Animated Loading Spinner in PowerShell

01Command

$ $chars = "|","/","-","\"; 1..20 | ForEach-Object { Write-Host -NoNewline "`r$($chars[$_ % 4]) Working..."; Start-Sleep -Milliseconds 150 }

02What it does

The loop indexes into an array of four frame characters and rewrites the same line using a carriage return and -NoNewline, giving a smooth spinner. Wrap your long task in the loop body to use it as a real progress indicator.

03Risk

04Undo

✓No undo needed — this command does not change persistent state.

05Sources

• Write-Host
  Microsoft Learn · vendor-doc · 2026-09-20
  Evidence: Writes to the host; -NoNewline and carriage returns drive the animation.

Last verified: 2026-09-20 · Category: Developer

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