How to Append Data to File Using PowerShell

1. the Add-Content Basic Syntax in PowerShell
2. Use the Add-Content to Append Text to File in PowerShell
3. Use the (`n) Operator to Append Data on New Line in PowerShell
4. Use the Add-Content Command to Add Content of One File to Another File in PowerShell
5. Use the Add-Content Command to Append Data to Read-Only File in PowerShell

The Add-Content command in PowerShell adds content to a file. We can specify content in the command or Get-Content to get the file’s content for appending.

The Add-Content cmdlet appends text to the file or appends a string to the file.

the Add-Content Basic Syntax in PowerShell

The Add-Content cmdlet in Windows PowerShell appends content to file and appends text to file.

Add-Content
[-Path] <string[]>
[-Value] <Object[]>
[-PassThru]
[-Filter <string>]
[-Include <string[]>]
[-Exclude <string[]>]
[-Force]
[-Credential <pscredential>]
[-WhatIf]
[-Confirm]
[-NoNewline]
[-Encoding <Encoding>]
[-AsByteStream]
[-Stream <string>]
[<CommonParameters>]

Use the Add-Content to Append Text to File in PowerShell

For example, you have the Get-DateFile.txt text file in the directory.

Create a new file with Get-DateFile.txt, and add some test data.

Get-DataFile.txt:

Example illustration about appending text to

Add-Content -Path .\Get-DateFile.txt "End of file"

The Add-Content cmdlet appends the End of file string to the end of the file specified by the -Path parameter in the current directory.

Output:

Example illustration about appending text to End of file

Use the (`n) Operator to Append Data on New Line in PowerShell

To append data to a file on a new line, use the new line operator (`n).

Add-Content -Path .\Get-DateFile.txt "`nSecond line starts here..."

Output:

Example illustration about appending text to End of file

Second line starts here…

Use the Add-Content Command to Add Content of One File to Another File in PowerShell

The Add-Content command will append one file’s content to another.

It will read and assign file contents to a variable and write content to the destination file.

The Add-Content command will create a new file if the file doesn’t exist while adding the text to the file.

# Read file contents to variable
$sourceFileContent = Get-Content -Path .\GetFileProperties.txt 

# This line will append the content of one file to another file
# If the file does not exist, the Add-Content command will create a new file
Add-Content -Path .\Destination_File.txt -Value $sourceFileContent

To append the content of one file to another file, the Get-Content cmdlet in PowerShell gets the file’s content specified by the Path parameter.

Then, it reads the file’s contents and stores them in a variable $sourceFileContent.

Add-Content cmdlet in PowerShell appends the source file’s content specified in the -Value parameter.

The Add-Content command will create a new file if the file doesn’t exist and copy the content.

Use the Add-Content Command to Append Data to Read-Only File in PowerShell

# Create a new file
New-Item -Path .\TempROFile.txt -ItemType File

# Set file as read-only
Set-ItemProperty -Path .\TempROFile.txt -Name IsReadOnly -Value $True 

# Get file details
Get-ChildItem -Path .\TempROFile.txt  

# Appends the line to file
Add-Content -Path .\TempROFile.txt -Value 'End of File' -Force

The first command creates a new file using PowerShell’s New-Item cmdlet.

The Set-ItemProperty command in PowerShell is used to set the IsReadOnly property to true for the specified file.

The Get-ChildItem command in PowerShell gets specified file details such as Name, LastWriteTime, Length, and mode.

The Add-Content cmdlet appends a line to a read-only file specified by the -Path parameter.