Write-Host

As explained in Learn PowerShell in a Month of Lunches: Fourth Edition, Covers Windows, Linux, and macOS

Write-Host is a PowerShell cmdlet that writes text to the host application's screen and to the information stream.

Write-Host displays text in the hosting application's screen and writes a record to PowerShell's information stream. It runs like a cmdlet but does not place its text in the pipeline, so it is for messages rather than pipeline data. section 17.3

Use Write-Host when you need to show a message while a command runs:

• Add -ForegroundColor and -BackgroundColor to request alternate text colors, but remember that hosting applications may ignore unsupported colors. section 17.3
• Control Write-Host output through $InformationPreference because Write-Host uses Write-Information under the hood. section 17.5
• Prefer pipeline-producing output when another command must consume the result; do not use Write-Host to manually format tables. section 17.3

Display a value

Write-Host (100*10) Write-Host "COLORFUL!" -ForegroundColor Yellow -BackgroundColor Magenta The first command displays 1000. The second displays colored text when the host supports those colors. section 17.3 section 17.7

Figure 17.2 Write-Host bypasses the pipeline and writes directly to the hosting application’s display.

Use the figure to see how Write-Host reaches the hosting application's display instead of placing text into the pipeline. section 17.3

How Learn PowerShell in a Month of Lunches: Fourth Edition, Covers Windows, Linux, and macOS covers it

How deep it goes

Explains screen output, pipeline behavior, colors, and information-stream implementation, while deferring broader stream details.

Examples

Demonstrates calculated values, interpolated messages, and foreground and background color parameters.

What you can do after

Apply Write-Host to display messages, choose supported colors, and control informational output with $InformationPreference.

How it connects

Connects Write-Host with pipelines, Write-Information, information streams, output formatting, and preference variables.

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Also explained in

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  liveBookmanning.com
  Learn PowerShell Scripting in a Month of Lunches, Second Edition: Write and organize scripts and toolsWrite-Host is a PowerShell cmdlet that writes content directly to the host interface and, in PowerShell v5 and later, also routes it through the information stream.

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Related concepts

• Write-Informationimplements · Write-Information is a PowerShell cmdlet that writes messages to PowerShell's information stream.
• information streamproduces · The information stream is a PowerShell output stream for informational messages that can be displayed or handled separately from pipeline output.
• cmdletkind of · A cmdlet is a specialized PowerShell command, typically implemented as a .NET class, that performs a focused operation.
• Write-Verbosealternative to · Write-Verbose is a PowerShell cmdlet that writes messages to the verbose output stream.

This explainer was generated by Manning's knowledge graph from the text of Learn PowerShell in a Month of Lunches: Fourth Edition, Covers Windows, Linux, and macOS. The section links point to the parts of the book it draws on.