Sometimes a PowerShell script should just produce something, for example a report, which then opens in Excel or notepad. You don’t want to necessarily show the PowerShell console window while PowerShell is active.
There is no easy way to hide PowerShell’s console window because even the parameter -WindowStyle Hidden will first show the console and hide it only after it showed.
One way is to use a Windows shortcut to launch your script. Right-click an empty spot on your desktop, then choose New/Shortcut. A new shortcut is created. Enter this line when asked for a shortcut location:
powershell -noprofile -executionpolicy bypass -file "c:\path\to\script.ps1"
Click “Next”, then add a name for your shortcut. Click “Next” again, and you are almost done. The shortcut has the blue PowerShell icon, and when you double-click it, your script runs. Just not hidden yet.
Now you simply right-click the newly created shortcut, choose “Properties”, and change the setting “Run” from “Normal Window” to whatever you want. You can also set a hotkey, and require Admin privileges.
One drawback: on Windows 10, the setting for “Run” no longer includes the option to hide the program. You can minimize it at most.
