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Regular Expressions in PowerShell: Patterns, Operators, and Applications

Regular expressions (Regex) are a powerful language for describing data patterns. PowerShell integrates industry-standard regex syntax through the .NET library, enabling pattern matching, searching, and replacing across text and structured data. From validating emails and IP addresses to parsing logs and file paths, regex provides flexible tools for administrators. PowerShell supports regex through operators like -match, cmdlets such as Select-String, and constructs like Switch -regex, as well as the dedicated [regex] object for advanced operations.

Regex in PowerShellmatch OperatorSelect-StringSwitch -regex[regex] Object

~2 min read • Updated Dec 21, 2025

1. Basic Regex Syntax


  • . Matches any single character.
  • [abc]: Matches one of the listed characters.
  • [a-z]: Matches a range of characters.
  • ^ / $: Anchors to start or end of string.
  • * / + / ?: Quantifiers for repetition.
  • \d / \w / \s: Digits, word characters, whitespace.

2. The -match Operator


-match compares a string against a regex pattern, returning True or False. Matches are stored in the $matches collection. Variants include -cmatch (case-sensitive) and -notmatch.


3. Select-String Cmdlet


Select-String scans text or files for regex patterns. It outputs matching lines, file names, and line numbers. Options include -SimpleMatch for literal text and full regex for complex searches.


4. Regex in Switch Statements


Using -regex in a Switch statement allows conditional execution based on regex matches. This is useful for categorizing data or applying logic to naming conventions.


5. The Regex Object


With [regex], administrators can create regex objects and use methods like Match(), Matches(), Replace(), and Split(). These enable advanced tasks such as replacing text, extracting multiple matches, or splitting log entries based on patterns.


Conclusion


Regular expressions in PowerShell provide a versatile toolkit for pattern recognition and text manipulation. By mastering operators, cmdlets, and the regex object, administrators can handle complex data parsing and validation tasks efficiently.


Written & researched by Dr. Shahin Siami

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