about_Redirection - PowerShell command help and examples

Describes how to redirect output from Windows PowerShell to text files. (about_Redirection)

 TOPIC
 
    about_Redirection 

 SHORT DESCRIPTION
 
    Describes how to redirect output from Windows PowerShell to text files. 

 LONG DESCRIPTION
 
    By default, Windows PowerShell sends its command output to the Windows 
    PowerShell console. However, you can direct the output to a text 
    file, and you can redirect error output to the regular output stream. 

    You can use the following methods to redirect output: 

        - Use the Out-File cmdlet, which sends command output to a text file. 
          Typically, you use the Out-File cmdlet when you need to use its 
          parameters, such as the Encoding, Force, Width, or NoClobber 
          parameters. 

        - Use the Tee-Object cmdlet, which sends command output to a text file 
          and then sends it to the pipeline. 

        - Use the Windows PowerShell redirection operators. 

      The Windows PowerShell redirection operators are as follows. 

      Operator  Description                Example 
      --------  ----------------------     ------------------------------ 
      >         Sends output to the        get-process > process.txt 
                specified file. 

      >>        Appends the output to      dir *.ps1 >> scripts.txt 
                the contents of the 
                specified file. 

      2>        Sends errors to the        get-process none 2> errors.txt 
                specified file. 

      2>>       Appends the errors to      get-process none 2>> save-errors.txt 
                the contents of the 
                specified file. 

      2>&1      Sends errors to the        get-process none, powershell 2>&1 
                success output stream. 

    The syntax of the redirection operators is as follows: 

       <input> <operator> [<path>\]<file> 

    If the specified file already exists, the redirection operators that do not 
    append data (> and 2>) overwrite the current contents of the file without 
    warning. However, if the file is a read-only, hidden, or system file, the 
    redirection fails. The append redirection operators (>> and 2>>) do not 
    write to a read-only file, but they append content to a system or hidden 
    file. 

    To force the redirection of content to a read-only, hidden, or system file, 
    use the Out-File cmdlet with its Force parameter. When you are writing to 
    files, the redirection operators use Unicode encoding. If the file has a 
    different encoding, the output might not be formatted correctly. To 
    redirect content to non-Unicode files, use the Out-File cmdlet with its 
    Encoding parameter. 

SEE ALSO 
    Out-File 
    Tee-Object 
    about_Operators 
    about_Command_Syntax 
    about_Path_Syntax 

C:\Windows>powershell get-help about_Ref -full 

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