--- title: PowerShell Tee-Object: Redirect Output and Keep It in the Pipeline description: Learn how to use the PowerShell Tee-Object cmdlet to redirect output from a command while still keeping it in the pipeline. canonical: https://adamtheautomator.com/tee-object/ --- # PowerShell Tee-Object: Redirect Output and Keep It in the Pipeline > Learn how to use the PowerShell Tee-Object cmdlet to redirect output from a command while still keeping it in the pipeline. Source: https://adamtheautomator.com/tee-object/ --- - PowerShell Tee-Object: Redirect Output and Keep It in the Pipeline Tap to hide Home - Tutorials - Guidebooks - Instructors - Get Paid to Write - Advertising - Recommended Resources - About Adam Search for: - - - - # PowerShell Tee-Object: Redirect Output and Keep It in the Pipeline Published:15 June 2019 - 2 min. read - PowerShell [](https://adamtheautomator.com/author/adam-bertram/) [Adam Bertram](https://adamtheautomator.com/author/adam-bertram/) Read [more tutorials](https://adamtheautomator.com/author/adam-bertram/) by Adam Bertram! - - [](https://specopssoft.com/product/specops-password-auditor/?utm_source=adamtheautomator&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=adamtheautomator_referral_na&utm_content=display) Audit Active Directory for stale users, weak passwords, and other security risks with [Specops Password Auditor](https://specopssoft.com/product/specops-password-auditor/?utm_source=adamtheautomator&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=adamtheautomator_referral_na&utm_content=text). Table of Contents - Using Tee-Object with a File - Using Tee-Object with a Variable - Wrap up XFacebookLinkedIn Tee-Object is one of those PowerShell cmdlets that's always been there but rarely used. I can count on two hands in my nearly 10 years of PowerShell development work that I've needed or even thought to use this cmdlet but when I do, it works great! ## Using Tee-Object with a File What does Tee-Object do anyway? Tee-Object basically kills two birds with one stone. This cmdlet redirects output from a [PowerShell](https://adamtheautomator.com/tag/powershell/)command and either saves it to a file or to a variable while also returning the output to the pipeline. It allows a scripter to save the output and send the output across the pipeline all in one shot. Let's say a developer wants to send some text to a file and then perform kind of task on that same text afterward. Perhaps we're pulling a list of Windows services from a computer and saving that output to a text file to create a snapshot of the before state before we attempt to start the services. This task can be done in two separate steps or with a single one with Tee-Object. Without Tee-Object, this task may look something like this: PS> $servicesToStart = 'wuauserv','WebClient' PS> Get-Service -Name $servicesToStart | Out-File -FilePath 'C:\ServicesBefore.txt' PS> Get-Service -Name $servicesToStart | Start-Service This method works but there's a better way with Tee-Object . The Tee-Object cmdlet has a FilePath parameter we can use to save the output to a file. Here's what this same task would look like with Tee-Object. Notice how we're using the pipeline to transfer the objects from one command to the next. PS> $servicesToStart = 'wuauserv','WebClient' PS> Get-Service -Name $servicesToStart | Tee-Object -FilePath 'C:\ServicesBefore.txt' | Start-Service This method always replaces the text in a file. If we would have rather appended the text in the file, we could have used the Append switch parameter. ## Using Tee-Object with a Variable The Tee-Object PowerShell cmdlet also has a variable parameter that, instead of sending output to a file, it sends the output to a variable. Instead of first assigning the output of Get-Service to the variable $serviceStatusBefore, we can simply use the Variable parameter on Tee-Object to create the variable and send the output there. Then, since Tee-Object always returns the input it receives back to the pipeline, we can use that as input to Start-Service as we did in the above example. PS> $servicesToStart = 'wuauserv','WebClient' PS> Get-Service -Name $servicesToStart | Tee-Object -Variable 'serviceStatusBefore' | Start-Service PS> $serviceStatusBefore Status Name DisplayName ------ ---- ------------ Running WebClient WebClient Running wuauserv Windows Update ## Wrap up Tee-Object is one of those PowerShell commands that aren't necessarily required in your PowerShell code but make it cleaner and less dense. Using Tee-Object allows a developer to cut down on the number of lines of code yet performs exactly the same task. Granted, eliminating code does sometimes make the code a little less readable but that's up to the developer to decide on that tradeoff! Whenever you need to either save command output to a file or to a variable, take a look at the Tee-Object cmdlet. Hate ads? Want to support the writer? Get many of our tutorials packaged as an ATA Guidebook. 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