High level · Windows track

Open PowerShell on Windows 11

First open, three safe commands, and a calm way into the shell.

The shell is a notebook that can also move files.

Windows 11 still has a Start menu, File Explorer, and Settings. That is the high level surface most people live on. Under that surface sits a shell. PowerShell is the shell Microsoft expects you to grow into when clicking stops being enough.

Three ways to open it

  1. Press Win + X, then choose Terminal or Windows PowerShell.
  2. Search Start for “PowerShell” and open it.
  3. In File Explorer, click the address bar, type powershell, press Enter. You land in that folder.

Your first three commands

pwd
whoami
Get-Date

pwd shows where you are. whoami shows which account. Get-Date is a cmdlet: verb plus noun. Most PowerShell tools follow Get-, Set-, New-, Remove-.

Field House rule: read what the shell prints before you invent a second command.
Tonight’s winOpen the shell, run three read only commands, close the window. Tomorrow you point it at a real folder.
General Windows literacy from Phyllux Tech Field House. Not remote support. Do not run scripts you do not understand. Never disable Defender for speed.
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