Is there a way to make a PowerShell script work by double clicking a ps1 file

Question

I am distributing a PowerShell script to my team  The script is to fetch an IP address from the Vsphere client  make an mstsc connection  and log it in a shared file   The moment they used the script they got to know the IP address of machine  After that  they always tend to use mstsc directly instead of running the PowerShell script   As they are using mstsc I am not able to know whether they are using the VM frequently or not    Mainly they are telling me that running PowerShell is not straightforward   I am sick by their laziness   Is there a way to make a PowerShell script work by double clicking a  ps1 file

User · Answer

You may set the default file association of ps1 files to be powershell.exe which will allow you to execute a powershell script by double clicking on it.

In Windows 10,

Right click on a ps1 file
Click Open with
Click Choose another app
In the popup window, select More apps
Scroll to the bottom and select Look for another app on this PC.
Browse to and select C:\Windows\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\powershell.exe.
List item

That will change the file association and ps1 files will execute by double-clicking them. You may change it back to its default behavior by setting notepad.exe to the default app.

Source

User · Answer

If you are familiar with advanced Windows administration  then you can use this ADM package  instructions are included on that page  and allow running PowerShell scripts after double click via this template and Local GPO  After this you can simply change default program associated to  ps1 filetype to powershell exe  use search  it s quite stashed  and you re ready to run PowerShell scripts with double click   Otherwise  I would recommend to stick with other suggestions as you can mess up the whole system with these administrations tools   I think that the default settings are too strict  If someone manages to put some malicious code on your computer then he she is also able to bypass this restriction  wrap it into  cmd file or  exe  or trick with shortcut  and all that it in the end accomplishes is just to prevent you from easy way of running the script you ve written

User · Answer

A solution in the same spirit as UNIX shar  shell archive   You can put your powershell script in a file with the  cmd extension  instead of  ps1   and put this at the start   echo off Rem Make powershell read this file  skip a number of lines  and execute it  Rem This works around  ps1 bad file association as non executables  PowerShell -Command  quot Get-Content    dpnx0    Select-Object -Skip 5   Out-String   Invoke-Expression quot  goto  eof   Start of PowerShell script here

User · Answer

I agree that setting a system setting may be a bit much  but the shortcut requiring a hardcoded path is not ideal  A bat file actually solves the problem nicely  RunMyPowershellScript bat   start powershell -command   amp     MyPowershellScript ps1  -MyArguments blah    This batch file can now be double clicked on  shortcuts can be easily created to the batch file  and the script can be deployed to any folder

User · Answer

Navigate REGEDIT to HKEY LOCAL MACHINE SOFTWARE Classes Microsoft PowerShellScript 1 Shell On the right pane  double-click   Default   Delete existing value of  Open   which launches Notepad  and type  0   being zero  which launches Powershell directly     Revert the value if you wish to use Notepad as the default again

User · Answer

Be aware that one of PowerShell s security features is that users can NOT launch script with a double click  Use great care if you modify this setting  An alternative might be to package your script  Some editors like PrimalScript can do that  The users still need PowerShell installed but then they can double-click the exe   And it sounds like your team needs a little education

User · Answer

From http   www howtogeek com 204166 how-to-configure-windows-to-work-with-powershell-scripts-more-easily   Set the default value for the HKEY CLASSES ROOT Microsoft PowerShellScript 1 Shell to 0

User · Answer

You ll need to tweak registry  First  configure a PSDrive for HKEY CLASSES ROOT since this isn   t set up by default  The command for this is   New-PSDrive HKCR Registry HKEY CLASSES ROOT   Now you can navigate and edit registry keys and values in HKEY CLASSES ROOT just like you would in the regular HKCU and HKLM PSDrives   To configure double-clicking to launch PowerShell scripts directly   Set-ItemProperty HKCR  Microsoft PowerShellScript 1 Shell   Default   0   To configure double-clicking to open PowerShell scripts in the PowerShell ISE   Set-ItemProperty HKCR  Microsoft PowerShellScript 1 Shell   Default    Edit    To restore the default value  sets double-click to open PowerShell scripts in Notepad    Set-ItemProperty HKCR  Microsoft PowerShellScript 1 Shell   Default    Open

User · Answer

This is what I use to have scrips run as admin by default   Powershell exe -Command   amp   Start-Process PowerShell exe -Verb RunAs -ArgumentList  -File     1         You ll need to paste that into regedit as the default value for   HKEY CLASSES ROOT Microsoft PowerShellScript 1 Shell Open Command   Or here s a script that will do it for you    hive    Microsoft Win32 RegistryKey   OpenBaseKey  ClassesRoot    Default    key    hive CreateSubKey  Microsoft PowerShellScript 1 Shell Open Command    key SetValue  null   Powershell exe -Command   amp   Start-Process PowerShell exe -Verb RunAs -ArgumentList   -File     1

User · Answer

I used this  need to run it only once   also make sure you have rights to execute   from PowerShell with elevated rights   Set-ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned   then from a bat file   -----------------------------------------   ftype Microsoft PowerShellScript 1  C  WINDOWS system32 windowspowershell v1 0 powershell exe  -noexit   amp    1    assoc  ps1 Microsoft PowerShellScript 1  ----------------------------------------- auto exit  remove -noexit    and voila  double-clicking a   ps1 will execute it

User · Answer

I wrote this a few years ago  run it with administrator rights     lt    SYNOPSIS     Change the registry key in order that double-clicking on a file with  PS1 extension     start its execution with PowerShell   DESCRIPTION     This operation bring  partly   PS1 files to the level of  VBS as far as execution     through Explorer exe is concern      This operation is not advised by Microsoft   NOTES     File Name     ModifyExplorer ps1     Author        J P  Blanc - jean-paul blanc silogix-fr com     Prerequisite  PowerShell V2 on Vista and later versions      Copyright 2010 - Jean Paul Blanc Silogix  LINK     Script posted on      http   www silogix fr  EXAMPLE     PS C  silogix gt  Set-PowAsDefault -On     Call Powershell for  PS1 files      Done   EXAMPLE     PS C  silogix gt  Set-PowAsDefault     Tries to go back     Done    gt  function Set-PowAsDefault      CmdletBinding      Param          Parameter mandatory  false  ValueFromPipeline  false        Alias  Active         switch       bool  On        begin         if   On IsPresent              Write-Host  Call PowerShell for  PS1 files             else             Write-Host  Try to go back                Process           Text Menu      string  TexteMenu    Go inside PowerShell         Text of the program to create      string   TexteCommande     systemroot  system32 WindowsPowerShell v1 0 powershell exe -Command    amp   1            Key to create      String   clefAModifier    HKLM  SOFTWARE Classes Microsoft PowerShellScript 1 Shell Open Command       try              oldCmdKey    null        oldCmdKey   Get-Item  clefAModifier -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue        oldCmdValue    oldCmdKey getvalue            if   oldCmdValue -ne  null                  if   On IsPresent                       slxOldValue    null            slxOldValue   Get-ItemProperty  clefAModifier -Name  slxOldValue  -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue           if   slxOldValue -eq  null                          New-ItemProperty  clefAModifier -Name  slxOldValue  -Value  oldCmdValue  -PropertyType  String    Out-Null             New-ItemProperty  clefAModifier -Name   default   -Value  TexteCommande  -PropertyType  ExpandString    Out-Null             Write-Host  Done                          else                         Write-Host  Already done                                 else                      slxOldValue    null            slxOldValue   Get-ItemProperty  clefAModifier -Name  slxOldValue  -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue           if   slxOldValue -ne  null                          New-ItemProperty  clefAModifier -Name   default   -Value  slxOldValue  slxOldValue   -PropertyType  String    Out-Null             Remove-ItemProperty  clefAModifier -Name  slxOldValue              Write-Host  Done                         else                         Write-Host  No former value                                           catch                exception message             end

User · Answer

Or if you want all PS1 files to work the way VBS files do  you can edit the registry like this   HKEY CLASSES ROOT Microsoft PowerShellScript 1 Shell open command   Edit the Default value to be something like so      C  Windows System32 WindowsPowerShell v1 0 powershell exe  -noLogo -ExecutionPolicy unrestricted -file   1    Then you can just double click all your  PS1 files like you would like to  in my humble opinion  be able to out of the box   I m going to call this  The Powershell De-castration Hack   LOL enjoy

User · Answer

You can use the Windows  SendTo  functionality to make running PS1 scripts easier  Using this method you can right click on  a PS1 script and execute   This is doesn t exactly answer the OP question but it is close   Hopefully  this is useful to others   BTW   this is helpful for  a variety of other tasks    Locate   Search for Powershell exe Right click on Powershell exe and choose Open File Location Right click on Powershell exe and choose Create Shortcut   Temporarily save some place like your desktop You might want to open as Admin by default   Select Shortcut   Properties   Advanced   Open As Admin Open the Sendto folder   Start   Run   Shell Sendto Move the Powershell exe shortcut to the Sendto folder You should now be able to right click on a PS1 script  Right Click on a PS1 file  Select the SendTo context option   Select the Powershell shortcut Your PS1 script should execute

User · Answer

In Windows 10 you might also want to delete Windows Explorer s override for file extension association   HKEY CURRENT USER Software Microsoft Windows CurrentVersion Explorer FileExts  ps1 UserChoice  in addition to the HKEY CLASSES ROOT Microsoft PowerShellScript 1 Shell open command change mentioned in other answers   See https   stackoverflow com a 2697804 1360907

User · Answer

This is based on KoZm0kNoT s answer   I modified it to work across drives    echo off pushd    d0  pushd    dp0  powershell exe -sta -c   amp       n0 ps1      popd popd   The two pushd popds are necessary in case the user s cwd is on a different drive   Without the outer set  the cwd on the drive with the script will get lost

User · Answer

This worked for me on Windows 10 and powershell 5 1    right click on the  ps1 file Open with    Choose another app Copy the location of powershell exe to the address bar  by default it won t show windows folder  i e  C  Windows System32 WindowsPowerShell v1 0 select powershell exe select  Always use this app to open  ps1 files  click OK

User · Answer

put a simple  cmd file in my subfolder with my  ps1 file with the same name  so  for example  a script named  foobar  would have  foobar ps1  and  foobar cmd   So to run the  ps1  all I have to do is click the  cmd file from explorer or run the  cmd from a command prompt  I use the same base name because the  cmd file will automatically look for the  ps1 using its own name                                                                             Powershell script launcher                                                                          MAIN      echo off     for  f  tokens      p in     p0   do set SCRIPT PATH   p     pushd   SCRIPT PATH        powershell exe -sta -c   amp       n0 ps1           popd     set SCRIPT PATH      pause   The pushd popd allows you to launch the  cmd file from a command prompt without having to change to the specific directory where the scripts are located  It will change to the script directory then when complete go back to the original directory   You can also take the pause off if you want the command window to disappear when the script finishes   If my  ps1 script has parameters  I prompt for them with GUI prompts using  NET Forms  but also make the scripts flexible enough to accept parameters if I want to pass them instead  This way I can just double-click it from Explorer and not have to know the details of the parameters since it will ask me for what I need  with list boxes or other forms

User · Answer

Simple PowerShell commands to set this in the registry   New-PSDrive -Name HKCR -PSProvider Registry -Root HKEY CLASSES ROOT Set-ItemProperty -Path  HKCR  Microsoft PowerShellScript 1 Shell open command  -name   Default   -Value   C  Windows System32 WindowsPowerShell v1 0 powershell exe  -noLogo -ExecutionPolicy unrestricted -file   1

User · Answer

Create a shortcut with something like this as the  Target    powershell exe -command   amp   C  A path with spaces MyScript ps1  -MyArguments blah

User · Answer

I tried the top-most answers to this question  but encountered error messages  Then I found the answer here   PowerShell says  quot execution of scripts is disabled on this system  quot    What worked well for me was to use this solution   powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File script ps1   You can paste that into a  bat file and double-click on it

[powershell] Is there a way to make a PowerShell script work by double clicking a .ps1 file?

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