Issues with spaces when executing PowerShell script from the command line

Question

I am trying to run the following script from the command with parameters. However, I get this error. What am I doing wrong?

-File & "'C:\BB2 Images\MoveFiles.ps1'" -destinationRoot "\\OB-VM-ME-Data\ME-Data\Archived\BusbarTools\BB-2" -localPath & "'C:\BB2 Images'"

Processing -File ''C:\BB2 Images\MoveFiles.ps1'' failed: The given path's format is not supported. Specify a valid path for the -File parameter.

I had read on here that was how to tackle the problem. But it did not work — Philip Loyer
– Philip Loyer, Commented Nov 27, 2018 at 15:19
Well the error is different now. it say -destinationRoot was unexpected at this time. Which is one of m parameters — Philip Loyer
– Philip Loyer, Commented Nov 27, 2018 at 15:30

Peter Mortensen · Accepted Answer · 2025-04-09 22:01:03Z

1

So long as the path is quoted as a string, most PowerShell commands/functions handle spaces in the file path themselves. (see about_quoting_rules for difference between " " and ' ')

So only use one set of quotes in your command, you also don't need to use the & either:

[powershell] -File "C:\BB2 Images\MoveFiles.ps1" -destinationRoot "\\OB-VM-ME-Data\ME-Data\Archived\BusbarTools\BB-2" -localPath "C:\BB2 Images"

The & is used when calling a command (not when calling a file):

powershell -Command "& {<command>}"

edited Apr 9 at 22:01

Peter Mortensen

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answered Nov 27, 2018 at 15:21

henrycarteruk

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1 Comment

mklement0 Over a year ago

Good advice, but just to clarify: you don't need & { ... } to invoke a command: powershell -Command "<command>" is sufficient; that is, there is no need to wrap a command in an extra script block. However, you do need & inside <command> to invoke a command name/path specified as a variable or a quoted string.

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