707

Is it possible to split a PowerShell command line over multiple lines?

In Visual Basic I can use the underscore (_) to continue the command in the next line.

5
  • 5
    The "why not backslashes" question is covered nicely in Bruce Payette's PowerShell in Action; great book. Bruce has a broad knowledge of the history of programming languages. Looking forward to V2 of this book. Commented Jul 15, 2010 at 14:10
  • 5
    Duplicate of ... stackoverflow.com/questions/2608144/… Commented Nov 21, 2013 at 15:40
  • 2
    Sorry if offtopic but if you are to submit the script with sh command, bash conventions hold so you can use backslash. In that case your script should also have unix style endings. Commented Mar 25, 2016 at 4:02
  • 1
    just use ` character to separate command on multiple lines Commented Dec 17, 2019 at 13:09
  • This question is similar to: How to split long commands over multiple lines in PowerShell. If you believe it’s different, please edit the question, make it clear how it’s different and/or how the answers on that question are not helpful for your problem. Commented Jan 27 at 7:36

16 Answers 16

980

You can use a space followed by the grave accent (backtick):

Get-ChildItem -Recurse `
  -Filter *.jpg `
  | Select LastWriteTime

However, this is only ever necessary in such cases as shown above. Usually you get automatic line continuation when a command cannot syntactically be complete at that point. This includes starting a new pipeline element:

Get-ChildItem |
  Select Name,Length

will work without problems since after the | the command cannot be complete since it's missing another pipeline element. Also opening curly braces or any other kind of parentheses will allow line continuation directly:

$x=1..5
$x[
  0,3
] | % {
  "Number: $_"
}

Similar to the | a comma will also work in some contexts:

1,
2

Keep in mind, though, similar to JavaScript's Automatic Semicolon Insertion, there are some things that are similarly broken because the line break occurs at a point where it is preceded by a valid statement:

return
  5

will not work.

Finally, strings (in all varieties) may also extend beyond a single line:

'Foo
bar'

They include the line breaks within the string, then.

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

11 Comments

You say "any other kind of parentheses will allow line continuation directly" but I needed the backtick for $stream.WriteLine('foo' (newline here) +'bar').
@JackDouglas: You can have a line break directly after the opening parenthesis, but not within the expression before the operator, apparently. That being said, I believe that to be an oversight in the grammar.
Backtick does not work for me, the command never goes out of the multiline mode.
Line continuation doesn't work in the ISE command pane, apparently.
This does not mean that if a cmdlet has further mandatory arguments, powershell will look on the next line for them. e.g. new-aduser <CR> username does not work.
|
133

There must not be any character between the backtick and the line break. Even whitespace will cause the command to not work.

10 Comments

While this is technically not the answer to the question, +1 because this is absolutely essential. I just found this out the hard way, and will surely be avoiding the back-tick in future development wherever possible.
So there is essentially no robust way to break a long line in Powershell. No wonder I tend to see those 2-screen-wide powershell scripts every where. #ShakeMyHead
I was struggling with this, too... you can insert an inline comment before the back-tick to include a comment, like this: Some-Command ` -arg1 <# explain arg 1 #> ` -arg2 <# explain arg 2 #>
Urgh. This makes PowerShell code unnecessarily difficult to post in documentation or websites, for fear that the command will either be read wrong by a human if using Shift+Enter, or parsed wrong in ISE's command line when using the back tick.
Technical Note - this is because the backtick is not a line continuation operator per se; it's really an escape character that is serving to "escape" the newline at the end of the line. If you enter a space after the backtick, it'll escape that instead of the newline character. Further reading at Natural Line Continuations in PowerShell
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47

In most C-like languages I am deliberate about placing my braces where I think they make the code easiest to read.

PowerShell's parser recognizes when a statement clearly isn't complete, and looks to the next line. For example, imagine a cmdlet that takes an optional script block parameter:

    Get-Foo { ............ }

if the script block is very long, you might want to write:

    Get-Foo
    {
        ...............
        ...............
        ...............
    }

But this won't work: the parser will see two statements. The first is Get-Foo and the second is a script block. Instead, I write:

    Get-Foo {
        ...............
        ...............
        ...............
    }

I could use the line-continuation character (`) but that makes for hard-to-read code, and invites bugs.

Because this case requires the open brace to be on the previous line, I follow that pattern everywhere:

    if (condition) {
        .....
    }

Note that if statements require a script block in the language grammar, so the parser will look on the next line for the script block, but for consistency, I keep the open brace on the same line.

Simlarly, in the case of long pipelines, I break after the pipe character (|):

    $project.Items | 
        ? { $_.Key -eq "ProjectFile" } | 
        % { $_.Value } | 
        % { $_.EvaluatedInclude } |
        % {
            .........
        }

4 Comments

how does if and foreach and try work then? they allow script blocks on the next line... this means it mut be possible
@Nacht: From rusty memory: statements that require a script block, per the language grammar, will parse past a newline to find one. Can anyone confirm?
@Nacht: "But this won't work" was referring to situations where the further parameters are optional, which is most cases.
ah i see what you mean now. so "if" and "foreach" are not actually cmdlets - they are actuall part of the grammar, thus forcing it to look past to the next line. is there then no way to let a user-defined function read a script block from the next line? i suppose your above answer answers that question exactly.
38

To expand on cristobalito's answer:

I assume you're talking about on the command-line - if it's in a script, then a new-line >acts as a command delimiter.

On the command line, use a semi-colon ';'

For example:

Sign a PowerShell script on the command-line. No line breaks.

powershell -Command "&{$cert=Get-ChildItem –Path cert:\CurrentUser\my -codeSigningCert ; Set-AuthenticodeSignature -filepath Z:\test.ps1 -Cert $cert}

2 Comments

Not the answer to the question, but your answer answered my question. :)
That's interesting, but it's the opposite of what OP was asking. OP wanted to split a single command across several lines; you explained how to combine several commands onto one line.
24

In PowerShell and PowerShell ISE, it is also possible to use Shift + Enter at the end of each line for multiline editing (instead of standard backtick `).

6 Comments

This is a great tip for editing multi-line here-strings, which are otherwise horrible to edit if you don't know the SHIFT-ENTER trick.
I believe this is the case in the console version of PowerShell only when using the PSReadLine module or an equivalent. In the standard Windows console input functions, Enter and Shift+Enter are functionally equivalent.
@Bill_Stewart true, it works in the ISE console without PSReadline, but not in the Console Host.
To clarify: 1) The PSReadline module works in the console host only (not ISE). 2) Shift+Enter works in the console host only when using PSReadline. 3) Shift+Enter has always worked in the ISE. 4) If using the console host without PSReadline, Shift+Enter is functionally equivalent to pressing Enter.
this is the right answer, the one which is accepted and have 400 up-vote is very confusing and useless!!
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22

In Windows PowerShell as well as PowerShell 7+ (Core), you can use backticks ` to split your command across multiple lines. This makes the command more readable and easier to understand.

Note: At the time of writing, multiline commands do not work with the embedded PowerShell in Visual Studio.

Here is an example:

kiota generate `
--language csharp `
--class-name ApiClient `
--namespace-name MyNamespace `
--openapi ./Path/To/swagger.json `
--output ./OutputDirectory `
--exclude-backward-compatible `
--include-path /api/endpoint#GET

Comments

14

Just add a corner case here. It might save you 5 minutes. If you use a chain of actions, you need to put "." at the end of line, leave a space followed by the "`" (backtick). I found this out the hard way.

$yourString = "HELLO world! POWERSHELL!". `
                  Replace("HELLO", "Hello"). `
                  Replace("POWERSHELL", "Powershell")

2 Comments

Thanks a lot! Tried to achieve this unsuccessfully for some time..
Seems to work without space and backtick as long as you put the dot on the previous line, even if there are spaces after it and before the subsequent method call. Even comments work, like Replace("HELLO", "Hello"). # comment here
6

If you are trying to separate strings into multiple lines, you can use the "+". For example:

$header =    "Make," +

             "ComputerName," +

             "Model," +

             "Windows Version"

Will look just like:

$header = "Make,ComputerName,Model,Windows Version"

Comments

4

I started by doing

if ($true) {
"you can write multiple lines here, and the command doesn't run untill you close the bracket"

"like this"
}

Recently found out I could just

&{
get-date
"more stuff"
}

Comments

4

This is an old post, so here's the modern method.

If you're not using legacy powershell, the cleanest way to continue lines is the pipe at the start of the line.

enter image description here

Note: The command doesn't break with some lines commented out. This is great on the command line.

> Get-ChildItem -path 'c:\' -Depth 1                 
    | Sort-Object LastWriteTime                       
    # | Sort-Object Length -Descending                   
    | Select-Object -First 3 -Skip 3                   
    | Foreach-Object {                                 
      $_.Name, $_.Length | Join-String -Separator ' = '                                                       
    }                                                  

output:

explorer.exe = 4826160                                 
procexp.old.exe = 2925760                              
RtlExUpd.dll = 2839488                                 

Windows Powershell ( Version < 6 )

Unfortunately windows powershell does not support it. A bunch of alternatives are linked above. You can remove the backtick completely: 2017/07/bye-bye-backtick-natural-line

6 Comments

You're suggesting pipe, which is wrong answer. The correct answer is using backtick ` followed by newline.
Sorry for the confusion, maybe I was ambiguous there. using backtick to escape a newline is what I meant by legacy version. Because that's a limitation for Windows Powershell (powershell.exe) -- Powershell (pwsh.exe) added the pipe prefix as built in syntax. -- WinPs was end of life years ago, all development is on Pwsh. You can install them side-by-side. ---- If you're using WinPS, check out that link above. .remove-the-backtick . You can almost entirely eliminate the need for backticks
This only works if each new line is a new command. If it is multi-line, but each line is not a new command, then the pipe method does not work. Backtick is necessary there.
I'm trying to picture it, I'm not exactly sure what you mean, can you give an example?
He means if you want to split the input parameters of a single command over multiple lines as opposed to multiple commands that pipe their input/output to each other
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2

I assume you're talking about on the command-line - if it's in a script, then a new-line acts as a command delimiter.

On the command line, use a semi-colon ';'

Comments

2
  1. Use a semi-colon ; to separate command
  2. Replace double backslash \\ on any backslashes \.
  3. Use "' for passing safe address to switch command like "'PATH'".

This ps1 command install locale pfx certificate.

powershell -Command "$pfxPassword = ConvertTo-SecureString -String "12345678" -Force -AsPlainText ; Import-PfxCertificate -FilePath "'C:\\Program Files\\VpnManagement\\resources\\assets\\cert\\localhost.pfx'" Cert:\\LocalMachine\\My -Password $pfxPassword ; Import-PfxCertificate -FilePath "'C:\\Program Files\\VpnManagement\\resources\\assets\\cert\\localhost.pfx'" Cert:\\LocalMachine\\Root -Password $pfxPassword"

Comments

2

There's sooo many ways to continue a line in powershell, with pipes, brackets, parentheses, operators, dots, even with a comma. Here's a blog about it: https://get-powershellblog.blogspot.com/2017/07/bye-bye-backtick-natural-line.html

You can continue right after statements like foreach and if as well.

3 Comments

A long but interesting article. Instead of escaping line breaks with backticks, one may use array splatting (even though the @ splat operator doesn't seem to be necessary). For example: $params = @( '-v', '-X', 'GET'); curl $params http://example.org. Not '-X GET' but two separate elements are needed. And don't call the variable $args, it's reserved.
Or just a comma to continue.
Yeah, no splatting is actually required, but quotes are: curl '-v', '-X', 'GET', 'http://example.org'. The recommendation from the article is to use a variable with splatting for readability however. BTW: If written on a single line and if you remove the spaces between the arguments, then it suddenly break? curl '-v','-X','GET','http://example.org' - curl: option -v,-X,GET,http://example.org: is unknown. A single space between any of the arguments makes it work again.
2
$scriptBlock = [Scriptblock]::Create(@'
  echo 'before'
  ipconfig /all
  echo 'after'
'@)

Invoke-Command -ComputerName AD01 -ScriptBlock $scriptBlock

source
don't use backquote

Comments

0

In windows terminal (powershell profile) I can simply click Shift-Enter works fine for me.

PS C:\xxx2021> Get-ChildItem -Include *remote* -Recurse |
>> Sort-Object -Property LastWriteTime -Descending  |
>> Select-Object LastWriteTime, Name -First 25

LastWriteTime        Name
-------------        ----
12/5/2021 5:04:02 PM remote-control-car-BatteryPack-Number-2021-12-03.pdf

PS C:\xxx2021>enter code here

1 Comment

If it's not set by default, its the function addLine -> Set-PSReadLineKeyHandler -Chord 'shift+enter' -Function AddLine
0

For string. You may use Here-String syntax for multiline string assignment like

echo @"
here is the first string
location is $global:loc
"@

Ref: https://devblogs.microsoft.com/scripting/powertip-use-here-strings-with-powershell/

Comments

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