Starts one or more processes on the local computer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Start-Process\n [-FilePath] <String>\n [[-ArgumentList] <String[]>]\n [-Credential <PSCredential>]\n [-WorkingDirectory <String>]\n [-LoadUserProfile]\n [-NoNewWindow]\n [-PassThru]\n [-RedirectStandardError <String>]\n [-RedirectStandardInput <String>]\n [-RedirectStandardOutput <String>]\n [-WindowStyle <ProcessWindowStyle>]\n [-Wait]\n [-UseNewEnvironment]\n [-WhatIf]\n [-Confirm]\n [<CommonParameters>]<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nPowerShellCopy<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Start-Process\n [-FilePath] <String>\n [[-ArgumentList] <String[]>]\n [-WorkingDirectory <String>]\n [-PassThru]\n [-Verb <String>]\n [-WindowStyle <ProcessWindowStyle>]\n [-Wait]\n [-WhatIf]\n [-Confirm]\n [<CommonParameters>]<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n<\/a>Description<\/h2>\n\n\n\nThe Start-Process<\/code> cmdlet starts one or more processes on the local computer. By default, Start-Process<\/code> creates a new process that inherits all the environment variables that are defined in the current process.<\/p>\n\n\n\nTo specify the program that runs in the process, enter an executable file or script file, or a file that can be opened using a program on the computer. If you specify a non-executable file, Start-Process<\/code> starts the program that’s associated with the file, similar to the Invoke-Item<\/code> cmdlet.<\/p>\n\n\n\nYou can use the parameters of Start-Process<\/code> to specify options, such as loading a user profile, starting the process in a new window, or using alternate credentials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/a>Examples<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<\/a>Example 1: Start a process that uses default values<\/h3>\n\n\n\nThis example starts a process that uses the Sort.exe<\/code> file in the current folder. The command uses all the default values, including the default window style, working folder, and credentials.<\/p>\n\n\n\nPowerShellCopy<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Start-Process -FilePath \"sort.exe\"<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n<\/a>Example 2: Print a text file<\/h3>\n\n\n\nThis example starts a process that prints the C:\\PS-Test\\MyFile.txt<\/code> file.<\/p>\n\n\n\nPowerShellCopy<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Start-Process -FilePath \"myfile.txt\" -WorkingDirectory \"C:\\PS-Test\" -Verb Print<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n<\/a>Example 3: Start a process to sort items to a new file<\/h3>\n\n\n\nThis example starts a process that sorts items in the TestSort.txt<\/code> file and returns the sorted items in the Sorted.txt<\/code> files. Any errors are written to the SortError.txt<\/code> file. The UseNewEnvironment<\/strong> parameter specifies that the process runs with its own environment variables.<\/p>\n\n\n\nPowerShellCopy<\/p>\n\n\n\n
$processOptions = @{\n FilePath = \"sort.exe\"\n RedirectStandardInput = \"TestSort.txt\"\n RedirectStandardOutput = \"Sorted.txt\"\n RedirectStandardError = \"SortError.txt\"\n UseNewEnvironment = $true\n}\nStart-Process @processOptions<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nThis example uses splatting to pass parameters to the cmdlet. For more information, see about_Splatting<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/a>Example 4: Start a process in a maximized window<\/h3>\n\n\n\nThis example starts the Notepad.exe<\/code> process. It maximizes the window and retains the window until the process completes.<\/p>\n\n\n\nPowerShellCopy<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Start-Process -FilePath \"notepad\" -Wait -WindowStyle Maximized<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n<\/a>Example 5: Start PowerShell as an administrator<\/h3>\n\n\n\nThis example starts PowerShell using the Run as administrator<\/strong> option.<\/p>\n\n\n\nPowerShellCopy<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Start-Process -FilePath \"powershell\" -Verb RunAs<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n<\/a>Example 6: Using different verbs to start a process<\/h3>\n\n\n\nThis example shows how to find the verbs that can be used when starting a process. The available verbs are determined by the filename extension of the file that runs in the process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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$startExe = New-Object System.Diagnostics.ProcessStartInfo -Args powershell.exe\n$startExe.verbs\n\nopen\nrunas\nrunasuser<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nThe example uses New-Object<\/code> to create a System.Diagnostics.ProcessStartInfo<\/strong> object for powershell.exe<\/code>, the file that runs in the PowerShell process. The Verbs<\/strong> property of the ProcessStartInfo<\/strong> object shows that you can use the Open<\/strong> and RunAs<\/code> verbs with powershell.exe<\/code>, or with any process that runs a .exe<\/code> file.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/a>Example 7: Specifying arguments to the process<\/h3>\n\n\n\nBoth commands start the Windows command interpreter, issuing a dir<\/code> command on the Program Files<\/code> folder. Because this foldername contains a space, the value needs surrounded with escaped quotes. Note that the first command specifies a string as ArgumentList<\/strong>. The second command is a string array.<\/p>\n\n\n\nPowerShellCopy<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Start-Process -FilePath \"$env:comspec\" -ArgumentList \"\/c dir `\"%SystemDrive%\\Program Files`\"\"\nStart-Process -FilePath \"$env:comspec\" -ArgumentList \"\/c\",\"dir\",\"`\"%SystemDrive%\\Program Files`\"\"<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n<\/a>Example 8: Run a command as an Administrator using alternate credentials<\/h3>\n\n\n\nOn Windows, you can run Start-Process -Verb RunAs<\/code> to start a process with elevated permissions. This elevates the current user’s context. The Credential<\/strong> parameter allows you to specify an alternate username and password, allowing you to start a process in a different user content. However, the Credential<\/strong> and Verb<\/strong> parameters can’t be used together.<\/p>\n\n\n\nTo start a process with elevated rights, using alternate credentials, you must first start PowerShell using the alternate credentials, then use Start-Process<\/code> to start the process with elevated rights.<\/p>\n\n\n\nPowerShellCopy<\/p>\n\n\n\n
$cred = Get-Credential\n$args = '-noprofile -command \"Start-Process cmd.exe -Verb RunAs -args \/k\"'\nStart-Process pwsh.exe -Credential $cred -WindowStyle Hidden -ArgumentList $args<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nThe example starts cmd.exe<\/code> with elevated permissions from a PowerShell session that is running under alternate credentials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/a>Example 9: Create a detached process on Linux<\/h3>\n\n\n\nOn Windows, Start-Process<\/code> creates an independent process that remains running independently of the launching shell. On non-Windows platforms, the newly started process is attached to the shell that launched. If the launching shell is closed, the child process is terminated.<\/p>\n\n\n\nTo avoid terminating the child process on Unix-like platforms, you can combine Start-Process<\/code> with nohup<\/code>. The following example launches a background instance of PowerShell on Linux that stays alive even after you close the launching session. The nohup<\/code> command collects output in file nohup.out<\/code> in the current directory.<\/p>\n\n\n\nPowerShellCopy<\/p>\n\n\n\n
# Runs for 2 minutes and appends output to .\/nohup.out\nStart-Process nohup 'pwsh -noprofile -c \"1..120 | % { Write-Host . -NoNewline; sleep 1 }\"'<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nIn this example, Start-Process<\/code> is running the Linux nohup<\/code> command, which launches pwsh<\/code> as a detached process. For more information, see the man page for nohup<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/a>Parameters<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<\/a>-ArgumentList<\/h3>\n\n\n\nSpecifies parameters or parameter values to use when this cmdlet starts the process. Arguments can be accepted as a single string with the arguments separated by spaces, or as an array of strings separated by commas. The cmdlet joins the array into a single string with each element of the array separated by a single space.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The outer quotes of the PowerShell strings aren’t included when the ArgumentList<\/strong> values are passed to the new process. If parameters or parameter values contain a space or quotes, they need to be surrounded with escaped double quotes. For more information, see about_Quoting_Rules<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\nFor the best results, use a single ArgumentList<\/strong> value containing all the arguments and any needed quote characters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n