Write or replace the content in an item.
Syntax
Set-Content [-path] string[]
[-value] Object[] [-include string[]] [-exclude string[]]
[-filter string] [-NoNewline] [-Encoding CharSet]
[-passThru] [-force] [-Stream string] [-credential PSCredential]
[-whatIf] [-confirm] [-UseTransaction] [CommonParameters]
Set-Content -literalPath string[]
[-value] Object[] [-include string[]] [-exclude string[]]
[-filter string] [-NoNewline] [-Encoding CharSet]
[-passThru] [-force] [-Stream string] [-credential PSCredential]
[-whatIf] [-confirm] [-UseTransaction] [CommonParameters]
Set-Content [-Stream string] [-Encoding CharSet] [-Force]
[-Confirm] [-WhatIf] [-UseTransaction] [CommonParameters]
Key
-Path string
The path to the item that will receive the content.
Wildcards are permitted.
-LiteralPath string
Like Path above, only the value is used exactly as typed.
No characters are interpreted as wildcards. If the path includes any
escape characters then enclose the path in single quotation marks.
-Encoding CharSet [Dynamic Parameter (FileSystem Only)]
Encode in a specific character set:
Unknown Unknown or invalid. The data can be treated as binary.
String Use the encoding type for a string.
Unicode UTF-16 format little-endian byte order.
Byte Encode characters as a sequence of bytes.
BigEndianUnicode UTF-16 format big-endian byte order.
UTF8 UTF-8 format.
UTF7 UTF-7 format.
UTF32 UTF-32 format.
UTF8BOM UTF-8 format with Byte Order Mark (BOM) * PS 6.0+
UF8NOBOM UTF-8 format without Byte Order Mark (BOM) * PS 6.0+
ASCII ASCII (7-bit) character set. (The Default)
Default Use the default output normally ASCII * PS 3.0+
Oem Use the default encoding for MS-DOS and console programs, normally ANSI.* PS 3.0+
BigEndianUTF32 UTF-32 Big Endian * PS 3.0 to PS 5.1
-Value Object
The new content for the item.
-Exclude string
Omit the specified items, this qualifies the -Path parameter.
Wildcards are permitted. e.g. "*.log"
-Include string
Change only the specified items in the Path.
Wildcards are permitted. e.g. "*.txt"
-Filter string
A filter in the provider's format or language.
The exact syntax of the filter (wildcard support etc) depends on the provider.
Filters are more efficient than -include/-exclude, because the provider
applies the filter when retrieving the objects, rather than having
PowerShell filter the objects after they are retrieved.
-NoNewline
Indicates that this cmdlet uses the no newline setting.
-PassThru
Pass the object created by Set-Content through the pipeline.
-Force
Override restrictions that prevent the command from succeeding. Force will replace
the contents of a file, even if the file is read-only, but will not override
security permissions. Without this parameter, read-only files are not changed.
-Stream string
Creates or replaces the content in the specified alternate data stream. If the
stream does not yet exist, Set-Content creates it.
Enter the stream name. Wildcards are not supported.
Stream is a dynamic parameter that the FileSystem provider adds to the Set-Content cmdlet.
This parameter works only in file system drives.
You can use the Set-Content cmdlet to change the content of the Zone.Identifier alternate data stream.
However, it is not the recommended way to eliminate security checks that block files
that are downloaded from the Internet. If you verify that a downloaded file is safe,
use the Unblock-File cmdlet.
This parameter is introduced in PowerShell 3.0.
-Credential PSCredential
Present a user/password credential to validate access to the file.
This is not yet supported by any providers installed with Windows PowerShell.
-WhatIf
Describe what would happen if you executed the command without actually
executing the command.
-Confirm
Prompt for confirmation before executing the command.
-UseTransaction
Include the command in the active transaction.
CommonParameters:
-Verbose, -Debug, -ErrorAction, -ErrorVariable, -WarningAction, -WarningVariable,
-OutBuffer -OutVariable.
Standard Aliases for Set-Content: sc
Examples
Write a string into a text file:
PS C:\> Set-content -path C:\test.txt -value "Hello World"
Write the current date into a CSV file:
PS C:\> get-date | set-content C:\Test_date.csv
Change the format of a file from ASCII to UTF8:
$filename = "c:\docs\demo.csv"
(Get-Content $filename) | Set-Content $filename -Encoding UTF8
Find and Replace some text in every line of the file foo.txt
In this command, the parentheses around (Get-Content) ensure that the Get operation is completed before the Set operation begins, wthout this the two functions would both try to access the file at the same time:
PS C:\> (get-content foo.txt) | foreach-object {$_ -replace "oldTxt", "newTxt"} | set-content foo.txt
Read the content of the file source.txt and save it into destination.txt encoding the file as UTF8:
Get-Content source.txt | Set-Content destination.txt -Encoding UTF8
“A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of his life, in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul” ~ Goethe
Related PowerShell Cmdlets:
Add-Content - Add to the content of the item.
Get-Content - Get the content of the item at the specified location.
Clear-Content - Remove content from a file /item.
Copy-Item - Copy an item from one location to another within a namespace.
Set-Item - Change the value of an item.
get-help - about_namespace.