Out-File

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

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

The Out-File cmdlet sends output to a file. When you need to specify parameters for the output use Out-File rather than the redirection operator (>).

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.

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.

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.

This example shows how to use the Out-File cmdlet when you are not 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.

This cmdlet supports the common parameters: -Debug, -ErrorAction, -ErrorVariable, -InformationAction, -InformationVariable, -OutBuffer, -OutVariable, -PipelineVariable, -ProgressAction, -Verbose, -WarningAction, and -WarningVariable. For more information, see about_CommonParameters.

You can pipe any object to Out-File.

Out-File does not generate any output.

The Out cmdlets do not format objects; they just render them and send them to the specified display destination. If you send an unformatted object to an Out cmdlet, the cmdlet sends it to a formatting cmdlet before rendering it.

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

Out-File sends data but it does not produce any output objects. If you pipe the output of Out-File to Get-Member, the Get-Member cmdlet reports that no objects were specified.