How to run PowerShell scripts with keyboard shortcuts on Windows 10

PowerShell scripts take a little setting up if you want them to run automatically at a given time. It takes more than using just a scheduled task as the script won’t run in PowerShell as an action. If you’re not looking to automatically run these scripts and instead are looking to run PowerShell scripts with keyboard shortcuts, you can do just that. There are some limitations to this process but nothing that makes the process tedious to use.

PowerShell scripts with keyboard shortcuts

The first thing you need is the PowerShell script. Go ahead and create it. Move it somewhere you know you won’t delete it by accident. Once you’ve done that, go to your desktop and right-click on an empty area. From the context menu, select New>Shortcut.

In the location field, enter the following and make sure you replace “path-to-script” with the complete path to the PowerShell script you want to run with a keyboard shortcut.

%SystemRoot%\system32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\powershell.exe -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File "path-to-script"

Example

%SystemRoot%\system32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\powershell.exe -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File "C:\Users\fatiw\Desktop\toastNotification.ps1"

Click Next, and enter a name for the shortcut. If you want, you can also change the icon that the shortcut uses. By default, it will use the PowerShell icon.

After you’ve created the shortcut, right-click it and select Properties from the context menu. Go to the Shortcut tab, click inside the ‘Shortcut key’ field, and record the keyboard shortcut that you want to use to run the app.

You only need to enter a letter or number. The Ctrl+Alt keys are added by default and will be part of all keyboard shortcuts for running apps/shortcuts to apps.

That should do the trick. You can now run the script with the shortcut that you recorded.

Limitations

I mentioned earlier that this method has limitations, though they’re not very restricting. The limitation is that the shortcut, the one you created, must be placed on the desktop or added to the Start Menu. If you move the shortcut anywhere else, e.g., to a different drive on your PC, or nest it inside a folder, the keyboard shortcut will not be able to run the script.

Keeping the script on your desktop is really the most reliable way to run scripts with a keyboard shortcut. It seems that using the Pin to Start option in the shortcut’s menu doesn’t really do the trick and neither does adding it to the Start Menu folder. It may have to do with the script I tested this out on so go ahead and try it out for yourself. If adding the shortcut to the Start Menu won’t work, you’re going to have to place it on your desktop.

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Fatima Wahab

Fatima has been writing for AddictiveTips for six years. She began as a junior writer and has been working as the Editor in Chief since 2014. Fatima gets an adrenaline rush from figuring out how technology works, and how to manipulate it. A well-designed app, something that solves a common everyday problem and looks

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