PowerShell-guide

A comprehensive, categorized quick-reference guide and automation repository for common cmdlet shortcuts and built-in aliases in Windows PowerShell. This project bridges the gap between Unix/Linux shell commands and native Windows PowerShell cmdlets, serving as a clean cheat sheet for DevOps engineers, system administrators, and developers.

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🚀 Quick Navigation

• File System & Location Navigation
• File Content & Data Manipulation
• System Processes, Services & Diagnostics
• Web & Networking Requests
• Terminal Window, History & Output Formatting
• Core Object & Pipeline Mechanics
• Variables & Internal Session Aliases
• Repository Layout
• How to Use & Contribute

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📂 File System & Location Navigation

Alias	Cmdlet Name	Description
cd / chdir	Set-Location	[cite_start]Sets the current working location to a specified location[cite: 2].
pwd / gl	Get-Location	[cite_start]Gets information about the current working location or a location stack[cite: 6, 12].
dir / ls / gci	Get-ChildItem	[cite_start]Gets the files and folders in a file system drive[cite: 2, 6, 10].
md	mkdir	[cite_start]Creates a new item (directory)[cite: 10].
ni	New-Item	[cite_start]Creates a new item[cite: 10].
copy / cp / cpi	Copy-Item	[cite_start]Copies an item from one location to another[cite: 2].
move / mv / mi	Move-Item	[cite_start]Moves an item from one location to another[cite: 10].
ren / rni	Rename-Item	[cite_start]Renames an item in a Windows PowerShell provider namespace[cite: 12].
del / rm / rd / ri / erase / rmdir	Remove-Item	[cite_start]Deletes files and folders[cite: 2, 4, 12].
pushd	Push-Location	[cite_start]Adds the current location to the top of a location stack[cite: 12].
popd	Pop-Location	[cite_start]Changes the current location to the location most recently pushed to the stack[cite: 12].

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📄 File Content & Data Manipulation

Alias	Cmdlet Name	Description
cat / gc	Get-Content	[cite_start]Gets the contents of a file[cite: 2, 6].
ac	Add-Content	[cite_start]Appends content, such as words or data, to a file[cite: 2].
sc	Set-Content	[cite_start]Replaces the contents of a file with contents that you specify[cite: 14].
clc	Clear-Content	[cite_start]Deletes the contents of an item, but does not delete the item[cite: 2].
epcsv	Export-Csv	[cite_start]Converts objects into a series of comma-separated (CSV) strings and saves them in a file[cite: 4].
ipcsv	Import-Csv	[cite_start]Creates table-like custom objects from the items in a CSV file[cite: 8].
measure	Measure-Object	[cite_start]Calculates the numeric properties of objects, and the characters, words, and lines in string objects[cite: 10].

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💻 System Processes, Services & Diagnostics

Alias	Cmdlet Name	Description
gps / ps	Get-Process	[cite_start]Gets the processes that are running on the local computer or a remote computer[cite: 6, 12].
saps	Start-Process	[cite_start]Starts one or more processes on the local computer[cite: 14].
kill	Stop-Process	[cite_start]Stops one or more running processes[cite: 10].
gsv	Get-Service	[cite_start]Gets the services on a local or remote computer[cite: 8].
sasv	Start-Service	[cite_start]Starts one or more stopped services[cite: 14].
gwmi	Get-WmiObject	[cite_start]Gets instances of Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) classes[cite: 8].

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🌐 Web & Networking Requests

Alias	Cmdlet Name	Description
curl / iwr	Invoke-WebRequest	[cite_start]Gets content from a webpage on the Internet[cite: 4, 8].
irm	Invoke-RestMethod	[cite_start]Sends an HTTP or HTTPS request to a RESTful web service[cite: 8].
mount / ndr	New-PSDrive	[cite_start]Creates temporary and persistent mapped network drives[cite: 10].
rdr	Remove-PSDrive	[cite_start]Deletes temporary Windows PowerShell drives and disconnects mapped network drives[cite: 12].

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🎛️ Terminal Window, History & Output Formatting

Alias	Cmdlet Name	Description
clear / cls	Clear-Host	[cite_start]Clears the display in the host program[cite: 2].
echo	Write-Output	[cite_start]Sends the specified objects to the next command in the pipeline[cite: 4].
ghy / h / history	Get-History	[cite_start]Gets a list of the commands entered during the current session[cite: 6, 8].
ihy / r	Invoke-History	[cite_start]Runs commands from the session history[cite: 8, 12].
clhy	Clear-History	[cite_start]Deletes entries from the command history[cite: 2].
ft	Format-Table	[cite_start]Formats the output as a table[cite: 6].
fl	Format-List	[cite_start]Formats the output as a list of properties on new lines[cite: 4].
ogv	Out-GridView	[cite_start]Sends output to an interactive table in a separate window[cite: 10].

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⚙️ Core Object & Pipeline Mechanics

Alias	Cmdlet Name	Description
% / foreach	ForEach-Object	[cite_start]Performs an operation against each item in a collection of input objects[cite: 2, 4].
?	Where-Object	[cite_start]Selects objects from a collection based on their property values[cite: 2].
select	Select-Object	[cite_start]Selects objects or object properties[cite: 14].
group	Group-Object	[cite_start]Groups objects that contain the same value for specified properties[cite: 6].
compare / diff	Compare-Object	[cite_start]Compares two sets of objects[cite: 2, 4].
gm	Get-Member	[cite_start]Gets the properties and methods of objects[cite: 6].

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🔑 Variables & Internal Session Aliases

Alias	Cmdlet Name	Description
gv	Get-Variable	[cite_start]Gets the variables in the current console[cite: 8].
nv	New-Variable	[cite_start]Creates a new variable[cite: 10].
set	Set-Variable	[cite_start]Sets the value of a variable, creating it if it doesn't exist[cite: 14].
clv	Clear-Variable	[cite_start]Deletes the value of a variable[cite: 2].
rv	Remove-Variable	[cite_start]Deletes a variable and its value[cite: 14].
gal	Get-Alias	[cite_start]Gets the aliases for the current session[cite: 6].
sal	Set-Alias	[cite_start]Creates or changes an alias for a cmdlet or other command element[cite: 14].

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📁 Repository Layout

├── data/
│   └── aliases.json          # Structured data JSON format for integrations
├── scripts/
│   └── Export-CustomAlias.ps1 # Helper script to inspect local shell setups
├── .gitignore                # Excludes runtime session files and local OS logs
├── LICENSE                   # MIT Open-Source Certification
└── README.md                 # Project Overview & Reference Manual