# Many Choices: \`switch\`

switch compares one value with a list of choices and runs the block of each one that matches, with default for anything else; -Wildcard and -Regex match patterns instead of exact text, and a switch on a Read-Host answer makes a simple menu.

Apprentice · PowerShell · Updated November 10, 2026

## After this lesson you can

- Match one value against many choices with switch and default, and choose switch or if for a job
- Match patterns with switch -Wildcard, and build a simple menu with Read-Host and switch

## Key takeaways

- switch ($choice) { '1' { … } '2' { … } default { … } } runs the block whose value matches, and default when none does.
- switch ignores capital letters, so 'q' matches Q, and what a block outputs can be kept: $kind = switch …
- -Wildcard lets a choice be a pattern such as '*.jpg'; -Regex lets it be a regular expression.
- switch runs every block that matches, not only the first. break stops it after one.
- A few printed lines, a Read-Host and a switch make a simple menu.

Your family wants backups too, but nobody else is going to type `.\Backup-Folder.ps1 -Days 7 -Preview`. A menu fixes that: type 1, 2, 3 or Q and press Enter, like the menus on a parking machine or a phone line. You could pick the answer apart with `if` and `elseif`, but that means writing `$choice -eq` four times, and in a long ladder of `elseif` a choice slips out of order without anyone noticing. When one value can be one of many things, PowerShell has a statement made for it: `switch`. Help-desk tools, installers and setup scripts use it for exactly this kind of menu.

This lesson uses the `smart-backup` folder and `Backup-Folder.ps1` from *If This, Then That: if, elseif and else*.

## One value, many choices: switch

A **switch statement** names a value in parentheses, then lists choices in braces, each with a block of commands. It compares the value with each choice, and runs the block of the one that matches. `default` (read "default": anything else) catches what matched nothing:

```powershell
$choice = '2'
switch ($choice) {
    '1' { "Back up today's changes" }
    '2' { "Back up this week's changes" }
    'q' { 'Bye.' }
    default { "There's no $choice on the menu." }
}
```

```text
Back up this week's changes
```

Read it aloud: "switch on the choice: if it's 1, this; if it's 2, that; if it's q, say bye; anything else, say so." Set `$choice` to `'Q'` and the same switch prints `Bye.`, because switch ignores capital letters, as `-eq` does. Set it to `'7'` and you get `There's no 7 on the menu.`

Which to choose? `switch` when one value can be one of several known things: a menu choice, a file's type, a day of the week. `if` when the tests are about different things, such as "the folder is missing" and "days is out of range", or need `-and` and `-or`.

## Patterns: -Wildcard and -Regex

With `-Wildcard`, a choice can be a pattern with `*`, the same wildcards as *Wildcards and Filters*. And whatever a block outputs can be kept in a variable, so a switch can work out a value:

```powershell
$file = 'science-fair.jpg'
$kind = switch -Wildcard ($file) {
    '*.txt' { 'a document' }
    '*.jpg' { 'a photo' }
    '*.png' { 'a photo' }
    default { 'some other file' }
}
"$file is $kind."
```

```text
science-fair.jpg is a photo.
```

One thing surprises everybody: switch runs **every** block that matches, not only the first. Both of these patterns fit the name:

```powershell
switch -Wildcard ($file) {
    '*.jpg' { 'a photo' }
    '*fair*' { 'for the science fair' }
}
```

```text
a photo
for the science fair
```

Put `break` (read "break": stop here) at the end of a block to stop after it: `'*.jpg' { 'a photo'; break }` prints only `a photo`. With `-Regex`, a choice is a regular expression from *Patterns: Regular Expressions with -match*: `'^\d+-\d+-\d+'` matches a name that starts with a date, such as `2026-11-09 notes.txt`.

## A simple menu

A few lines that print the choices, a `Read-Host` for the answer (*Asking Questions: Read-Host*), and a switch: that's a menu. Save this as `Backup-Menu.ps1` in the `smart-backup` folder. Each choice runs `Backup-Folder.ps1` with different parameters, so the menu needs no backup code of its own:

```powershell
# Backup-Menu.ps1: a menu for Backup-Folder.ps1. Run it from the smart-backup folder.
'1) Back up today''s changes'
'2) Back up this week''s changes'
'3) Preview this week''s backup'
'Q) Quit'
$choice = Read-Host 'Pick one'
switch ($choice) {
    '1' { .\Backup-Folder.ps1 }
    '2' { .\Backup-Folder.ps1 -Days 7 }
    '3' { .\Backup-Folder.ps1 -Days 7 -Preview }
    'q' { 'Bye.' }
    default { "There's no $choice on the menu." }
}
```

Two single quotes in a row, `''`, put one `'` inside single-quoted text (*Text: Quotes and $( )*).

![The menu as a signpost: the answer typed at Pick one goes into switch, which sends 1 to .\Backup-Folder.ps1, 2 to .\Backup-Folder.ps1 -Days 7, 3 to .\Backup-Folder.ps1 -Days 7 -Preview, q to Bye. and anything else to default's message](https://fsdtrainingmedia.blob.core.windows.net/public/images/2026/11/598dabc17e0546f7ada1367e16122e83.webp)

Run it twice, picking `2`, then `5`:

```text
1) Back up today's changes
2) Back up this week's changes
3) Preview this week's backup
Q) Quit
Pick one: 2
Files copied: 2.
```

```text
1) Back up today's changes
2) Back up this week's changes
3) Preview this week's backup
Q) Quit
Pick one: 5
There's no 5 on the menu.
```

A menu is the right place for `Read-Host`: someone is sitting there choosing. `switch` works the same in Windows PowerShell 5.1 and on a Mac or Linux, where you run the menu as `./Backup-Menu.ps1`.

**Try it.** Add a choice `4) Back up the club` that runs `Backup-Folder.ps1 -Path club -Days 30`. Then make the menu accept `quit` as well as `q`, with `-Wildcard` and the pattern `'q*'`.

## Check yourself

2 questions to try on the lesson page.

## So what

`switch` turns "which of these is it?" into one tidy list: exact values, patterns, and a `default` for the rest. With a `Read-Host` in front of it, your scripts get a menu anyone can use.

## Key terms

- [switch Statement](https://www.ask-codey.com/glossary/switch-statement-powershell)
- [if Statement](https://www.ask-codey.com/glossary/if-statement-powershell)
- [Wildcard](https://www.ask-codey.com/glossary/wildcard-powershell)
- [Read-Host](https://www.ask-codey.com/glossary/read-host)

## Cheat sheets

- [Many Choices: \`switch\`](https://www.ask-codey.com/cheat-sheets/powershell-switch-cheat-sheet)

## Related

- [If This, Then That: \`if\`, \`elseif\` and \`else\`](https://www.ask-codey.com/lessons/powershell-if-statements)
- [Asking Questions: \`Read-Host\`](https://www.ask-codey.com/lessons/powershell-read-host)
- [Wildcards and Filters](https://www.ask-codey.com/lessons/powershell-wildcards-and-filters)
- [Patterns: Regular Expressions with -match](https://www.ask-codey.com/lessons/powershell-regular-expressions)
- [Exercise: The Smart Backup](https://www.ask-codey.com/lessons/exercise-powershell-the-smart-backup)

Source: https://www.ask-codey.com/lessons/powershell-switch