Command discovery (Get-Command) in PowerShell

Introduction

Get-Command helps you find commands available in PowerShell. It shows what commands you can run.

You want to see if a command exists before using it.

You need to find commands related to a task, like 'file' or 'process'.

You want to discover commands from modules you installed.

You want to check the type of a command (cmdlet, function, alias).

Syntax

PowerShell

Get-Command [-Name] <string[]> [-Module <string[]>] [-CommandType <CommandTypes[]>] [-ListImported] [-All] [<CommonParameters>]

-Name lets you specify the command name or pattern (wildcards allowed).

-CommandType filters by type like Cmdlet, Function, Alias, Application.

Examples

Finds the command named 'Get-Process'.

PowerShell

Get-Command -Name Get-Process

Finds all commands with 'Service' in their name.

PowerShell

Get-Command -Name *Service*

Lists all cmdlets available in the session.

PowerShell

Get-Command -CommandType Cmdlet

Shows commands from the specified module.

PowerShell

Get-Command -Module Microsoft.PowerShell.Management

Sample Program

This script finds the 'Get-Process' command, then all commands with 'Service' in their name, and finally shows the first 3 aliases.

PowerShell

Get-Command -Name Get-Process
Get-Command -Name *Service*
Get-Command -CommandType Alias | Select-Object -First 3

Important Notes

You can use wildcards (*) to find commands with partial names.

Get-Command shows commands from all loaded modules by default.

Use Select-Object to limit output if many commands are found.

Summary

Get-Command helps you find and explore commands in PowerShell.

You can search by name, type, or module.

It is useful to discover what commands you can use for your tasks.