PowerShell for / while / do

Three loops cover the remaining cases. while tests the condition before each pass, so a false condition means the body never runs. do { } while ( ) tests afterwards, so the body always runs at least once. do { } until ( ) is the same shape with the condition inverted.

Lesson 2 min read Windows PowerShell 5.1 and PowerShell 7

Documentation: Microsoft Learn

Written and tested by Dhrub Bharali · Updated 02 October 2026

Overview

for ($i = 0; $i -lt 10; $i++) puts initialisation, condition and increment on one line. It is the right choice when you genuinely need a counter, and the wrong choice when you are just walking a collection, where foreach is clearer.

break leaves the loop entirely. continue skips the rest of the current pass and starts the next one. Both work in all of these loops.

Most of the time you do not need any of them. PowerShell's pipeline iterates for you, so reaching for a counter loop to walk an array is usually a sign you have not found the pipeline way to say it yet.

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$i = 1
while ($i -le 3) { $i; $i ++ }

Stage 1$iPositional values or no named parameters

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$i = 1
while ($i -le 3) { $i; $i ++ }

What happens

$i starts at 1. The while condition checks that it is 3 or less, the body outputs the current value, and $i++ increases it. You get 1, 2, 3, and then the condition fails and the loop ends. Remove the $i++ and you have an infinite loop, which is the classic way to write one by accident.

Worth remembering

while tests first. do while and do until test afterwards.
for is for real counters. Use foreach to walk a collection.
break exits the loop. continue skips to the next pass.
Forgetting the increment is how infinite loops happen.

Primary documentation

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1PS> $i = 1

2PS> while ($i -le 3) { $i; $i ++ }

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$i = 1
while ($i -le 3) { $i; $i ++ }

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Counts from 1 to 3 with a while loop.

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