Originally published on ITBlogPros.com
We know you Googled ‘How do you find PowerShell version windows 10’ to get here, welcome! Are you excited for this PowerShell Tutorial? I know I am! But why do you even want to learn about PowerShell in the first place? Sure, you know how to use the DOS command line to run a few commands and navigate around the filesystem, that’s great. You may even know how to create batch files for added functionality and a basic level of automation, but you may have noticed a few things…
The Windows command line is not the springiest of chickens anymore, if you know what I mean. With each passing year, the utility and functionality of the command line becomes more deprecated. But fret not, there is a solution. PowerShell!! We will look at the bare basics in this article and hopefully try and demystify this awesome environment and show you a few neat PowerShell Basics!
PowerShell Tutorial: What is PowerShell?
PowerShell is a command line utility that was developed by Microsoft. It is an object oriented environment that works well as a scripting language. There are almost no limits to what you can do with this powerful tool. Here is the official Microsoft PowerShell website. There is a TON of information in there, so get your reading glasses ready. �
Why check my version of PowerShell?
There are many good reasons why you might need to know which version of PowerShell that you are running. (or, if you are a robot and prefer the search term that brought you here “Find PowerShell Version Windows 10”) You might have some compatibility issues with modules that you are trying to install. There might be a version conflict with a script that you are trying to run. There could be a problem with the built in commands such as a bug or command deprecation. There are tons of reasons. Luckily it is very easy to check in just a few simple key strokes of the keyboard.
PowerShell Tutorial: How do you install PowerShell?
If you are using a modern Windows operating system like Windows 7, Windows 8, or Windows 10 (or Windows Server, for that matter) then great news, you already have it installed on your computer! Simply hit the Windows+R keys and open a run dialog, then type in ‘powershell.exe’. You will be greeted by this beautiful sight.
Now that you have your PowerShell window open, you can start to experiment! (DISCLAIMER: Use caution, PowerShell is, as the name suggests, POWERFULL! If you are unsure about any commands then DON’T EXECUTE THEM. We take no responsibility for any damage you do to your computer, data, or anything else)
Method 1
So, with that out of the way, let’s check what version we have installed, shall we? Simply type:
Get-Host | Select-Object Version.
This will give you the following output:
My version of PowerShell
How easy was that? Super easy!
Method 2
If you’d like a few more lines in your output for some strange reason, then you can out put the variable $PSVersionTable like so:
$PSVersionTable
Et Voila!
$PSVersionTable
The great thing about having an object oriented system is that we can manipulate our output in so many different ways. For instance, if we wanted only the PSVersion property, we could type the following:
$PSVersionTable.PSVersion
Now we only get the values of the version:
Pretty neat huh?
That’s all folks!
Thanks for taking the time to read through our first tutorial! We hope to make this the first of many, many quick tips and guides that will help you to learn the basics of many different IT related skills. PowerShell is a biggie, and you can expect it to feature quite heavily in most Microsoft environments where you will be supporting infrastructure like Microsoft Exchange and Active Directory.
Until next time!
