Search for PowerShell Script Samples Directly in the Windows PowerShell ISE

The majority of PowerShell administrators like to use the simple command window to write and execute PowerShell scripts. But, a new download from Microsoft makes the PowerShell ISE a bit more valuable and may provoke some to start using the GUI version a bit more.

Microsoft has released an add-on to the PowerShell ISE, Script Browser for Windows PowerShell ISE, that embeds a special pane directly into the ISE to allow searching through the 9000-plus script samples available in the TechNet Script Center.

The add-on pane is useful, too. Found script sample articles can be viewed directly in the browsing pane, scripts can be downloaded, opened, and favorited.

Click on the Favorites tab and be shown all the scripts you bookmarked. Click the Downloads tab and have direct access to all the scripts you chose to download locally.

Downloaded scripts are saved to the directory of your choosing. Just select the Settings icon to change the path or to make other available selections such as language or specific network settings for downloads.

You can download a copy of the tool from here: Script Browser for Windows PowerShell ISE

The setup attempts to modify the Windows PowerShell ISE profile to make sure the Script Browser is loaded automatically when opening Windows PowerShell ISE. However, if the Script Browser is not loaded in Windows PowerShell ISE later, do this: