How do I type a Powershell “Pipe”?

This may seem like a very simple thing to most techies out there, but we have had this question asked to us a number of times with people using the incorrect keys to type a Powershell pipe.

So, how do you type a Powershell “Pipe”?

A Powershell pipe can be seen below in the example code:

Get-RemoteDomain | fl

It is the line in between the command and the variable. In notepad it can display differently to in Powershell which is where some people get confused. Many people press CTRL+ALT+ the top left key on the keyboard (note that we are working with UK English keyboards!) as below:

This produces a similar due critically different character to what we actually want.

You should press the Shift key and the key to the left of the Z on the keyboard:

This will then produce the correct “Pipe” character that can be used for Powershell commands.

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About The Author

Andrew Armstrong

Andrew Armstrong is a UK-based IT professional with 26+ years of hands-on experience in Windows, Windows Server, SCCM/ConfigMgr, Active Directory, PowerShell, and enterprise infrastructure. He founded TechyGeeksHome in 2010 and has published over 1,500 practical guides covering real-world IT problems and solutions. When not solving IT problems, Andrew develops free Windows utilities including Ultimate Settings Panel, which has been downloaded over 850,000 times.

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