Terminating vs non-terminating errors in PowerShell - When to Use Which

The Big Idea

What if one small error could either ruin your entire script or just be a tiny bump on the road? Learn how to control that!

The Scenario

Imagine you are running a long PowerShell script to manage hundreds of files. Suddenly, one file causes an error. Without understanding error types, your script either stops completely or ignores the error without you knowing.

The Problem

Manually handling errors without knowing the difference between terminating and non-terminating errors means your script might stop unexpectedly, wasting time, or continue silently with problems, causing confusion and mistakes.

The Solution

Understanding terminating vs non-terminating errors helps you control your script flow. You can decide when to stop the script on serious errors or continue running while logging minor issues, making your automation reliable and clear.

Before vs After

✗ Before

Get-Content file.txt -ErrorAction Stop
# Script stops if file.txt missing

✓ After

Get-Content file.txt -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
# Script continues, logs error, and keeps running

What It Enables

You gain precise control over error handling, making your scripts robust and predictable even when unexpected problems occur.

Real Life Example

When copying many files, a terminating error stops the whole process if one file is locked, but a non-terminating error lets the script skip locked files and finish copying the rest.

Key Takeaways

Terminating errors stop script execution immediately.

Non-terminating errors report issues but let the script continue.

Knowing the difference helps you write smarter, more reliable scripts.