11---
2- description : This articles explains how to use the features of this site including search filtering and version selection.
3- ms.date : 01/17/2025
2+ description : This article explains how to use the features of this site including search filtering and version selection.
3+ ms.date : 01/28/2026
44ms.topic : how-to
55title : How to use the PowerShell documentation
66---
77# How to use the PowerShell documentation
88
9- Welcome to the PowerShell online documentation. This site contains cmdlet reference for the
10- following versions of PowerShell:
11-
12- - PowerShell 7.6 (preview)
13- - PowerShell 7.5 (RC)
14- - PowerShell 7.4 (LTS)
15- - PowerShell 5.1
16-
17- ## Navigating the documentation
9+ Welcome to the PowerShell online documentation.
1810
1911![ Screenshot showing the various elements of the web page.] [ 02 ]
2012
21- The web page contains multiple elements that help you navigate the documentation.
13+ The web page contains multiple elements that help you use and navigate the documentation.
14+
15+ ### Navigation elements
2216
2317- ** Site level navigation** - The site level navigation appears at the top of the page. It contains
2418 links to other content on the Microsoft Learn platform.
2519- ** Related content navigation** - The related content bar is immediately below the site level
2620 navigation. It contains links to content related to the current documentation set, which is
2721 PowerShell in this case.
22+ - ** Article navigation** - The article navigation appears at the top right of the article. It
23+ contains links to sections within the article.
24+
25+ ### Table of Contents
26+
2827- ** Version selector** - The version selector appears above the Table of Contents (TOC) and
29- controls which version of the cmdlet reference appears in the TOC.
30- - ** Table of Contents** - The TOC on the left side of the page is divided into two sections:
31- conceptual and reference. Notice the line between the ** Reference** node of the TOC. The
32- conceptual documents appear above the line. Reference content is listed in ** Reference** node
33- below the line.
34- - ** Action buttons** - The action buttons provide a way to add content to a collection, provide
35- feedback, edit the content, or share the content with others.
28+ controls which version of the ** cmdlet reference** appears in the TOC.
29+ - The ** Filter and search** box allows you to quickly find articles in the TOC by filtering on words
30+ that appear in the title of an article.
31+ - ** Conceptual content** - The top section of the TOC contains conceptual articles that aren't
32+ version-specific.
33+ - ** Cmdlet reference** - The bottom section of the TOC contains the cmdlet reference for the
34+ version of PowerShell selected in the version selector.
35+
36+ ### Action and menu buttons
37+
38+ These buttons provide other ways of interacting with the content.
39+
40+ - The ** Ask Learn** button opens an AI chat pane where you can ask questions and get help about
41+ the content.
42+ - The ** Focus mode** button hides the TOC and other distractions, allowing you to focus on the
43+ content.
44+ - The ** Menu** button provides a way to add content to a collection, provide feedback, edit the
45+ content, or share the content with others.
46+
47+ ### Feedback
48+
49+ There are two ways to provide feedback on the documentation.
50+
51+ - ** Anonymous feedback** - The ** Was this helpful?** section on the right side of the article allows
52+ you to provide a thumbs-up or thumbs-down rating. You can also enter more feedback in a text box.
53+ - ** Feeback on GitHub** - At the bottom of each article, you can provide feedback on the
54+ documentation or the product. These links take you to the GitHub repository where you can open an
55+ issue and give feedback.
3656
3757## Selecting the version of PowerShell
3858
59+ This site contains cmdlet reference for the following versions of PowerShell:
60+
61+ - PowerShell 7.6 (preview)
62+ - PowerShell 7.5
63+ - PowerShell 7.4 (LTS)
64+ - PowerShell 5.1
65+
3966Use the version selector located above the TOC to select the version of PowerShell you want. By
4067default, the page loads with the most current stable release version selected. The version selector
4168controls which version of the cmdlet reference appears in the TOC under the ** Reference** node. Some
42- cmdlets work differently in different versions of PowerShell you are using. Be sure you are viewing
69+ cmdlets work differently in different versions of PowerShell you're using. Be sure you're viewing
4370the documentation for the correct version of PowerShell.
4471
4572The version selector doesn't affect conceptual documentation. The conceptual documents appear above
@@ -48,7 +75,7 @@ If there are version-specific differences, the documentation makes note of those
4875
4976![ Animation showing how to use the version selector.] [ 06 ]
5077
51- You can verify the version of PowerShell you are using by inspecting the ` $PSVersionTable.PSVersion `
78+ You can verify the version of PowerShell you're using by inspecting the ` $PSVersionTable.PSVersion `
5279value. The following example shows the output for Windows PowerShell 5.1.
5380
5481``` powershell
@@ -58,54 +85,60 @@ $PSVersionTable.PSVersion
5885``` Output
5986Major Minor Build Revision
6087----- ----- ----- --------
61- 5 1 22621 963
88+ 5 1 26100 7705
6289```
6390
64- ## Finding articles
91+ ## Filter and search for articles
6592
6693There are two ways to search for content in Docs.
6794
95+ - The filter and search box under the version selector allows filtering articles by words that
96+ appear in the title of an article or command aliases. The filter displays a list of matching
97+ articles as you type. You can also select the option to search for the words in the body of
98+ articles. When you search from here, the search is limited to the PowerShell documentation.
6899- The search box in the site-level navigation bar searches the entire site. It returns a list of
69100 matching articles from all documentation sets.
70- - The TOC filter box under the version selector allows filtering by words that appear in the title
71- of an article. The filter displays a list of matching articles as you type. You can also select
72- the option to search for the words in an article. When you search from here, the search is
73- limited to the PowerShell documentation.
74101
75- In the following example, the search in the site-level navigation bar returns 840 results for the
76- word ` idempotent ` . Entering the word ` invoke ` in the TOC filter box shows a list of articles that
77- contain the word ` invoke ` in the title. Entering the word ` idempotent ` in the TOC filter shows no
78- articles. Clicking the search link searches for ` idempotent ` in the PowerShell documentation. This
79- search only returns 9 results.
102+ In the following example, you see how the drop-down list is filtered to show the ` Get-ChildItem `
103+ command as you type the name. When you enter ` gci ` , it the filter shows the ` Get-CimInstance ` and
104+ ` Get-ChildItem ` commands because the alias for both commands starts with ` gci ` .
105+
106+ Next, the word ` idempotent ` is entered. The filter shows no articles. Clicking the search link
107+ searches for ` idempotent ` in the PowerShell documentation. This search only returns 12 results.
108+ Notice the difference when the same word is searched using the site-level search box. The search
109+ returns 1,096 articles from the entire Microsoft Learn site.
80110
81111![ Animation showing how to use the search features.] [ 05 ]
82112
83- ## Downloading the documentation as a PDF
113+ ## Download the documentation as a PDF
84114
85- To download the documentation as a PDF, click the ** Download PDF** button at the bottom of the TOC.
115+ To download the documentation as a PDF, select the ** Download PDF** button at the bottom of the TOC.
86116
87117![ Screenshot of the Download PDF button.] [ 03 ]
88118
89- - If you are viewing a conceptual article, the Learn platform creates a PDF containing all the
90- conceptual content for the selected version.
91- - If you are viewing a reference article, the Learn platform creates a PDF containing all the
92- reference content for the selected version.
119+ - If you're viewing a conceptual article, the Learn platform creates a PDF containing the conceptual
120+ content for the selected version.
121+ - If you're viewing a reference article, the Learn platform creates a PDF containing the reference
122+ content for the selected version.
93123
94- ## Finding articles for previous versions
124+ ## Find articles for older versions of PowerShell
95125
96126Documentation for older versions of PowerShell is archived in our [ Previous Versions] [ 01 ] site. You
97127can choose ** Previous Versions** from the version selector.
98128
99129![ Screenshot of the Previous Versions option.] [ 04 ]
100130
101- The previous versions site contains documentation for the following topics:
131+ The ** Previous versions** option takes you to the site containing documentation for older and
132+ unsupported versions of PowerShell:
102133
103134- PowerShell 7.3
104135- PowerShell 7.2
105136- PowerShell 7.1
106137- PowerShell 7.0
107138- PowerShell 6
108139- PowerShell 5.0
140+ - WMF 5.x Release notes
141+ - PowerShell ISE object model
109142 - PowerShell Workflows
110143 - PowerShell Web Access
111144- PowerShell 4.0
@@ -114,7 +147,7 @@ The previous versions site contains documentation for the following topics:
114147<!-- link references -->
115148[ 01 ] : https://aka.ms/PSLegacyDocs
116149[ 02 ] : media/how-to-use-docs/how-to-use.gif
117- [ 03 ] : media/how-to-use-docs/pdf-button.gif
118- [ 04 ] : media/how-to-use-docs/previous-versions.gif
150+ [ 03 ] : media/how-to-use-docs/pdf-button.png
151+ [ 04 ] : media/how-to-use-docs/previous-versions.png
119152[ 05 ] : media/how-to-use-docs/search-scope.gif
120153[ 06 ] : media/how-to-use-docs/version-search.gif
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