My Journey with PowerShell: Getting Comfortable with Folders, Files, and the Terminal

When I first opened the PowerShell terminal, the plain blue screen looked serious — and frankly, intimidating. But I had a clear goal:
I wanted to learn how to navigate folders, manage files, and perform basic tasks directly through the terminal.

So in the beginning, I repeated a simple cycle over and over again:

Created folders and .txt files
Wrote content into them
Modified the content
Deleted them, re-created them, renamed them
Deleted folders and cleaned up everything

I kept doing this because I wanted my hands to get used to the commands. I wanted to shift my brain from “click with the mouse” to “type it with confidence”. Repetition helped a lot.

Problems I Faced Along the Way

I got “file in use” errors while trying to delete folders — turns out even having a folder open in Explorer can block removal.
I wasn’t sure when to use -Recurse and -Force with Remove-Item, but I figured it out with trial and error.
OneDrive’s sync process would sometimes lock files. Pausing sync temporarily solved it.

Now I feel much more confident. PowerShell is no longer something I avoid — it’s a tool I reach for when I want to get things done quickly and precisely.

Want to Try This Yourself?

If you’re curious about PowerShell and want to get hands-on experience with file and folder management, here’s a beginner-friendly guide to get you started.

How to Open PowerShell

Press Win + R, type powershell, then press Enter
OR: Search “PowerShell” in the Start menu and open it

Folder and File Basics

Task	Command
Show current directory	`Get-Location`
Navigate to folder	`Set-Location "FolderName"` or `cd`
Create new folder	`New-Item -ItemType Directory -Name "FolderName"`
Create new file	`New-Item -ItemType File -Name "file.txt"`
List folder contents	`Get-ChildItem` or `ls`
List only `.txt` files	`Get-ChildItem -Filter *.txt`

Working with File Contents

Task	Command
Write text to file (overwrite)	`Set-Content -Path "file.txt" -Value "Hello"`
Append text to file	`Add-Content -Path "file.txt" -Value "New line"`
Read file content	`Get-Content file.txt`
Clear file content (keep file)	`Clear-Content -Path file.txt`

Deleting Files and Folders

What to delete	Command
A file	`Remove-Item file.txt`
A folder and its contents	`Remove-Item FolderName -Recurse -Force`
Only folder contents (keep folder)	`Remove-Item FolderName\* -Recurse -Force`

Copying and Moving

Task	Command
Copy a file	`Copy-Item original.txt copy.txt`
Move a file	`Move-Item file.txt FolderName\`
Rename a file	`Move-Item file.txt newname.txt`

Useful Commands

Command	Purpose
`Test-Path file.txt`	Check if file or folder exists
`Select-String -Path *.txt -Pattern "keyword"`	Search for text in files
`echo "hello"`	Write message to screen (CMD-style)

Create a test folder on your desktop and open PowerShell inside it. Then practice each command multiple times.
Repetition is what turns syntax into second nature — and that’s when things really get fun.