Windows PowerShell and PowerShell 7 compatibility

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Microsoft's edit · 4 Feb 19:33 UTC

Add note about using Invoke-Command for remoting (#12735)

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11 ---

2 −ms.date: 04/02/2024

2 +ms.date: 02/04/2026

33 title: Differences between Windows PowerShell 5.1 and PowerShell 7.x

4 −description: This article summarizes the differences and breaking changes from Windows PowerShell 5.1 and the current version of PowerShell that is based on .NET Core.

4 +description: This article summarizes the differences and breaking changes from Windows PowerShell 5.1 and the current version of PowerShell that's based on .NET Core.

55 ---

66 # Differences between Windows PowerShell 5.1 and PowerShell 7.x

⋯ 8 unchanged lines

1616 and .NET Core.

1717

1818 This article summarizes the significant differences and breaking changes between Windows PowerShell

19 −and the current version of PowerShell. This summary does not include new features or cmdlets that

19 +and the current version of PowerShell. This summary doesn't include new features or cmdlets that

2020 have been added. Nor does this article discuss what changed between versions. The goal of this

21 −article is to present the current state of PowerShell and how that is different from Windows

21 +article is to present the current state of PowerShell and how that's different from Windows

2222 PowerShell. For a detailed discussion of changes between versions and the addition of new features,

2323 see the **What's New** articles for each version.

2424

⋯ 16 unchanged lines

4141 Each new release of PowerShell is built on a newer version of .NET. There can be breaking changes in

4242 .NET that affect PowerShell.

4343

44 +- PowerShell 7.6 - Built on .NET 10.0 (LTS)

4445 - PowerShell 7.5 - Built on .NET 9.0

45 −- PowerShell 7.4 - Built on .NET 8.0

46 +- PowerShell 7.4 - Built on .NET 8.0 (LTS)

4647 - PowerShell 7.3 - Built on .NET 7.0

47 −- PowerShell 7.2 (LTS-current) - Built on .NET 6.0 (LTS-current)

48 +- PowerShell 7.2 - Built on .NET 6.0 (LTS)

4849 - PowerShell 7.1 - Built on .NET 5.0

49 −- PowerShell 7.0 (LTS) - Built on .NET Core 3.1 (LTS)

50 +- PowerShell 7.0 - Built on .NET Core 3.1 (LTS)

5051 - PowerShell 6.2 - Built on .NET Core 2.1

5152 - PowerShell 6.1 - Built on .NET Core 2.1

5253 - PowerShell 6.0 - Built on .NET Core 2.0

⋯ 10 unchanged lines

6364

6465 ### Be aware of .NET method changes

6566

66 −While .NET method changes are not specific to PowerShell, they can affect your scripts, especially

67 +While .NET method changes aren't specific to PowerShell, they can affect your scripts, especially

6768 if you are calling .NET methods directly. Also, there might be new overloads for constructors. This

6869 can have an impact on how you create objects using `New-Object` or the `[type]::new()` method.

6970

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153154 In the future, we would like to enable native parallelism/concurrency in the PowerShell language

154155 without the need for PowerShell Workflow.

155156

156 −If there is a need to use checkpoints to resume a script after the OS restarts, we recommend

157 −using Task Scheduler to run a script on OS startup, but the script would need to maintain

158 −its own state (like persisting it to a file).

157 +If there is a need to use checkpoints to resume a script after the OS restarts, we recommend using

158 +Task Scheduler to run a script on OS startup, but the script would need to maintain its own state

159 +(like persisting it to a file).

159160

160161 ## Cmdlets removed from PowerShell

161162

⋯ 86 unchanged lines

248249

249250 ### `New-WebServiceProxy` cmdlet removed

250251

251 −.NET Core does not support the Windows Communication Framework, which provide services for using the

252 +.NET Core doesn't support the Windows Communication Framework, which provides services for using the

252253 SOAP protocol. This cmdlet was removed because it requires SOAP.

253254

254255 ### `*-Transaction` cmdlets removed

⋯ 43 unchanged lines

298299 on non-Windows platforms. It also means that you can run commands like `pwsh foo.ps1` or

299300 `pwsh fooScript` without specifying `-File`. However, this change requires that you explicitly

300301 specify `-c` or `-Command` when trying to run commands like `pwsh.exe -Command Get-Command`.

301 −- `pwsh` accepts the `-i` (or `-Interactive`) switch to indicate an interactive shell.

302 − This allows PowerShell to be used as a default shell on Unix platforms.

302 +- `pwsh` accepts the `-i` (or `-Interactive`) switch to indicate an interactive shell. This allows

303 + PowerShell to be used as a default shell on Unix platforms.

303304 - Removed parameters `-ImportSystemModules` and `-PSConsoleFile` from `pwsh.exe`.

304305 - Changed `pwsh -Version` and built-in help for `pwsh.exe` to align with other native tools.

305306 - Invalid argument error messages for `-File` and `-Command` and exit codes consistent with Unix

⋯ 28 unchanged lines

334335

335336 - `USE_MU` - This property has two possible values:

336337 - `1` (default) - Opts into updating through Microsoft Update or WSUS

337 − - `0` - Do not opt into updating through Microsoft Update or WSUS

338 + - `0` - Don't opt into updating through Microsoft Update or WSUS

338339 - `ENABLE_MU`

339340 - `1` (default) - Opts into using Microsoft Update the Automatic Updates or Windows Update

340 − - `0` - Do not opt into using Microsoft Update the Automatic Updates or Windows Update

341 + - `0` - Don't opt into using Microsoft Update the Automatic Updates or Windows Update

341342

342343 ## Engine changes

343344

344345 ### Support PowerShell as a default Unix shell

345346

346 −On Unix, it is a convention for shells to accept `-i` for an interactive shell and many tools

347 −expect this behavior (`script` for example, and when setting PowerShell as the default shell) and

348 −calls the shell with the `-i` switch. This change is breaking in that `-i` previously could be used

349 −as short hand to match `-InputFormat`, which now needs to be `-in`.

347 +On Unix, it's a convention for shells to accept `-i` for an interactive shell and many tools expect

348 +this behavior (`script` for example, and when setting PowerShell as the default shell) and calls the

349 +shell with the `-i` switch. This change is breaking in that `-i` previously could be used as short

350 +hand to match `-InputFormat`, which now needs to be `-in`.

350351

351352 ### Custom snap-ins

352353

353 −[PowerShell snap-ins][07] are a predecessor to PowerShell modules that do not have widespread

354 +[PowerShell snap-ins][07] are a predecessor to PowerShell modules that don't have widespread

354355 adoption in the PowerShell community.

355356

356357 Due to the complexity of supporting snap-ins and their lack of usage in the community, we no longer

⋯ 21 unchanged lines

378379 ### Preserve `$?` for **ParenExpression**, **SubExpression** and **ArrayExpression**

379380

380381 This PR alters the way we compile subpipelines `(...)`, subexpressions `$(...)` and array

381 −expressions `@()` so that `$?` is not automatically **true**. Instead the value of `$?` depends on

382 +expressions `@()` so that `$?` isn't automatically **true**. Instead the value of `$?` depends on

382383 the result of the pipeline or statements executed.

383384

384385 ### Fix `$?` to not be `$false` when native command writes to `stderr`

385386

386 −`$?` is not set to `$false` when native command writes to `stderr`. It is common for native commands

387 +`$?` isn't set to `$false` when native command writes to `stderr`. It's common for native commands

387388 to write to `stderr` without intending to indicate a failure. `$?` is set to `$false` only when the

388389 native command has a non-zero exit code.

389390

390391 ### Make `$ErrorActionPreference` not affect `stderr` output of native commands

391392

392 −It is common for native commands to write to `stderr` without intending to indicate a failure. With

393 +It's common for native commands to write to `stderr` without intending to indicate a failure. With

393394 this change, `stderr` output is still captured in **ErrorRecord** objects, but the runtime no longer

394395 applies `$ErrorActionPreference` if the **ErrorRecord** comes from a native command.

395396

⋯ 37 unchanged lines

433434 ### Allow explicitly specified named parameter to supersede the same one from hashtable splatting

434435

435436 With this change, the named parameters from splatting are moved to the end of the parameter list so

436 −that they are bound after all explicitly specified named parameters are bound. Parameter binding for

437 −simple functions doesn't throw an error when a specified named parameter cannot be found. Unknown

437 +that they're bound after all explicitly specified named parameters are bound. Parameter binding for

438 +simple functions doesn't throw an error when a specified named parameter can't be found. Unknown

438439 named parameters are bound to the `$args` parameter of the simple function. Moving splatting to the

439440 end of the argument list changes the order the parameters appears in `$args`.

440441

⋯ 9 unchanged lines

450451 }

451452 ```

452453

453 −In the previous behavior, **MyPath** is not bound to `-Path` because it's the third argument in the

454 +In the previous behavior, **MyPath** isn't bound to `-Path` because it's the third argument in the

454455 argument list. ## So it ends up being stuffed into '$args' along with `Blah = "World"`

455456

456457 ```powershell

⋯ 3 unchanged lines

460461 ```

461462

462463 With this change, the arguments from `@hash` are moved to the end of the argument list. **MyPath**

463 −becomes the first argument in the list, so it is bound to `-Path`.

464 +becomes the first argument in the list, so it's bound to `-Path`.

464465

465466 ```powershell

466467 PS> SimpleTest @hash "MyPath"

⋯ 64 unchanged lines

531532 its operand only if that operand evaluates to non-null; otherwise, it returns null.

532533

533534 Since PowerShell allows `?` to be part of the variable name, formal specification of the variable

534 −name is required for using these operators. So it is required to use `{}` around the variable names

535 +name is required for using these operators. So it's required to use `{}` around the variable names

535536 like `${a}` or when `?` is part of the variable name `${a?}`.

536537

537538 In the following example, the value of **PropName** is returned.

⋯ 34 unchanged lines

572573 ```

573574

574575 > [!NOTE]

575 −> The variable name syntax of `${<name>}` should not be confused with the `$()` subexpression

576 +> The variable name syntax of `${<name>}` shouldn't be confused with the `$()` subexpression

576577 > operator. For more information, see Variable name section of [about_Variables][08].

577578

578579 ### Added `&` operator for job control

⋯ 90 unchanged lines

669670

670671 ## New cmdlets

671672

672 −### New Get-Uptime cmdlet

673 +### New `Get-Uptime` cmdlet

673674

674675 The [Get-Uptime][19] cmdlet returns the time elapsed since the last boot of the operating system.

675676 The cmdlet was introduced in PowerShell 6.0.

676677

677 −### New Remove-Alias cmdlet

678 +### New `Remove-Alias` cmdlet

678679

679680 The [Remove-Alias][21] cmdlet removes an alias from the current PowerShell session. The cmdlet was

680681 introduced in PowerShell 6.0.

681682

682 −### New cmdlet Remove-Service

683 +### New `Remove-Service` cmdlet

683684

684685 The [Remove-Service][15] cmdlet removes a Windows service in the registry and in the service

685686 database. The `Remove-Service` cmdlet was introduced in PowerShell 6.0.

⋯ 13 unchanged lines

699700 console.

700701 - [Show-Markdown][23] - Displays Markdown content in the console or as HTML

701702

702 −### New Test-Json cmdlet

703 +### New `Test-Json` cmdlet

703704

704705 The [Test-Json][24] cmdlet tests whether a string is a valid JavaScript Object Notation (JSON)

705706 document and can optionally verify that JSON document against a provided schema.

⋯ 8 unchanged lines

714715 - [Enable-ExperimentalFeature][11]

715716 - [Get-ExperimentalFeature][13]

716717

717 −### New Join-String cmdlet

718 +### New `Join-String` cmdlet

718719

719720 The [Join-String][20] cmdlet combines objects from the pipeline into a single string. This cmdlet

720721 was added in PowerShell 6.2.

721722

722 −### New view ConciseView and cmdlet Get-Error

723 +### New view **ConciseView** and cmdlet `Get-Error`

723724

724725 PowerShell 7.0 enhances the display of error messages to improve the readability of interactive and

725726 script errors with a new default view, **ConciseView**. The views are user-selectable through the

726727 preference variable `$ErrorView`.

727728

728 −With **ConciseView**, if an error is not from a script or parser error, then it's a single line

729 +With **ConciseView**, if an error isn't from a script or parser error, then it's a single line

729730 error message:

730731

731732 ```powershell

⋯ 1 unchanged line

733734 ```

734735

735736 ```Output

736 −Get-ChildItem: Cannot find path 'C:\NotReal' because it does not exist

737 +Get-ChildItem: Can't find path 'C:\NotReal' because it doesn't exist

737738 ```

738739

739740 If the error occurs during script execution or is a parsing error, PowerShell returns a multiline

740741 error message that contains the error, a pointer, and an error message showing where the error is in

741 −that line. If the terminal doesn't support ANSI color escape sequences (VT100), then colors are not

742 +that line. If the terminal doesn't support ANSI color escape sequences (VT100), then colors aren't

742743 displayed.

743744

744745 The default view in PowerShell 7 is **ConciseView**. The previous default view was **NormalView**

⋯ 30 unchanged lines

775776

776777 ## Cmdlet changes

777778

778 −### Parallel execution added to ForEach-Object

779 +### Parallel execution added to `ForEach-Object`

779780

780781 Beginning in PowerShell 7.0, the `ForEach-Object` cmdlet, which iterates items in a collection, now

781782 has built-in parallelism with the new **Parallel** parameter.

⋯ 15 unchanged lines

797798 50000

798799 ```

799800

800 −The **Parallel** parameter specifies the script block that is run in parallel for each input log

801 +The **Parallel** parameter specifies the script block that's run in parallel for each input log

801802 name.

802803

803804 The new **ThrottleLimit** parameter limits the number of script blocks running in parallel at a

⋯ 34 unchanged lines

838839

839840 ### Remove `-Protocol` from `*-Computer` cmdlets

840841

841 −Due to issues with RPC remoting in CoreFX (particularly on non-Windows platforms) and ensuring a

842 −consistent remoting experience in PowerShell, the `-Protocol` parameter was removed from the

843 −`\*-Computer` cmdlets. DCOM is no longer supported for remoting. The following cmdlets only support

844 −WSMAN remoting:

842 +The `-Protocol` parameter was removed from following cmdlets:

845843

846844 - `Rename-Computer`

847845 - `Restart-Computer`

848846 - `Stop-Computer`

849847

848 +DCOM is no longer supported for remoting. The cmdlets only support WSMAN remoting.

849 +

850850 ### Remove `-ComputerName` from `*-Service` cmdlets

851851

852852 In order to encourage the consistent use of PSRP, the `-ComputerName` parameter was removed from

853 −`*-Service` cmdlets.

853 +`*-Service` cmdlets. Use `Invoke-Command` to run the cmdlets on remote computers instead.

854854

855855 ### Fix `Get-Content -Delimiter` to not include the delimiter in the returned lines

856856

⋯ 3 unchanged lines

860860

861861 ### Changes to `Format-Hex`

862862

863 −The `-Raw` parameter is now a "no-op" (in that it does nothing). Going forward all output is

864 −displayed with a true representation of numbers that includes all of the bytes for its type. This is

865 −what the `-Raw` parameter was doing prior to this change.

863 +The `-Raw` parameter now does nothing. The `Format-Hex` cmdlet displays a true representation of

864 +numbers that includes all the bytes for its type. This is what the `-Raw` parameter did prior

865 +to this change.

866866

867 −### Typo fix in Get-ComputerInfo property name

867 +### Typo fix in `Get-ComputerInfo` property name

868868

869869 `BiosSerialNumber` was misspelled as `BiosSeralNumber` and has been changed to the correct spelling.

870870

871 −### Add `Get-StringHash` and `Get-FileHash` cmdlets

871 +### Changes to available hash algorithms

872872

873 −This change is that some hash algorithms are not supported by CoreFX, therefore they are no longer

874 −available:

873 +The following hash algorithms have been removed from .NET:

875874

876875 - `MACTripleDES`

877876 - `RIPEMD160`

878877

878 +This change affects the `Get-FileHash` cmdlet.

879 +

879880 ### Add validation on `Get-*` cmdlets where passing $null returns all objects instead of error

880881

881882 Passing `$null` to any of the following now throws an error:

⋯ 13 unchanged lines

895896

896897 ### Add support for the W3C Extended Log File Format in `Import-Csv`

897898

898 −Previously, the `Import-Csv` cmdlet cannot be used to directly import the log files in W3C extended

899 +Previously, the `Import-Csv` cmdlet can't be used to directly import the log files in W3C extended

899900 log format and additional action would be required. With this change, W3C extended log format is

900901 supported.

901902

902903 ### `Import-Csv` applies `pstypenames` upon import when type information is present in the CSV

903904

904905 Previously, objects exported using `Export-Csv` with `TypeInformation` imported with

905 −`ConvertFrom-Csv` were not retaining the type information. This change adds the type information to

906 +`ConvertFrom-Csv` weren't retaining the type information. This change adds the type information to

906907 `pstypenames` member if available from the CSV file.

907908

908909 ### `-NoTypeInformation` is the default on `Export-Csv`

⋯ 11 unchanged lines

920921 if the file doesn't exist, it should error. Change is to treat wildcards used with `-Literal` as

921922 literal.

922923

923 −### Group-Object now sorts the groups

924 +### `Group-Object` now sorts the groups

924925

925926 As part of the performance improvement, `Group-Object` now returns a sorted listing of the groups.

926 −Although you should not rely on the order, you could be broken by this change if you wanted the

927 +Although you shouldn't rely on the order, you could be broken by this change if you wanted the

927928 first group. We decided that this performance improvement was worth the change since the impact of

928929 being dependent on previous behavior is low.

929930

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10271028 - `-MaximumRedirection` now produces a terminating error when redirection attempts exceed the

10281029 provided limit instead of returning the results of the last redirection.

10291030 - In PowerShell 6.2, a change was made to default to UTF-8 encoding for JSON responses. When a

1030 − charset is not supplied for a JSON response, the default encoding should be UTF-8 per RFC 8259.

1031 + charset isn't supplied for a JSON response, the default encoding should be UTF-8 per RFC 8259.

10311032 - Default encoding set to UTF-8 for `application-json` responses

10321033 - Added `-SkipHeaderValidation` parameter to allow `Content-Type` headers that aren't

10331034 standards-compliant

⋯ 1 unchanged line

10351036 - Compliant, case-insensitive handling of relation keys

10361037 - Added `-Resume` parameter for web cmdlets

10371038

1038 −### Invoke-RestMethod returns useful info when no data is returned

1039 +### `Invoke-RestMethod` returns useful info when no data is returned

10391040

10401041 When an API returns just `null`, `Invoke-RestMethod` was serializing this as the string `"null"`

10411042 instead of `$null`. This change fixes the logic in `Invoke-RestMethod` to properly serialize a valid

⋯ 8 unchanged lines

10501051 ### Make `-OutFile` parameter in web cmdlets to work like `-LiteralPath`

10511052

10521053 Beginning in PowerShell 7.1, the **OutFile** parameter of the web cmdlets works like **LiteralPath**

1053 −and does not process wildcards.

1054 +and doesn't process wildcards.

10541055

10551056 ## API changes

10561057

10571058 ### Remove `AddTypeCommandBase` class

10581059

10591060 The `AddTypeCommandBase` class was removed from `Add-Type` to improve performance. This class is

1060 −only used by the `Add-Type` cmdlet and should not impact users.

1061 +only used by the `Add-Type` cmdlet and shouldn't impact users.

10611062

10621063 ### Removed `VisualBasic` as a supported language in Add-Type

10631064

⋯ 12 unchanged lines

10761077

10771078 ### Remove `ClrVersion` and `BuildVersion` properties from `$PSVersionTable`

10781079

1079 −The `ClrVersion` property of `$PSVersionTable` is not useful with CoreCLR. End users should not be

1080 +The `ClrVersion` property of `$PSVersionTable` isn't useful with CoreCLR. End users shouldn't be

10801081 using that value to determine compatibility.

10811082

1082 −The `BuildVersion` property was tied to the Windows build version, which is not available on

1083 +The `BuildVersion` property was tied to the Windows build version, which isn't available on

10831084 non-Windows platforms. Use the `GitCommitId` property to retrieve the exact build version of

10841085 PowerShell.

10851086

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11041105 so it makes sense to not allow people to create `Workflow` instances.

11051106 - Remove the type **System.Management.Automation.DebugSource** since it's only used for workflow

11061107 debugging.

1107 −- Remove the overload of `SetParent` from the abstract class **Debugger** that is only used for

1108 +- Remove the overload of `SetParent` from the abstract class **Debugger** that's only used for

11081109 workflow debugging.

11091110 - Remove the same overload of `SetParent` from the derived class **RemotingJobDebugger**.

11101111

1111 −### Do not wrap return result in `PSObject` when converting a `ScriptBlock` to a delegate

1112 +### Don't wrap return result in `PSObject` when converting a `ScriptBlock` to a delegate

11121113

11131114 When a `ScriptBlock` is converted to a delegate type to be used in C# context, wrapping the result

11141115 in a `PSObject` brings unneeded troubles:

⋯ 7 unchanged lines

11221123

11231124 ## Remoting Support

11241125

1125 −PowerShell Remoting (PSRP) using WinRM on Unix platforms requires NTLM/Negotiate or Basic Auth over

1126 −HTTPS. PSRP on macOS only supports Basic Auth over HTTPS. Kerberos-based authentication is not

1127 −supported for non-Windows platforms.

1128 −

1129 −PowerShell also supports PowerShell Remoting (PSRP) over SSH on all platforms (Windows, macOS, and

1130 −Linux). For more information, see [SSH remoting in PowerShell][25].

1126 +PowerShell Remoting (PSRP) using WinRM isn't supported for non-Windows platforms. You can use

1127 +PowerShell Remoting (PSRP) over WinRM from Windows to connect to other Windows machines. PowerShell

1128 +also supports remoting over SSH on all platforms (Windows, macOS, and Linux). For more information,

1129 +see [SSH remoting in PowerShell][25].

11311130

11321131 ### PowerShell Direct for Containers tries to use `pwsh` first

11331132

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12071206

12081207 ## Telemetry can only be disabled with an environment variable

12091208

1210 −PowerShell sends basic telemetry data to Microsoft when it is launched. The data includes the OS

1209 +PowerShell sends basic telemetry data to Microsoft when it's launched. The data includes the OS

12111210 name, OS version, and PowerShell version. This data allows us to better understand the environments

12121211 where PowerShell is used and enables us to prioritize new features and fixes.

12131212

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Microsoft's Markdown source from MicrosoftDocs/PowerShell-Docs, © Microsoft Corporation, under CC BY 4.0. Changed lines with up to 3 unchanged lines around each; ChangeIntel kept this copy 10 Oct 03:16 UTC. The commit date is when the source changed, which can be hours or days before Learn published it.