Bash vs PowerShell Cheat Sheet

Operation	Bash (Unix)	PowerShell	Description
List files	ls	Get-ChildItem (dir, ls)	Show directory contents
Change directory	cd	Set-Location (cd)	Navigate directories
Copy files	cp	Copy-Item (cp)	Copy files or directories
Move files	mv	Move-Item (mv)	Move or rename files
Remove files	rm	Remove-Item (rm, del)	Delete files or directories
Create directory	mkdir	New-Item -Type Directory (mkdir)	Create new directory
Show file content	cat	Get-Content (cat, type)	Display file contents
Find text	grep	Select-String (findstr)	Search for text patterns
Current location	pwd	Get-Location (pwd)	Show current directory
Clear screen	clear	Clear-Host (cls)	Clear terminal screen
Compare files	diff	Compare-Object	Compare file contents
Process list	ps	Get-Process	List running processes
Kill process	kill	Stop-Process	Terminate process
Network info	ifconfig	Get-NetIPConfiguration	Show network configuration
Permission change	chmod	Set-Acl	Change file permissions
View file tail	tail	Get-Content -Tail	Show end of file
System info	uname -a	Get-ComputerInfo	Display system information

Note: PowerShell commands in parentheses are aliases that make PowerShell feel more familiar to Bash users. PowerShell commands are not case-sensitive, while Bash commands are.

Common tips:

• PowerShell uses verb-noun naming convention (e.g., Get-Process)

• PowerShell aliases allow Unix-style commands to work

• PowerShell commands can output objects, while Bash outputs text streams

• Both shells support pipeline operations, but PowerShell pipes objects rather than text