61- There are two ways to search for content in Docs.
62-
63- - The filter and search box under the version selector allows filtering articles by words that
64- appear in the title of an article or command aliases. The filter displays a list of matching
65- articles as you type. You can also select the option to search for the words in the body of
66- articles. When you search from here, the search is limited to the PowerShell documentation.
67- - The search box in the site-level navigation bar searches the entire site. It returns a list of
68- matching articles from all documentation sets.
69-
70- In the following example, you see how the drop-down list is filtered to show the ` Get-ChildItem `
71- command as you type the name. When you enter ` gci ` , the filter shows the ` Get-CimInstance ` and
72- ` Get-ChildItem ` commands because the alias for both commands starts with ` gci ` .
73-
74- Next, the word ` idempotent ` is entered. The filter shows no articles. Clicking the search link
75- searches for ` idempotent ` in the PowerShell documentation. This search only returns 12 results.
76- Notice the difference when the same word is searched using the site-level search box. The search
77- returns 1,096 articles from the entire Microsoft Learn site.
64+ ## Selecting the version of PowerShell
7865
79- ![ Animation showing how to use the search features. ] [ 05 ]
66+ This site contains cmdlet reference for the following versions of PowerShell:
8067
81- ## Selecting the version of PowerShell
68+ - PowerShell 7.6 (preview)
69+ - PowerShell 7.5
70+ - PowerShell 7.4 (LTS)
71+ - PowerShell 5.1
8272
8373This site contains cmdlet reference for the following versions of PowerShell:
8474
@@ -91,6 +81,7 @@ Use the version selector located above the TOC to select the version of PowerShe
9181default, the page loads with the most current stable release version selected. The version selector
9282controls which version of the cmdlet reference appears in the TOC under the ** Reference** node. Some
9383cmdlets work differently in different versions of PowerShell you're using. Be sure you're viewing
84+ cmdlets work differently in different versions of PowerShell you're using. Be sure you're viewing
9485the documentation for the correct version of PowerShell.
9586
9687The version selector doesn't affect conceptual documentation. The conceptual documents appear above
@@ -99,6 +90,7 @@ If there are version-specific differences, the documentation makes note of those
9990
10091![ Animation showing how to use the version selector.] [ 06 ]
10192
93+ You can verify the version of PowerShell you're using by inspecting the ` $PSVersionTable.PSVersion `
10294You can verify the version of PowerShell you're using by inspecting the ` $PSVersionTable.PSVersion `
10395value. The following example shows the output for Windows PowerShell 5.1.
10496
@@ -110,15 +102,51 @@ $PSVersionTable.PSVersion
110102Major Minor Build Revision
111103----- ----- ----- --------
1121045 1 26100 7705
105+ 5 1 26100 7705
113106```
114107
115- ### Find articles for older versions of PowerShell
108+ ## Filter and search for articles
109+
110+ There are two ways to search for content in Docs.
111+
112+ - The filter and search box under the version selector allows filtering articles by words that
113+ appear in the title of an article or command aliases. The filter displays a list of matching
114+ articles as you type. You can also select the option to search for the words in the body of
115+ articles. When you search from here, the search is limited to the PowerShell documentation.
116+ - The search box in the site-level navigation bar searches the entire site. It returns a list of
117+ matching articles from all documentation sets.
118+
119+ In the following example, you see how the drop-down list is filtered to show the ` Get-ChildItem `
120+ command as you type the name. When you enter ` gci ` , it the filter shows the ` Get-CimInstance ` and
121+ ` Get-ChildItem ` commands because the alias for both commands starts with ` gci ` .
122+
123+ Next, the word ` idempotent ` is entered. The filter shows no articles. Clicking the search link
124+ searches for ` idempotent ` in the PowerShell documentation. This search only returns 12 results.
125+ Notice the difference when the same word is searched using the site-level search box. The search
126+ returns 1,096 articles from the entire Microsoft Learn site.
127+
128+ ![ Animation showing how to use the search features.] [ 05 ]
129+
130+ ## Download the documentation as a PDF
131+
132+ To download the documentation as a PDF, select the ** Download PDF** button at the bottom of the TOC.
133+
134+ ![ Screenshot of the Download PDF button.] [ 03 ]
135+
136+ - If you're viewing a conceptual article, the Learn platform creates a PDF containing the conceptual
137+ content for the selected version.
138+ - If you're viewing a reference article, the Learn platform creates a PDF containing the reference
139+ content for the selected version.
140+
141+ ## Find articles for older versions of PowerShell
116142
117143Documentation for older versions of PowerShell is archived in our [ Previous Versions] [ 01 ] site. You
118144can choose ** Previous Versions** from the version selector.
119145
120146![ Screenshot of the Previous Versions option.] [ 04 ]
121147
148+ The ** Previous versions** option takes you to the site containing documentation for older and
149+ unsupported versions of PowerShell:
122150The ** Previous versions** option takes you to the site containing documentation for older and
123151unsupported versions of PowerShell:
124152
@@ -128,6 +156,8 @@ unsupported versions of PowerShell:
128156- PowerShell 7.0
129157- PowerShell 6
130158- PowerShell 5.0
159+ - WMF 5.x Release notes
160+ - PowerShell ISE object model
131161 - WMF 5.x Release notes
132162 - PowerShell ISE object model
133163 - PowerShell Workflows
@@ -151,5 +181,7 @@ To download the documentation as a PDF, select the **Download PDF** button at th
151181[ 02 ] : media/how-to-use-docs/how-to-use.gif
152182[ 03 ] : media/how-to-use-docs/pdf-button.png
153183[ 04 ] : media/how-to-use-docs/previous-versions.png
184+ [ 03 ] : media/how-to-use-docs/pdf-button.png
185+ [ 04 ] : media/how-to-use-docs/previous-versions.png
154186[ 05 ] : media/how-to-use-docs/search-scope.gif
155187[ 06 ] : media/how-to-use-docs/version-search.gif
0 commit comments