tldr/pages/windows/select-string.md

Select-String

Finds text in strings and files in PowerShell. This command can only be used through PowerShell. You can use Select-String similar to grep in UNIX or findstr.exe in Windows. More information: https://learn.microsoft.com/powershell/module/microsoft.powershell.utility/select-string.

• Search for a pattern within a file:

Select-String -Path "{{path\to\file}}" -Pattern '{{search_pattern}}'

• Search for an exact string (disables regular expressions):

Select-String -SimpleMatch "{{exact_string}}" {{path\to\file}}

• Search for pattern in all .ext files in current dir:

Select-String -Path "{{*.ext}}" -Pattern '{{search_pattern}}'

• Capture the specified number of lines before and after the line that matches the pattern:

Select-String --Context {{2,3}} "{{search_pattern}}" {{path\to\file}}

• Search stdin for lines that do not match a pattern:

Get-Content {{path\to\file}} | Select-String --NotMatch "{{search_pattern}}"