Scheduling PowerShell Scripts with PowerShell’s Scheduled Task Cmdlets

When automating tasks on Windows, PowerShell scripts often handle the heavy lifting—but automation isn’t complete until those scripts run on their own. While many admins still use the graphical Task Scheduler, PowerShell provides a full set of cmdlets that make creating, managing, and automating scheduled tasks easier, faster, and more repeatable.

In this guide, we’ll walk through how to schedule PowerShell scripts entirely through PowerShell using cmdlets like New-ScheduledTaskAction, New-ScheduledTaskTrigger, and Register-ScheduledTask. We’ll also explore best practices, logging, credentials, and common pitfalls.

Why Use PowerShell for Scheduling Tasks?

Using PowerShell instead of the Task Scheduler GUI offers several advantages:

• Automation & repeatability
• Scripted deployments
• More consistency
• Portable configurations

The Cmdlets You Need

Step 1: Prepare Your PowerShell Script

Place your script somewhere permanent, such as:

C:\Scripts\Generate-Report.ps1

Example with logging and error handling:

Start-Transcript C:\Scripts\report-task.log
try {
    Get-Service | Export-Csv C:\Scripts\service-report.csv -NoTypeInformation
}
catch {
    "[$(Get-Date)] ERROR: $($_.Exception.Message)"
}
Stop-Transcript

Step 2: Create the Scheduled Task Action

$Action = New-ScheduledTaskAction -Execute "powershell.exe" -Argument "-NoProfile -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File 'C:\Scripts\Generate-Report.ps1'"

Step 3: Create the Trigger

Daily at 07:00

$Trigger = New-ScheduledTaskTrigger -Daily -At 7:00AM

Weekly Example

New-ScheduledTaskTrigger -Weekly -DaysOfWeek Monday,Wednesday,Friday -At 9:30AM

At Startup

New-ScheduledTaskTrigger -AtStartup

At Logon

New-ScheduledTaskTrigger -AtLogon

Step 4: Register the Task

Register-ScheduledTask -TaskName "Daily Report Script" -Action $Action -Trigger $Trigger -Description "Generates a service report every morning" -RunLevel Highest

With credentials:

$Cred = Get-Credential
Register-ScheduledTask -TaskName "Daily Report Script" -Action $Action -Trigger $Trigger -User $Cred.UserName -Password $Cred.GetNetworkCredential().Password -RunLevel Highest

Step 5: Test the Task

Run immediately:

Start-ScheduledTask -TaskName "Daily Report Script"

View task:

Get-ScheduledTask -TaskName "Daily Report Script"

Check last run:

Get-ScheduledTaskInfo -TaskName "Daily Report Script"

Updating an Existing Task

Set-ScheduledTask -TaskName "Daily Report Script" -Trigger $NewTrigger -Action $NewAction

Removing a Task

Unregister-ScheduledTask -TaskName "Daily Report Script" -Confirm:$false

Best Practices

• Use absolute paths
• Log everything
• Use -ExecutionPolicy Bypass
• Test tasks with the same user account
• If needed, store credentials with Export-Clixml

Common Pitfalls

Wrap-Up

Using PowerShell scheduled task cmdlets isn’t just a replacement for the Task Scheduler GUI, it’s an upgrade. Define tasks as code, deploy them consistently, and automate your automation.