TOPIC about_Escape_Characters SHORT DESCRIPTION Introduces the escape character in Windows PowerShell and explains its effect.

LONG DESCRIPTION Escape characters are used to assign a special interpretation to the characters that follow it. In Windows PowerShell, the escape character is the backtick (`), also called the grave accent (ASCII 96). The escape character can be used to indicate a literal, to indicate line continuation, and to indicate special characters. Indicating a Literal When an escape character precedes a variable, it prevents a value from being substituted for the variable. When an escape character precedes a double quotation mark, Windows PowerShell interprets the double quotation mark as a character, not as a string delimiter. For example: C:\>$a = 5 C:\>"The value is stored in $a." The value is stored in 5. C:\>$a = 5 C:\>"The value is stored in `$a." The value is stored in $a. C:\> "Use quotation marks (") to indicate a string." Unexpected token ')' in expression or statement. At line:1 char:25 + "Use quotation marks (") <<<< to indicate a string." C:\> "Use quotation marks (`") to indicate a string." Use quotation marks (") to indicate a string. Indicating Line Continuation The escape character tells Windows PowerShell that the command continues on the next line. For example: C:\> get-process ` >> powershell Handles NPM(K) ------- -----340 8 PM(K) ----34556 WS(K) VM(M) ----- ----31864 149 CPU(s) -----0.98 Id ProcessName -- ----------2036 powershell

Indicating Special Characters When used within quotation marks, the escape character indicates a special character that provides instructions to the command parser. The following special characters are recognized by Windows PowerShell: `0 `a `b `f `n `r `t `v Null Alert Backspace Form feed New line Carriage return Horizontal tab Vertical tab

For example: C:\> "12345678123456781`nCol1`tColumn2`tCol3" 12345678123456781 Col1 Column2 Col3 For more information, type: get-help about_special_characters SEE ALSO about_Quoting_Rules