about_escape_characters - PowerShell command help and examples

Introduces the escape character in Windows PowerShell and explains (about_escape_characters)

 TOPIC
 
    about_Escape_Characters 

 SHORT DESCRIPTION
 
    Introduces the escape character in Windows PowerShell and explains 
    its effect. 

 LONG DESCRIPTION
 
    Escape characters are used to assign a special interpretation to 
    the characters that follow it. 

    In Windows PowerShell, the escape character is the backtick (`), also 
    called the grave accent (ASCII 96). The escape character can be used 
    to indicate a literal, to indicate line continuation, and to indicate 
    special characters. 

  Indicating a Literal 
      When an escape character precedes a variable, it prevents a value from 
      being substituted for the variable. When an escape character precedes a 
      double quotation mark, Windows PowerShell interprets the double quotation 
      mark as a character, not as a string delimiter. 

      For example: 

          C:\>$a = 5 
          C:\>"The value is stored in $a."
          The value is stored in 5. 

          C:\>$a = 5 
          C:\>"The value is stored in `$a."
          The value is stored in $a. 

          C:\> "Use quotation marks (") to indicate a string."
          Unexpected token ')' in expression or statement. 
          At line:1 char:25 
          + "Use quotation marks (") <<<<  to indicate a string."

          C:\> "Use quotation marks (`") to indicate a string."
          Use quotation marks (") to indicate a string. 

  Indicating Line Continuation 
      The escape character tells Windows PowerShell that the command continues 
      on the next line. 

      For example: 

          C:\> get-process ` 
          >> powershell 

          Handles  NPM(K)    PM(K)      WS(K) VM(M)   CPU(s)     Id ProcessName 
          -------  ------    -----      ----- -----   ------     -- ----------- 
              340       8    34556      31864   149     0.98   2036 powershell 

  Indicating Special Characters 
      When used within quotation marks, the escape character indicates a 
      special character that provides instructions to the command parser. 

      The following special characters are recognized by Windows PowerShell: 

          `0    Null 
          `a    Alert 
          `b    Backspace 
          `f    Form feed 
          `n    New line 
          `r    Carriage return 
          `t    Horizontal tab 
          `v    Vertical tab 

      For example: 

          C:\> "12345678123456781`nCol1`tColumn2`tCol3"
          12345678123456781 
          Col1    Column2 Col3 

      For more information, type: 

          get-help about_special_characters 

SEE ALSO 
    about_Quoting_Rules 

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

Microsoft Windows [Version 10.0.19045.3693]
Copyright (c) 2023 Microsoft Corporation.

ColorConsole [Version 3.7.1000] PowerShell 2.0-Export

Windows 11, 10, 8.1, 8, 7 / Server 2022, 2019, 2016