Differences between PowerShell versions

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Michael Pietroforte

Michael Pietroforte is the founder and editor in chief of 4sysops. He has more than 35 years of experience in IT management and system administration.

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Please edit this document if you spot an error or if you want to add information.

Backward compatibility

Windows PowerShell is backward compatible with previous versions of Windows PowerShell. Thus, it makes sense to update all machines in your network to the latest Windows PowerShell version. If you use features in a script of a newer PowerShell version on an outdated system, your script will fail. You can easily deploy PowerShell with Group Policy. Note that PowerShell 7 is not fully backward compatible with Windows PowerShell. For more information read PowerShell v5 vs. PowerShell v7—Which to use and when

The Windows PowerShell Compatibility Pack is already available in the PowerShell Gallery. It allows you to import existing modules in PowerShell 6.x and use them like if you are in a PowerShell for Windows console. However, you must be aware that this works fine with a lot of modules but not with all of them. It's up to you to try which modules can be used with this method or not.

To download and install the module on a computer

Install-Module -Name WindowsCompatibility -Repository PSGallery

After that, you just have to import the WindowsCompatibility module once per session and use the Import-WinModule cmdlet for every non-compatible module you want to run on PowerShell 6.x

PS C:\> Import-Module -Name WindowsCompatibility
PS C:\> Import-WinModule -Name MyModuleWhichIsNotCompatible
PS C:\>

Check PowerShell version

If you want to know what PowerShell version you are using, you can run the $PSVersionTable command.

PS C:\> $PSVersionTable

Name                           Value
----                           -----
PSVersion                      5.1.15063.674
PSEdition                      Desktop
PSCompatibleVersions           {1.0, 2.0, 3.0, 4.0...}
BuildVersion                   10.0.15063.674
CLRVersion                     4.0.30319.42000
WSManStackVersion              3.0
PSRemotingProtocolVersion      2.3
SerializationVersion           1.1.0.1


PS C:\>

This also works with PowerShell Core on different operating systems.

PowerShell Core on macOS runs on Darwin

Switch to PowerShell 2.0

PowerShell 2.0 is integrated in all Windows versions since Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2. If you want to ensure that a PowerShell script also works properly on a system with PowerShell 2.0, you can switch to a PowerShell 2.0 prompt on every Windows version after Windows 7 with PowerShell.exe -Version 2. However, this will only work if you installed .NET Framework 2.0 / 3.5.

PowerShell 32-bit vs. 64-bit

On a Windows 64-bit edition, you will find a 32-bit and a 64-bit version of PowerShell for backward compatibility purposes. If you type “PowerShell” on a Windows Start Screen, you will see “x86” behind the 32-bit versions of PowerShell and PowerShell ISE.

By and large, the 64-bit and 32-bit PowerShell versions are compatible, and you shouldn’t notice much of a difference. Problems can arise if binaries are involved. For instance, if you want to extend PowerShell with snap-ins (compiled cmdlets), you have to ensure that you download the correct version. You can also run into problems if you want to instantiate an object of a 32-bit application (Microsoft Office, for example) with the 64-bit version of PowerShell.

You can check whether you are in 32-bit or 64-bit shell with [Environment]::Is64BitProcess. If you are running PowerShell 64-bit, you will receive True as output; otherwise, you’ll receive False.

PowerShell and Windows versions

The following table gives you an overview of the Windows PowerShell versions and how they correlate to the different Windows versions. The Default Windows Versions column tells you the Windows PowerShell version that was delivered with the corresponding Windows version. The links in the Available Windows Versions column allow you to download the Windows PowerShell version for the corresponding Windows version. Note that Windows PowerShell is part of the Windows Management Framework which also includes Windows PowerShell Web Services, Windows Remote Management (WinRM), Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI), and the Server Manager WMI provider.

* Has to be installed through Server Manager
** Also integrated in all later Windows versions

PowerShell Core is the successor of Windows PowerShell 5.1 and runs on Windows, Linux and macOS. The table below lists all supported operating systems and the FAQ at the end of this article answers important questions about the difference between Windows PowerShell and PowerShell Core.

PowerShell Core, PowerShell 7 supported operating systems

FAQ: Windows PowerShell vs. PowerShell Core

Does Windows PowerShell have a future?

No, the future belongs to PowerShell Core. As things stand now, Microsoft will only provide bug fixes and security updates for Windows PowerShell. Only PowerShell Core will receive feature updates.

Should I still work with Windows PowerShell or switch to PowerShell 7 now?

This depends on your environment. If all of your systems have PowerShell 7  installed, you might consider moving now. However, PowerShell 7 still has compatibility issues with some modules. Thus, you should have to make sure first that all required modules are available. For more information read this article:

PowerShell v5 vs. PowerShell v7—Which to use and when

Can I run Windows PowerShell and PowerShell 7 on the same Windows computer?

Yes

Can I use PowerShell ISE with PowerShell Core?

No, use Visual Studio Code instead for PowerShell Core.

Will all of my old Windows PowerShell scripts work on PowerShell Core, that is, is PowerShell 7 backward compatible with Windows PowerShell?

Previous PowerShell updates were fully backward compatible. This only applies partly to PowerShell 7. Because PowerShell 7 is a cross-platform edition of PowerShell, Microsoft made a few compromises. This means you have to test each and every Windows PowerShell script to make sure it also works on PowerShell 7.

Will all scripts I write for PowerShell 7 run on all supported platforms?

Basic scripts will run on all platforms. However, considering the huge differences between the supported platforms, you have to test each script on all platforms it is supposed to run on.

Do all modules for Windows PowerShell run on PowerShell 7?

No, many complex modules have to be adapted for PowerShell 7. In some cases, different module versions exist for both PowerShell editions.

Why can't I launch PowerShell 7 with powershell.exe on a Windows computer?

This is because PowerShell Core and Windows PowerShell have to coexist on Windows computers. You can start PowerShell Core with the pwsh command.

I can't find the official documentation for PowerShell 7. Where is it?

Microsoft has merged the Windows PowerShell documentation with the PowerShell 7 documentation.
You can find it here.

I have an unanswered question about the differences between PowerShell 7 and Windows PowerShell. Where can I ask it?

Ask in the PowerShell forum.

Should I extend this FAQ by editing this wiki doc?

Definitely, yes!

Download Windows PowerShell

Windows PowerShell is part of the Windows Management Framework. Below all the download links of the different Windows PowerShell versions. To test your script on PowerShell 2.0, please the corresponding section above.

PowerShell 3.0 - Windows Management Framework 3.0

PowerShell 4.0 - (Windows Management Framework 4.0

PowerShell 5.0 - Windows Management Framework 5.0

PowerShell 5.1 - Windows Management Framework 5.1

Download PowerShell 7

You can download PowerShell for every operating system here.

New features in PowerShell 7, PowerShell 7.1 and 7.2

Please read the articles below for more information about the new features in PowerShell 7, PowerShell 7.1 and PowerShell 7.2

Top 10 new features of PowerShell 7

PowerShell v5 vs. PowerShell v7—Which to use and when

How to install PowerShell 7 on Windows and Linux

New features in PowerShell 7.1

How to install and upgrade to PowerShell 7.1

PowerShell 7.2: New features in the Preview