PowerShell Quick Reference for bash/zsh/cmd Users

PowerShell is a cross-platform shell and scripting language built on .NET. Unlike cmd or bash,
it passes objects through pipelines, not text — which changes how filtering, sorting, and
formatting work. Aliases exist for most common bash/cmd commands so muscle memory still works,
but the full cmdlet names are more predictable and composable.

Key concepts:

Navigation

command from powershell abbreviated
pwd bash Get-Location gl or just pwd
cd /path bash/cmd Set-Location /path cd /path
cd - bash Set-Location - cd -
pushd /path bash/cmd Push-Location /path pushd /path
popd bash/cmd Pop-Location popd
ls bash Get-ChildItem ls or gci
ls -la bash Get-ChildItem -Force ls -Force
ls -lart bash Get-ChildItem | Sort-Object LastWriteTime ls | sort LastWriteTime
dir /o:d cmd.exe Get-ChildItem | Sort-Object LastWriteTime ls | sort LastWriteTime
ls -larS bash Get-ChildItem | Sort-Object Length ls | sort Length
dir /o:s cmd.exe Get-ChildItem | Sort-Object Length ls | sort Length
find . -name '*wildcard*' bash Get-ChildItem -Path . -Include '*wildcard*' -Recurse gci . -inc '*wildcard*' -R
find . -type f bash Get-ChildItem -Recurse -File gci -R -File
find . -type d bash Get-ChildItem -Recurse -Directory gci -R -Directory
find . -mtime -1 bash Get-ChildItem -Recurse | Where-Object { $_.LastWriteTime -gt (Get-Date).AddDays(-1) } gci -R | ? { $_.LastWriteTime -gt (Get-Date).AddDays(-1) }

File Operations

command from powershell abbreviated
cat file.txt bash Get-Content file.txt gc file.txt
type file.txt cmd.exe Get-Content file.txt gc file.txt
head -n 20 file.txt bash Get-Content file.txt -TotalCount 20 gc file.txt -Head 20
tail -n 20 file.txt bash Get-Content file.txt -Tail 20 gc file.txt -Tail 20
tail -f logfile.log bash Get-Content logfile.log -Wait gc logfile.log -Wait
cp src dst bash Copy-Item src dst cp src dst
cp -r src/ dst/ bash Copy-Item -Recurse src dst cp -R src dst
xcopy /s src dst cmd.exe Copy-Item -Recurse src dst cp -R src dst
mv src dst bash/cmd Move-Item src dst mv src dst
rm file.txt bash Remove-Item file.txt rm file.txt
rm -rf dir/ bash Remove-Item -Recurse -Force dir rm -r -fo dir
rmdir /q /s dir cmd.exe Remove-Item -Recurse -Force dir rm -r -fo dir
mkdir dir bash/cmd New-Item -ItemType Directory dir ni -ItemType Directory dir
mkdir -p a/b/c bash New-Item -ItemType Directory -Force a/b/c ni -ItemType Directory -Force a/b/c
touch file.txt bash New-Item file.txt -ItemType File ni file.txt
touch file.txt (update mtime) bash (Get-Item file.txt).LastWriteTime = Get-Date N/A
ln -s target link bash New-Item -ItemType SymbolicLink -Path link -Target target ni -ItemType SymbolicLink -Path link -Target target
stat file.txt bash Get-Item file.txt | Select-Object * gi file.txt | select *
chmod +x file bash (no direct equivalent — use ACLs) N/A
chown user file bash (Get-Acl / Set-Acl) N/A

Text Processing

command from powershell abbreviated
grep 'pattern' file.txt bash Select-String -Pattern 'pattern' file.txt sls 'pattern' file.txt
grep -r 'pattern' . bash Select-String -Path . -Pattern 'pattern' -Recurse sls -Path . 'pattern' -R
grep -rn 'pattern' . bash Select-String -Path . -Pattern 'pattern' -Recurse | Select-Object Filename, LineNumber, Line sls -Path . 'pattern' -R | select Filename, LineNumber, Line
grep -v 'pattern' file bash Get-Content file | Where-Object { $_ -notmatch 'pattern' } gc file | ? { $_ -notmatch 'pattern' }
grep -c 'pattern' file bash (Select-String 'pattern' file).Count (sls 'pattern' file).Count
grep -i 'pattern' file bash Select-String -Pattern 'pattern' -CaseSensitive:$false file sls 'pattern' file (case-insensitive by default)
wc -l file.txt bash (Get-Content file.txt).Count (gc file.txt).Count
wc -w file.txt bash (Get-Content file.txt | Measure-Object -Word).Words (gc file.txt | measure -Word).Words
sort file.txt bash Get-Content file.txt | Sort-Object gc file.txt | sort
sort -r file.txt bash Get-Content file.txt | Sort-Object -Descending gc file.txt | sort -desc
sort file.txt | uniq bash Get-Content file.txt | Sort-Object -Unique gc file.txt | sort -Unique
sort file.txt | uniq -c bash Get-Content file.txt | Group-Object | Select-Object Count, Name gc file.txt | group | select Count, Name
cut -d: -f1 file bash Get-Content file | ForEach-Object { $_.Split(':')[0] } gc file | % { $_.Split(':')[0] }
awk '{print $2}' file bash Get-Content file | ForEach-Object { ($_ -split '\s+')[1] } gc file | % { ($_ -split '\s+')[1] }
sed -i 's/foo/bar/g' file.txt bash (Get-Content file.txt) -replace 'foo','bar' | Set-Content file.txt (gc file.txt) -replace 'foo','bar' | sc file.txt
sed 's/foo/bar/g' file (stdout) bash (Get-Content file) -replace 'foo','bar' (gc file) -replace 'foo','bar'
tr '[:upper:]' '[:lower:]' bash $str.ToLower() or "$str".ToLower() N/A
echo "text" | tee file.txt bash "text" | Tee-Object file.txt "text" | tee file.txt

Line Counting by File Type

command from powershell abbreviated
find . -name '*.py' | xargs wc -l | tail -1 bash Get-ChildItem -Recurse -Filter '*.py' | Get-Content | Measure-Object -Line | Select-Object -ExpandProperty Lines gci -R -fil '*.py' | gc | measure -Line | % Lines
find . -name '*.py' | xargs wc -l | sort -rn bash Get-ChildItem -Recurse -Filter '*.py' | ForEach-Object { [PSCustomObject]@{ File=$_.FullName; Lines=(Get-Content $_).Count } } | Sort-Object Lines -Descending gci -R -fil '*.py' | % { [psc]@{File=$_.FullName;Lines=(gc $_).Count} } | sort Lines -desc
Count lines grouped by extension bash (complex) Get-ChildItem -Recurse -File | Group-Object Extension | ForEach-Object { [PSCustomObject]@{ Extension=$_.Name; Lines=($_.Group | Get-Content | Measure-Object -Line).Lines } } | Sort-Object Lines -Descending gci -R -File | group Extension | % { [psc]@{Ext=$_.Name;Lines=($_.Group|gc|measure -Line).Lines} } | sort Lines -desc

Hex / Binary Inspection

command from powershell abbreviated
xxd file bash Format-Hex file fhx file
find . -name '*wildcard*' | xargs -I {} xxd {} bash Get-ChildItem -Path . -Include '*wildcard*' -Recurse | ForEach-Object { Format-Hex $_ } gci '*wildcard*' -R | foreach { fhx $_ }

Environment Variables

command from powershell abbreviated
echo $VAR bash Write-Output $env:VAR $env:VAR
echo %VAR% cmd.exe Write-Output $env:VAR $env:VAR
export VAR=value bash $env:VAR = 'value' N/A
set VAR=value cmd.exe $env:VAR = 'value' N/A
env bash Get-ChildItem Env: ls Env:
printenv PATH bash $env:PATH N/A
unset VAR bash Remove-Item Env:VAR ri Env:VAR
VAR=x command (inline) bash $env:VAR = 'x'; command; Remove-Item Env:VAR N/A

Process Management

command from powershell abbreviated
ps aux bash Get-Process gps
ps aux | grep name bash Get-Process -Name '*name*' gps -Name '*name*'
kill -9 PID bash Stop-Process -Id PID -Force kill -Id PID -Force
kill -9 $(pgrep name) bash Get-Process -Name name | Stop-Process -Force gps name | kill -Force
tasklist cmd.exe Get-Process gps
taskkill /F /PID PID cmd.exe Stop-Process -Id PID -Force kill -Id PID -Force
taskkill /F /IM name.exe cmd.exe Stop-Process -Name name -Force kill -Name name -Force
top / htop bash Get-Process | Sort-Object CPU -Descending | Select-Object -First 20 gps | sort CPU -desc | select -First 20
time {command} bash Measure-Command { command } N/A
nohup cmd & bash Start-Process cmd -NoNewWindow N/A
jobs bash Get-Job gjb
bg / fg bash Start-Job / Receive-Job N/A

Network

command from powershell abbreviated
ping -c 4 host bash Test-Connection -Count 4 host tnc host -Count 4
ping host cmd.exe Test-Connection host tnc host
traceroute host bash Test-NetConnection -TraceRoute host tnc host -TraceRoute
tracert host cmd.exe Test-NetConnection -TraceRoute host tnc host -TraceRoute
netstat -an bash/cmd Get-NetTCPConnection gntc
netstat -tlnp bash Get-NetTCPConnection -State Listen gntc -State Listen
ss -tlnp bash Get-NetTCPConnection -State Listen gntc -State Listen
nslookup host bash/cmd Resolve-DnsName host rdns host
dig host bash Resolve-DnsName host rdns host
curl -o out.txt URL bash Invoke-WebRequest -Uri URL -OutFile out.txt iwr URL -OutFile out.txt
curl -s URL bash (Invoke-WebRequest URL).Content (iwr URL).Content
curl -I URL bash Invoke-WebRequest URL -Method Head iwr URL -Method Head
wget URL bash Invoke-WebRequest -Uri URL -OutFile filename iwr URL -OutFile filename
curl -X POST -d data URL bash Invoke-RestMethod -Method Post -Body data -Uri URL irm -Method Post -Body data URL
curl -s URL | jq . bash Invoke-RestMethod URL | ConvertTo-Json irm URL | ConvertTo-Json
hostname bash/cmd hostname or $env:COMPUTERNAME N/A
ifconfig / ip addr bash Get-NetIPAddress N/A

Disk & Storage

command from powershell abbreviated
df -h bash Get-PSDrive gdr
df -h /path bash Get-PSDrive -Name C gdr C
du -sh . bash (Get-ChildItem -Recurse | Measure-Object Length -Sum).Sum / 1MB (gci -R | measure Length -Sum).Sum / 1MB
du -sh dir/* bash Get-ChildItem | ForEach-Object { [PSCustomObject]@{ Name=$_.Name; SizeMB=((gci $_ -R -ea SilentlyContinue | measure Length -Sum).Sum/1MB) } } N/A

Archives

command from powershell abbreviated
tar -czf archive.tar.gz dir/ bash Compress-Archive -Path dir -DestinationPath archive.zip N/A
tar -xzf archive.tar.gz bash Expand-Archive archive.zip -DestinationPath . N/A
zip -r archive.zip dir/ bash Compress-Archive -Path dir -DestinationPath archive.zip N/A
unzip archive.zip bash Expand-Archive archive.zip N/A
unzip -d dir archive.zip bash Expand-Archive archive.zip -DestinationPath dir N/A

Output & Redirection

command from powershell abbreviated
echo "text" bash/cmd Write-Output "text" echo "text"
echo "text" > file bash/cmd "text" | Out-File file or "text" > file N/A
echo "text" >> file bash/cmd "text" | Out-File file -Append or "text" >> file N/A
cmd 2>&1 bash cmd 2>&1 (works) or cmd *>&1 (all streams) N/A
cmd > /dev/null bash cmd | Out-Null or cmd > $null N/A
cmd | less bash cmd | Out-Host -Paging cmd | oh -Paging
cmd | head -n 10 bash cmd | Select-Object -First 10 cmd | select -First 10
cmd | tail -n 10 bash cmd | Select-Object -Last 10 cmd | select -Last 10
printf "fmt" args bash [string]::Format("fmt", args) or "$var" interpolation N/A

System Info

command from powershell abbreviated
uname -a bash [System.Environment]::OSVersion N/A
uname -r (kernel) bash (Get-ComputerInfo).OsVersion N/A
hostname bash/cmd hostname N/A
whoami bash/cmd whoami or $env:USERNAME N/A
id bash [Security.Principal.WindowsIdentity]::GetCurrent() N/A
date bash Get-Date N/A
date +%Y-%m-%d bash Get-Date -Format 'yyyy-MM-dd' N/A
uptime bash (Get-Date) - (gcim Win32_OperatingSystem).LastBootUpTime N/A
free -h bash Get-ComputerInfo | Select-Object TotalPhysicalMemory, *Memory* N/A
lscpu bash Get-ComputerInfo | Select-Object *Processor* N/A
history bash Get-History h
history | grep cmd bash Get-History | Where-Object { $_.CommandLine -match 'cmd' } h | ? { $_.CommandLine -match 'cmd' }
!n (run history item n) bash Invoke-History n r n
clear bash/cmd Clear-Host cls or clear

Command Discovery

command from powershell abbreviated
which python bash Get-Command python gcm python
where python cmd.exe Get-Command python gcm python
man cmd bash Get-Help cmd -Full help cmd -Full
cmd --help bash Get-Help cmd help cmd
type -a cmd bash Get-Command cmd | Select-Object -ExpandProperty Source N/A
alias bash Get-Alias gal
alias ll='ls -la' bash Set-Alias ll Get-ChildItem (simple) or function ll { ls -Force } N/A
List all aliases for a cmdlet bash Get-Alias -Definition Get-ChildItem gal -Definition Get-ChildItem
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