PowerShell Operators

Arithmetic Operators

Operator	Description	Example Usage	Result
+	Adds two numbers or concatenates strings.	5 + 3	8
-	Subtracts one number from another.	10 - 4	6
*	Multiplies two numbers.	6 * 7	42
/	Divides one number by another.	15 / 3	5
%	Returns the remainder of a division operation.	10 % 3	1
++	Increments a variable’s value by one (post-increment).	$a++ (if $a = 5)	$a = 6
--	Decrements a variable’s value by one (post-decrement).	$b-- (if $b = 5)	$b = 4

Assignment Operators

Operator	Description	Example Usage	Result
=	Assigns a value to a variable.	$a = 10	$a = 10
+=	Adds and assigns the value to a variable.	$a += 5	$a = 15 (if $a = 10)
-=	Subtracts and assigns the value to a variable.	$a -= 3	$a = 7 (if $a = 10)
*=	Multiplies and assigns the value to a variable.	$a *= 2	$a = 20 (if $a = 10)
/=	Divides and assigns the value to a variable.	$a /= 2	$a = 5 (if $a = 10)
%=	Modulo and assigns the value to a variable.	$a %= 4	$a = 2 (if $a = 10)

Comparison Operators

Operator	Description	Example Usage	Result
-eq	Checks if two values are equal.	5 -eq 5	True
-ne	Checks if two values are not equal.	5 -ne 3	True
-gt	Checks if the left value is greater than the right.	10 -gt 5	True
-ge	Checks if the left value is greater than or equal to the right.	5 -ge 5	True
-lt	Checks if the left value is less than the right.	3 -lt 10	True
-le	Checks if the left value is less than or equal to the right.	5 -le 10	True
-like	Matches a string with a wildcard pattern.	'PowerShell' -like '*Shell*'	True
-notlike	Does not match a string with a wildcard pattern.	'PowerShell' -notlike 'Cmd*'	True
-match	Matches a string with a regular expression.	'abc123' -match '\d{3}'	True
-notmatch	Does not match a string with a regular expression.	'abc123' -notmatch '\d{4}'	True
-contains	Checks if a collection contains a value.	@(1,2,3) -contains 2	True
-notcontains	Checks if a collection does not contain a value.	@(1,2,3) -notcontains 4	True
-in	Checks if a value exists in a collection.	5 -in @(2, 4, 5)	True
-notin	Checks if a value does not exist in a collection.	6 -notin @(2, 4, 5)	True
-replace	Replaces text matching a regular expression pattern.	'PowerShell' -replace 'Shell', 'Cmd'	PowerCmd

Logical Operators

Operator	Description	Example Usage	Result
-and	Returns true if both statements are true.	$true -and $true	True
-or	Returns true if one of the statements is true.	$true -or $false	True
-not	Reverses the logical state of its operand.	-not $false	True
!	Alias for -not, reverses the logical state.	!$true	False
-band	Performs a bitwise AND operation.	5 -band 3	1
-bor	Performs a bitwise OR operation.	5 -bor 3	7
-bxor	Performs a bitwise XOR operation.	5 -bxor 3	6

Redirection Operators

Operator	Description	Example Usage	Result
>	Redirects output to a file (overwrites existing content).	Get-Process > output.txt	Creates or overwrites output.txt with the process list.
>>	Redirects output to a file (appends to existing content).	Get-Process >> output.txt	Appends process list to output.txt.
2>	Redirects error output to a file (overwrites existing content).	Get-Process 2> errors.txt	Creates or overwrites errors.txt with error messages.
2>>	Redirects error output to a file (appends to existing content).	Get-Process 2>> errors.txt	Appends error messages to errors.txt.
2>&1	Redirects error output to the same location as standard output.	Get-Process 2>&1	Combines standard output and error messages.
`	`	Pipes the output of one command into another command.	`Get-Process

Type Operators

Operator	Description	Example Usage	Result
-is	Checks if an object is a specific type.	'Hello' -is [string]	True
-isnot	Checks if an object is not a specific type.	'Hello' -isnot [int]	True
-as	Attempts to convert an object to a specific type.	5 -as [string]	"5"

Range Operator

Operator	Description	Example Usage	Result
..	Generates a sequence of numbers.	1..5	1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Split and Join Operators

Operator	Description	Example Usage	Result
-split	Splits a string into an array.	'one,two,three' -split ','	one, two, three
-join	Joins an array into a string.	('one', 'two', 'three') -join ','	"one,two,three"

Unary Operators

Operator	Description	Example Usage	Result
+	Unary plus, returns the value of the operand.	+5	5
-	Unary minus, negates the value of the operand.	-5	-5

Special Operators

Operator	Description	Example Usage	Result
&	Runs a command, script, or script block.	& 'C:\script.ps1'	Runs script.ps1.
. (dot sourcing)	Runs a script in the current scope.	. .\script.ps1	Executes script.ps1 in the current session, preserving any functions or variables.
::	Accesses static members of a class.	[System.Math]::Sqrt(25)	5 (Square root of 25).
?	Alias for Where-Object in pipelines.	Get-Process ? { $_.CPU -gt 100 }	Filters processes with CPU usage greater than 100.
%	Alias for ForEach-Object in pipelines.	Get-Process % { $_.Name }	Outputs the names of processes.