July 6th, 2013

PowerTip: Counting Characters with PowerShell

Doctor Scripto
Scripter

Summary: Use Windows PowerShell to count characters, words, and lines in a file.

Hey, Scripting Guy! Question How can I count the number of characters, words, and lines in a text file by using Windows PowerShell?

Hey, Scripting Guy! Answer Use the Measure-Object cmdlet; specify the -Line-Character, and -Word switched parameters; and use the Get-Content cmdlet to read the text file:

PS C:> Get-Content C:fsoab.txt | measure -Line -Character -Word

                Lines                Words           Characters Property

                —–                —–           ———- ——–

                    3                   18                   73

If you want to ignore blank spaces when counting the characters, use the -IgnoreWhiteSpace switched parameter:

PS C:> Get-Content C:fsoab.txt | measure -Line -Character -Word -IgnoreWhiteSpac

                Lines                Words           Characters Property

                —–                —–           ———- ——–

                    3                   18                   58 

Author

The "Scripting Guys" is a historical title passed from scripter to scripter. The current revision has morphed into our good friend Doctor Scripto who has been with us since the very beginning.

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