PowerShell’s help system makes command-line work discoverable: it helps you find commands for a task, understand how to use them, connect commands, and recover from errors. Start with help before searching the web. section 3.0 section 3.1 section 3.3
Use the help system in progressively broader ways:
- Run Get-Help <name> to read a specific command’s documentation. Help <name> is a function that wraps Get-Help and provides paged output. section 3.3 section 3.4
- Search with wildcards when you know the task but not the command. Broad terms such as event or object can reveal several related commands. section 3.4
- Read about topics for background information that is not tied to one cmdlet. Try Help *common* for common parameters or Get-Help about_* for the complete topic list. section 3.6 section 3.6
- Use help to check complete command and parameter syntax after an error; spelling out the command and its parameters often exposes the mistake. section 4.8
Find event commands
Run Help *event or Help *object to search available help topics. Then inspect a result with Help Register-ObjectEvent. Installed modules can contribute discoverable commands even when they are not loaded into memory. section 3.4 section 3.4 section 3.4
Refresh local documentation
Run Update-Help on a PowerShell 7 computer with an internet connection, and verify that it completes without errors. Local help then supports practical command discovery and troubleshooting. section 3.8
Help *event* Help *object*
These two wildcard searches provide a compact starting point for discovering commands when the required command name is unknown. section 3.4
