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Start-Sleep

Module:
Microsoft.PowerShell.Utility Module

Suspends the activity in a script or session for the specified period of time.

Syntax

Seconds (Default) 

Start-Sleep
    [-Seconds] <Double>
    [<CommonParameters>]

Milliseconds 

Start-Sleep
    -Milliseconds <Int32>
    [<CommonParameters>]

FromTimeSpan 

Start-Sleep
    -Duration <TimeSpan>
    [<CommonParameters>]

Description

The Start-Sleep cmdlet suspends the activity in a script or session for the specified period of time. You can use it for many tasks, such as waiting for an operation to complete or pausing before repeating an operation.

Examples

Example 1: Pause execution for 1.5 seconds

In this example, the execution of commands pauses for one and one-half seconds.

Start-Sleep -Seconds 1.5

Example 2: Pause execution at the command line

This example shows that execution is paused for 5 seconds when run from the command line.

PS> Get-Date; Start-Sleep -Seconds 5; Get-Date

Friday, May 13, 2022 9:38:15 AM
Friday, May 13, 2022 9:38:20 AM

PowerShell cannot execute the second Get-Date command until the sleep timer expires.

Example 3: Sleep commands using a **TimeSpan**

This example makes all the commands in the session sleep for 30 seconds.

Start-Sleep -Duration (New-TimeSpan -Seconds 30)

Parameters

-Duration

Uses a TimeSpan object to specify how long the resource sleeps in milliseconds. The value must not be a negative TimeSpan and must not exceed [int]::MaxValue milliseconds.

This parameter was added in PowerShell 7.3.

Parameter properties

Type:TimeSpan
Default value:None
Supports wildcards:False
DontShow:False
Aliases:ts

Parameter sets

FromTimeSpan
Position:Named
Mandatory:True
Value from pipeline:True
Value from pipeline by property name:True
Value from remaining arguments:False

-Milliseconds

Specifies how long the resource sleeps in milliseconds. The parameter can be abbreviated as m.

Parameter properties

Type:Int32
Default value:None
Supports wildcards:False
DontShow:False
Aliases:ms

Parameter sets

Milliseconds
Position:Named
Mandatory:True
Value from pipeline:False
Value from pipeline by property name:True
Value from remaining arguments:False

-Seconds

Specifies how long the resource sleeps in seconds. You can omit the parameter name or you can abbreviate it as s. Beginning in PowerShell 6.2.0, this parameter now accepts fractional values.

Parameter properties

Type:Double
Default value:None
Supports wildcards:False
DontShow:False

Parameter sets

Seconds
Position:0
Mandatory:True
Value from pipeline:True
Value from pipeline by property name:True
Value from remaining arguments:False

CommonParameters

This cmdlet supports the common parameters: -Debug, -ErrorAction, -ErrorVariable, -InformationAction, -InformationVariable, -OutBuffer, -OutVariable, -PipelineVariable, -ProgressAction, -Verbose, -WarningAction, and -WarningVariable. For more information, see about_CommonParameters.

Inputs

Int32

You can pipe the number of seconds to this cmdlet.

Outputs

None

This cmdlet returns no output.

Notes

PowerShell includes the following aliases for Start-Sleep:

  • Windows:

    • sleep

  • Ctrl+C breaks out of Start-Sleep.

  • Ctrl+C does not break out of [Threading.Thread]::Sleep. For more information, see Thread.Sleep Method.