Microsoft.PowerShell.Utility module: setup and commands

Module 2 min read Windows PowerShell 5.1 and PowerShell 7

Written and tested by Dhrub Bharali · Updated 02 October 2026

Transform, measure, sort and export objects with Utility cmdlets while keeping formatting commands at the end of the pipeline.

Getting it

Ships with PowerShell everywhere and loads automatically at startup.

Examples

1PS> Get-Process | Where-Object CPU -gt 20

Show reference output

1 Name ProcessName Id CPU WS

2 ------- ----------- ---- ------ ---------

3 chrome chrome 9184 842.31 486539264

4 MsMpEng MsMpEng 2600 950 220200960

1PS> [pscustomobject]@{Server= $env:COMPUTERNAME;Checked= Get-Date } | ConvertTo-Json

Show reference output

1 {

2 "Server": "SRV01",

3 "Status": "Healthy",

4 "Checked": "2026-09-10T22:31:00+05:30"

5 }

What it is for

Use it once data is already in hand and needs to be reduced, reordered, or written out. It is also where a report object gets built through Select-Object calculated properties, and where two collections get compared with Compare-Object.

Typical tasks

Pick and rename properties for a report
Group and count records by a field
Export results to CSV or JSON
Compare two collections for drift
Time an operation with Measure-Command
Emit diagnostic text through Write-Verbose

Check the installed version

1PS> Get-Module -ListAvailable Microsoft.PowerShell.Utility | Select-Object Name, Version, Path

2PS> Get-Command -Module Microsoft.PowerShell.Utility

Compare the module path and version with the session used by your scheduled task or automation account. Use it once data is already in hand and needs to be reduced, reordered, or written out. It is also where a report object gets built through Select-Object calculated properties, and where two collections get compared with Compare-Object.

Primary documentation

Export-Csv reference · ConvertTo-Json reference · Where-Object reference

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