Command library / Get-Service

List Windows services and their status

Returns Windows services as objects, each with a Status (Running/Stopped), Name and DisplayName. The short internal Name binds positionally; DisplayName supports wildcards for searching by the friendly name you'd see in services.msc.

Usage

Options and flags

• -Name NAME

  the service's short internal name (first positional parameter)

• -DisplayName PATTERN

  search by the friendly display name — supports wildcards like *SQL*

Examples

• Get-Service wuauserv

  Is Windows Update currently running or stopped?

• Get-Service -Name spooler

  Same idea, explicit parameter — the print spooler's status.

• Get-Service -DisplayName "*SQL*"

  Find every service whose friendly name mentions SQL, without knowing its exact internal name.

Common mistakes

Related commands