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The Windows PowerShell ISE

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The Windows PowerShell Integrated Scripting Environment (ISE) is a host application for Windows PowerShell. In the ISE, you can run commands and write, test, and debug scripts in a single Windows-based graphic user interface. The ISE provides multiline editing, tab completion, syntax coloring, selective execution, context-sensitive help, and support for right-to-left languages. Menu items and keyboard shortcuts are mapped to many of the same tasks that you would do in the Windows PowerShell console. For example, when you debug a script in the ISE, you can right-click on a line of code in the edit pane to set a breakpoint.

Support

The ISE was first introduced with Windows PowerShell V2 and was re-designed with PowerShell V3. The ISE is supported in all supported versions of Windows PowerShell up to and including Windows PowerShell V5.1.

Note

The PowerShell ISE is no longer in active feature development. As a shipping component of Windows, it continues to be officially supported for security and high-priority servicing fixes. We currently have no plans to remove the ISE from Windows.

There is no support for the ISE in PowerShell v6 and beyond. Users looking for replacement for the ISE should use Visual Studio Code with the PowerShell Extension.

Key Features

Key features in Windows PowerShell ISE include:

  • Multiline editing: To insert a blank line under the current line in the Command pane, press SHIFT+ENTER.
  • Selective execution: To run part of a script, select the text you want to run, and then click the Run Script button. Or, press F5.
  • Context-sensitive help: Type Invoke-Item, and then press F1. The Help file opens to the article for the Invoke-Item cmdlet.

The Windows PowerShell ISE lets you customize some aspects of its appearance. It also has its own Windows PowerShell profile script.

To start the Windows PowerShell ISE

Click Start, select Windows PowerShell, and then click Windows PowerShell ISE. Alternately, you can type powershell_ise.exe in any command shell or in the Run box.

To get Help in the Windows PowerShell ISE

On the Help menu, click Windows PowerShell Help. Or, press F1. The file that opens describes Windows PowerShell ISE and Windows PowerShell, including all the help available from the Get-Help cmdlet.