Using Invoke-History in PowerShell

Welcome back to Wahmans PowerShell Blog! 🚀 Today’s cmdlet highlight is all about Invoke-History — a handy little tool in any PowerShell user’s arsenal. The official description from Microsoft says:

Invoke-History: Runs commands from the session history.

Whether you’re a beginner still getting comfortable with the shell, or a seasoned scripter optimizing your workflow, this command can be a real time-saver. Let’s explore how to use Invoke-History, starting with the basics and ramping up to more advanced examples.

What is PowerShell History?

Before we dive into the examples, here’s a quick overview: Every time you run a command in PowerShell, it’s stored in a session-based history list. You can view this history using the Get-History cmdlet. Each history entry is indexed with an ID that lets you re-run it later using Invoke-History.

Example 1: Re-run Your Last Command

This is the most basic usage. Just run:

Invoke-History

This re-runs the last command you executed. Perfect for when you forget to run as Administrator or miss a parameter and want to quickly correct it.

Example 2: Re-run a Specific Command by ID

First, check your command history using:

Get-History

Each entry has an ID. Let’s say you want to re-run command #15:

Invoke-History -Id 15

This is helpful when you want to repeat something you did earlier without retyping it.

Example 3: Assign History to a Variable and Inspect It

You can also get creative and capture a previous command for inspection or manipulation:

$cmd = Get-History | Where-Object CommandLine -like '*Get-Service*'
$cmd | Format-List

Great when you’re debugging or automating a workflow and want to know exactly what was run.

Example 4: Pipe History Command Output to Re-run Conditionally

Let’s say you want to re-run the last command that included a specific keyword, but only if it was within your last 10 commands:

$match = Get-History -Count 10 | Where-Object CommandLine -like '*Restart-Service*'
if ($match) {
    Invoke-History -Id $match.Id
}

Amazing for automating repetitive operations with just a bit of logic.

Pro Tips

• Use Ctrl + R in the PowerShell console to reverse search your history interactively.
• Use Clear-History to wipe your session history if privacy or clutter is an issue.

That’s it for today’s post on Invoke-History! Whether you’re using it to repeat commands or scripting something more dynamic, it’s a great cmdlet to master.

Happy scripting, and I will see you in the next post!