Out-File

Reference

Module:: Microsoft.PowerShell.Utility

Sends output to a file.

Syntax

Out-File
   [-FilePath] <string>
   [[-Encoding] <Encoding>]
   [-Append]
   [-Force]
   [-NoClobber]
   [-Width <int>]
   [-NoNewline]
   [-InputObject <psobject>]
   [-WhatIf]
   [-Confirm]
   [<CommonParameters>]

Out-File
   [[-Encoding] <Encoding>]
   -LiteralPath <string>
   [-Append]
   [-Force]
   [-NoClobber]
   [-Width <int>]
   [-NoNewline]
   [-InputObject <psobject>]
   [-WhatIf]
   [-Confirm]
   [<CommonParameters>]

Description

The Out-File cmdlet sends output to a file. It implicitly uses PowerShell's formatting system to write to the file. The file receives the same display representation as the terminal. This means that the output may not be ideal for programmatic processing unless all input objects are strings. When you need to specify parameters for the output, use Out-File rather than the redirection operator (>). For more information about redirection, see about_Redirection.

Examples

Example 1: Send output and create a file

This example shows how to send a list of the local computer's processes to a file. If the file does not exist, Out-File creates the file in the specified path.

Get-Process | Out-File -FilePath .\Process.txt
Get-Content -Path .\Process.txt

NPM(K)    PM(M)      WS(M)     CPU(s)      Id  SI ProcessName
 ------    -----      -----     ------      --  -- -----------
     29    22.39      35.40      10.98   42764   9 Application
     53    99.04     113.96       0.00   32664   0 CcmExec
     27    96.62     112.43     113.00   17720   9 Code

The Get-Process cmdlet gets the list of processes running on the local computer. The Process objects are sent down the pipeline to the Out-File cmdlet. Out-File uses the FilePath parameter and creates a file in the current directory named Process.txt. The Get-Content command gets content from the file and displays it in the PowerShell console.

Example 2: Prevent an existing file from being overwritten

This example prevents an existing file from being overwritten. By default, Out-File overwrites existing files.

Get-Process | Out-File -FilePath .\Process.txt -NoClobber

Out-File : The file 'C:\Test\Process.txt' already exists.
At line:1 char:15
+ Get-Process | Out-File -FilePath .\Process.txt -NoClobber
+               ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Get-Process cmdlet gets the list of processes running on the local computer. The Process objects are sent down the pipeline to the Out-File cmdlet. Out-File uses the FilePath parameter and attempts to write to a file in the current directory named Process.txt. The NoClobber parameter prevents the file from being overwritten and displays a message that the file already exists.

Example 3: Send output to a file in ASCII format

This example shows how to encode output with a specific encoding type.

$Procs = Get-Process
Out-File -FilePath .\Process.txt -InputObject $Procs -Encoding ASCII -Width 50

The Get-Process cmdlet gets the list of processes running on the local computer. The Process objects are stored in the variable, $Procs. Out-File uses the FilePath parameter and creates a file in the current directory named Process.txt. The InputObject parameter passes the process objects in $Procs to the file Process.txt. The Encoding parameter converts the output to ASCII format. The Width parameter limits each line in the file to 50 characters so some data might be truncated.

Example 4: Use a provider and send output to a file

This example shows how to use the Out-File cmdlet when you aren't in a FileSystem provider drive. Use the Get-PSProvider cmdlet to view the providers on your local computer. For more information, see about_Providers.

PS> Set-Location -Path Alias:

PS> Get-Location

Path
----
Alias:\

PS> Get-ChildItem | Out-File -FilePath C:\TestDir\AliasNames.txt

PS> Get-Content -Path C:\TestDir\AliasNames.txt

CommandType     Name
-----------     ----
Alias           % -> ForEach-Object
Alias           ? -> Where-Object
Alias           ac -> Add-Content
Alias           cat -> Get-Content

The Set-Location command uses the Path parameter to set the current location to the registry provider Alias:. The Get-Location cmdlet displays the complete path for Alias:. Get-ChildItem sends objects down the pipeline to the Out-File cmdlet. Out-File uses the FilePath parameter to specify the complete path and filename for the output, C:\TestDir\AliasNames.txt. The Get-Content cmdlet uses the Path parameter and displays the file's content in the PowerShell console.

Example 5: Set file output width for entire scope

This example uses $PSDefaultParameterValues to set the Width parameter for all invocations of Out-File and the redirection operators (> and >>) to 2000. This ensures that everywhere within the current scope that you output table formatted data to file, PowerShell uses a line width of 2000 instead of a line width determined by the PowerShell host's console width.

function DemoDefaultOutFileWidth() {
    try {
        $PSDefaultParameterValues['out-file:width'] = 2000

        $logFile = "$pwd\logfile.txt"

        Get-ChildItem Env:\ > $logFile

        Get-Service -ErrorAction Ignore |
            Format-Table -AutoSize |
            Out-File $logFile -Append

        Get-Process | Format-Table Id,SI,Name,Path,MainWindowTitle >> $logFile
    }
    finally {
        $PSDefaultParameterValues.Remove('out-file:width')
    }
}

DemoDefaultOutFileWidth

For more information about $PSDefaultParameterValues, see about_Preference_Variables.

Parameters

-Append

Adds the output to the end of an existing file.

Type:	SwitchParameter
Position:	Named
Default value:	None
Required:	False
Accept pipeline input:	False
Accept wildcard characters:	False

-Confirm

Prompts you for confirmation before running the cmdlet.

Type:	SwitchParameter
Aliases:	cf
Position:	Named
Default value:	False
Required:	False
Accept pipeline input:	False
Accept wildcard characters:	False

-Encoding

Specifies the type of encoding for the target file. The default value is utf8NoBOM.

The acceptable values for this parameter are as follows:

ascii: Uses the encoding for the ASCII (7-bit) character set.
bigendianunicode: Encodes in UTF-16 format using the big-endian byte order.
bigendianutf32: Encodes in UTF-32 format using the big-endian byte order.
oem: Uses the default encoding for MS-DOS and console programs.
unicode: Encodes in UTF-16 format using the little-endian byte order.
utf7: Encodes in UTF-7 format.
utf8: Encodes in UTF-8 format.
utf8BOM: Encodes in UTF-8 format with Byte Order Mark (BOM)
utf8NoBOM: Encodes in UTF-8 format without Byte Order Mark (BOM)
utf32: Encodes in UTF-32 format.

Beginning with PowerShell 6.2, the Encoding parameter also allows numeric IDs of registered code pages (like -Encoding 1251) or string names of registered code pages (like -Encoding "windows-1251"). For more information, see the .NET documentation for Encoding.CodePage.

Note

UTF-7* is no longer recommended to use. As of PowerShell 7.1, a warning is written if you specify utf7 for the Encoding parameter.

Type:	Encoding
Accepted values:	ASCII, BigEndianUnicode, BigEndianUTF32, OEM, Unicode, UTF7, UTF8, UTF8BOM, UTF8NoBOM, UTF32
Position:	1
Default value:	UTF8NoBOM
Required:	False
Accept pipeline input:	False
Accept wildcard characters:	False

-FilePath

Specifies the path to the output file.

Type:	String
Aliases:	Path
Position:	0
Default value:	None
Required:	True
Accept pipeline input:	False
Accept wildcard characters:	False

-Force

Overrides the read-only attribute and overwrites an existing read-only file. The Force parameter doesn't override security restrictions.

Type:	SwitchParameter
Position:	Named
Default value:	None
Required:	False
Accept pipeline input:	False
Accept wildcard characters:	False

-InputObject

Specifies the objects to be written to the file. Enter a variable that contains the objects or type a command or expression that gets the objects.

Type:	PSObject
Position:	Named
Default value:	None
Required:	False
Accept pipeline input:	True
Accept wildcard characters:	False

-LiteralPath

Specifies the path to the output file. The LiteralPath parameter is used exactly as it's typed. Wildcard characters aren't accepted. If the path includes escape characters, enclose it in single quotation marks. Single quotation marks tell PowerShell not to interpret any characters as escape sequences. For more information, see about_Quoting_Rules.

Type:	String
Aliases:	PSPath, LP
Position:	Named
Default value:	None
Required:	True
Accept pipeline input:	True
Accept wildcard characters:	False

-NoClobber

NoClobber prevents an existing file from being overwritten and displays a message that the file already exists. By default, if a file exists in the specified path, Out-File overwrites the file without warning.

Type:	SwitchParameter
Aliases:	NoOverwrite
Position:	Named
Default value:	None
Required:	False
Accept pipeline input:	False
Accept wildcard characters:	False

-NoNewline

Specifies that the content written to the file doesn't end with a newline character. The string representations of the input objects are concatenated to form the output. No spaces or newlines are inserted between the output strings. No newline is added after the last output string.

Type:	SwitchParameter
Position:	Named
Default value:	None
Required:	False
Accept pipeline input:	False
Accept wildcard characters:	False

-WhatIf

Shows what would happen if the cmdlet runs. The cmdlet isn't run.

Type:	SwitchParameter
Aliases:	wi
Position:	Named
Default value:	False
Required:	False
Accept pipeline input:	False
Accept wildcard characters:	False

-Width

Specifies the maximum number of characters in each line of output. Any additional characters are truncated, not wrapped. If this parameter isn't used, the width is determined by the characteristics of the host. The default for the PowerShell console is 80 characters. If you want to control the width for all invocations of Out-File as well as the redirection operators (> and >>), set $PSDefaultParameterValues['out-file:width'] = 2000 before using Out-File.

Type:	Int32
Position:	Named
Default value:	None
Required:	False
Accept pipeline input:	False
Accept wildcard characters:	False

Inputs

PSObject

You can pipe any object to this cmdlet.

Outputs

None

This cmdlet returns no output.

Notes

Input objects are automatically formatted as they would be in the terminal, but you can use a Format-* cmdlet to explicitly control the formatting of the output to the file. For example, Get-Date | Format-List | Out-File out.txt

To send a PowerShell command's output to the Out-File cmdlet, use the pipeline. Alternatively, you can store data in a variable and use the InputObject parameter to pass data to the Out-File cmdlet.

Out-File saves data to a file but it doesn't produce any output objects to the pipeline.

PowerShell 7.2 added the ability to control how ANSI escape sequences are rendered. ANSI-decorated output that's passed to Out-File can be changed based on the setting of the $PSStyle.OutputRendering property. For more information, see about_ANSI_Terminals.

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Out-File

Syntax

Description

Examples

Example 1: Send output and create a file

Example 2: Prevent an existing file from being overwritten

Example 3: Send output to a file in ASCII format

Example 4: Use a provider and send output to a file

Example 5: Set file output width for entire scope

Parameters

-Append

-Confirm

-Encoding

-FilePath

-Force

-InputObject

-LiteralPath

-NoClobber

-NoNewline

-WhatIf

-Width

Inputs

Outputs

Notes

Additional resources

Share via

Out-File

Syntax

Description

Examples

Example 1: Send output and create a file

Example 2: Prevent an existing file from being overwritten

Example 3: Send output to a file in ASCII format

Example 4: Use a provider and send output to a file

Example 5: Set file output width for entire scope

Parameters

-Append

-Confirm

-Encoding

-FilePath

-Force

-InputObject

-LiteralPath

-NoClobber

-NoNewline

-WhatIf

-Width

Inputs

Outputs

Notes

Related Links

Additional resources