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In PowerShell 7, use Set-Content to create or replace a text file, then Add-Content to add more text without removing what is already there:
$path = '.notes.txt'
'First line' | Set-Content -LiteralPath $path -Encoding utf8NoBOM
'Second line' | Add-Content -LiteralPath $path -Encoding utf8NoBOMThe file will contain both lines. These examples target PowerShell 7.x; Windows PowerShell 5.1 has different encoding defaults and does not support the utf8NoBOM encoding name.
Create a text file
Set-Content is usually the clearest choice when your goal is to write text. It creates the file if needed and replaces the contents if the file already exists:
'Hello from PowerShell' | Set-Content -Path '.example.txt' -Encoding utf8NoBOMHere, -Path identifies the destination and the string before the pipe is the content to write. A path beginning with . 5c is relative to the current directory. Check that directory with Get-Location; use an absolute path if you want to specify the destination unambiguously.
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For an empty file, use New-Item:
New-Item -Path '.empty.txt' -ItemType FileTo create a file and give it initial content in the same command:
New-Item -Path '.' -Name 'example.txt' -ItemType File -Value 'Initial content'New-Item creates a file item; Set-Content is generally more direct when writing or replacing text is the main task. See Microsoft Learn for Set-Content and New-Item.
Append text without replacing the file
Use Add-Content to add text at the end of a file. Unlike Set-Content, it preserves the content already there. It can also create the file if it does not exist:
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Add-Content -LiteralPath '.example.txt' -Value 'A new line' -Encoding utf8NoBOMYou can pipe a string instead:
'Another line' | Add-Content -LiteralPath '.example.txt' -Encoding utf8NoBOMTo append several lines, pass an array of strings. Each array entry is written as a separate line in this example:
@(
'First appended line'
'Second appended line'
'Third appended line'
) | Add-Content -LiteralPath '.example.txt' -Encoding utf8NoBOMIf you deliberately need to join text directly with no trailing newline, use -NoNewline on both commands:
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Set-Content -LiteralPath '.joined.txt' -Value 'Part 1' -NoNewline -Encoding utf8NoBOM
Add-Content -LiteralPath '.joined.txt' -Value 'Part 2' -NoNewline -Encoding utf8NoBOMThe result is Part 1Part 2. For ordinary notes and logs, line breaks are usually easier to read. Refer to Microsoft Learn for Add-Content.
A complete example, including a missing directory
Writing a file does not create missing parent directories. Create the directory first, then write and append:
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$directory = Join-Path $PWD 'logs'
$path = Join-Path $directory 'app.log'
New-Item -Path $directory -ItemType Directory -Force | Out-Null
'Application started' | Set-Content -LiteralPath $path -Encoding utf8NoBOM
"Application finished: $(Get-Date -Format 's')" |
Add-Content -LiteralPath $path -Encoding utf8NoBOM
Get-Content -LiteralPath $path-Force makes this directory-creation pattern convenient when the directory already exists. It does not bypass security permissions. If a relative path fails, check the current directory with Get-Location and confirm the parent exists with Test-Path -LiteralPath $directory.
Which command should you use?
| Command | What it does to an existing file | Good fit |
|---|---|---|
New-Item -ItemType File |
Creates a file item; an existing file is not a way to replace its contents | An empty file or a new file with initial -Value |
Set-Content |
Replaces its contents | Writing or replacing text |
Add-Content |
Preserves contents and appends text | Adding lines to notes or logs |
Out-File |
Replaces by default; -Append appends |
Saving formatted PowerShell output for a person to read |
> |
Overwrites without warning | Short redirection when the overwrite is intentional |
>> |
Appends | Short redirection when its formatting and encoding behavior are suitable |
Set-Content and Add-Content are explicit choices for text. Out-File writes PowerShell’s formatted display representation of objects, not the original objects in a reusable structured form. For human-readable command output, for example:
Get-Process | Out-File -FilePath '.processes.txt' -Encoding utf8NoBOM
Get-Process | Out-File -FilePath '.processes.txt' -Append -Encoding utf8NoBOMFormatted tables may be limited by the host’s output width. When saving wide formatted output, Out-File -Width can increase the width used for the file. For machine-readable data, use a format-specific export method rather than relying on terminal formatting. See Microsoft Learn’s Out-File documentation.
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Redirection shortcuts: > and >>
These operators are concise, but remember that > overwrites and >> appends:
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'First line' > '.example.txt'
'Second line' >> '.example.txt'Redirection behaves like sending output to Out-File without specifying its other parameters. Encoding behavior differs between PowerShell editions, so the explicit Set-Content and Add-Content pattern is easier to audit in scripts. Microsoft documents the details in about_Redirection.
Choose an encoding deliberately
Encoding is how text characters are represented as bytes. For modern, cross-platform text in PowerShell 7.x, UTF-8 without a byte-order mark is a sensible general-purpose choice:
$text = 'Café — 東京'
Set-Content -LiteralPath '.unicode.txt' -Value $text -Encoding utf8NoBOM
Add-Content -LiteralPath '.unicode.txt' -Value 'Привет' -Encoding utf8NoBOMUse the same encoding when you create and append to a file you control. If you append to a file made by another program, determine its encoding first and specify a matching encoding; choosing the wrong one can corrupt non-ASCII characters.
| PowerShell environment or target | Encoding choice | Important detail |
|---|---|---|
| PowerShell 7.x | -Encoding utf8NoBOM |
UTF-8 without a BOM; suitable for many modern text workflows. |
| Windows PowerShell 5.1, modern UTF-8 consumer | -Encoding UTF8 |
Writes UTF-8 with a BOM. Do not use the PowerShell 7 utf8NoBOM example unchanged. |
| Windows PowerShell 5.1, legacy ANSI consumer | -Encoding Default |
Uses the active Windows ANSI code page; use only when the receiving application requires it. |
| Target specifically requires UTF-16 little-endian | -Encoding Unicode |
Writes UTF-16LE, normally with a BOM. |
PowerShell 6 and later generally use UTF-8 without a BOM for text output defaults. Windows PowerShell 5.1 is less consistent: Out-File and redirection use UTF-16LE by default, while Set-Content and Add-Content use the system default ANSI code page when creating a new file. The meaning of utf8 also differs: Windows PowerShell 5.1 writes UTF-8 with a BOM, while PowerShell 6 and later use UTF-8 without one. Avoid UTF-7 for new work. See Microsoft’s about_Character_Encoding.
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When Add-Content is used without an explicit encoding, its behavior depends on the existing file and PowerShell edition. It can detect an existing encoding in relevant cases; a file without a BOM can require a fallback, which differs between Windows PowerShell 5.1 and PowerShell 6+. Explicitly set the encoding when you know what the file uses. In particular, redirection and Out-File -Append do not attempt to match an existing file’s encoding automatically.
Prevent accidental overwrites
Set-Content intentionally replaces existing content. If overwriting would be unsafe, check before writing:
$path = '.important.txt'
if (Test-Path -LiteralPath $path) {
throw "Refusing to overwrite existing file: $path"
}
'Initial content' | Set-Content -LiteralPath $path -Encoding utf8NoBOMAlternatively, Out-File supports -NoClobber:
'Initial content' | Out-File -FilePath '.important.txt' -NoClobber -Encoding utf8NoBOMSet-Content does not have an equivalent -NoClobber parameter. The check-then-write approach is useful for simple scripts, but another process could create the file after the check; use an approach appropriate to your concurrency and safety requirements if multiple processes may write to the same destination.
Use literal paths for unusual filenames
Many file cmdlets interpret wildcard characters such as * and ? in -Path. Use -LiteralPath when the name must be treated exactly as supplied, including brackets:
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Add-Content -Path '.logs*.txt' -Value 'Reviewed' -Encoding utf8NoBOMCommon problems and recovery
“The path cannot be found”
The parent directory may not exist, the relative path may be resolving from an unexpected current directory, or the path may contain a typo. Inspect the location and parent:
Get-Location
Test-Path -LiteralPath (Split-Path -Parent $path)Create a missing parent before writing:
New-Item -Path (Split-Path -Parent $path) -ItemType Directory -Force | Out-Null“Access is denied” or the file is read-only
Check that you have write permission to the destination and that another process is not preventing access. If the obstacle is only a read-only file attribute and you otherwise have permission, Add-Content supports -Force:
Add-Content -LiteralPath '.example.txt' -Value 'Additional text' -Force -Encoding utf8NoBOM-Force does not bypass NTFS permissions or other access-control rules, unlock a file held by another process, or grant access to a protected directory. If access remains denied, use a permitted location or resolve the actual permission or file-lock issue rather than assuming -Force can override it.
Accented or non-English characters look corrupted
A likely cause is that the file was created, appended, or read using mismatched encodings. For a file you control, use an explicit consistent encoding for writes and, when needed, for Get-Content. For a file created elsewhere, identify its encoding rather than assuming it is UTF-8.
The output looks like a table or is cut off
This is expected when Out-File receives objects: it saves their formatted display representation. Table formatting can also be affected by the host width. Use Set-Content or Add-Content for plain strings; use a format-specific exporter for structured data.
The file contains binary data
These examples are for text. Do not write an image, executable, archive, or other arbitrary binary data as though it were a string; text encoding can change the bytes. Use a binary-aware method appropriate to that data instead.
Verify the result
Read the text back and inspect the file metadata:
Get-Content -LiteralPath $path
Get-Item -LiteralPath $path | Select-Object FullName, Length, LastWriteTime
Test-Path -LiteralPath $pathFor a script that must confirm an expected string is present, read the complete file with -Raw and test it:
$content = Get-Content -LiteralPath $path -Raw
if ($content -notmatch 'Second line') {
throw 'Expected text was not found.'
}Length is the file size in bytes, not a count of characters. Get-Content also accepts -Encoding if you need to specify how the file should be read; see Microsoft Learn: Get-Content.
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