Task Scheduler

Manage Windows Task Scheduler jobs via PowerShell — create triggers, set actions, enable/disable tasks, and inspect run history. The Windows equivalent of cron.

When to Use

• User wants to schedule a script or program to run at a specific time or interval
• User asks to list all scheduled tasks or find a specific one
• User wants to enable, disable, or delete a scheduled task
• User needs to check when a task last ran or why it failed
• User wants to create a daily, weekly, or startup-triggered task

How to Use

List all non-disabled tasks

powershell
Get-ScheduledTask | Where-Object State -ne 'Disabled' |
  Select-Object TaskName, TaskPath, State |
  Sort-Object TaskName | Format-Table -AutoSize

Get task details (last run, next run)

powershell
Get-ScheduledTaskInfo -TaskName "MyTask"

Create a daily task

powershell
$action  = New-ScheduledTaskAction -Execute "powershell.exe" `
             -Argument "-NonInteractive -File C:\scripts\daily-backup.ps1"
$trigger = New-ScheduledTaskTrigger -Daily -At "08:00AM"
$settings = New-ScheduledTaskSettingsSet -ExecutionTimeLimit (New-TimeSpan -Hours 1)

Register-ScheduledTask -TaskName "DailyBackup" `
  -Action $action -Trigger $trigger -Settings $settings `
  -Description "Daily backup at 8 AM" -RunLevel Limited

Create a task that runs at Windows startup

powershell
$action  = New-ScheduledTaskAction -Execute "powershell.exe" `
             -Argument "-File C:\scripts\startup.ps1"
$trigger = New-ScheduledTaskTrigger -AtStartup

Register-ScheduledTask -TaskName "StartupScript" `
  -Action $action -Trigger $trigger -RunLevel Limited

Create a task that runs every 30 minutes

powershell
$action  = New-ScheduledTaskAction -Execute "python.exe" `
             -Argument "C:\scripts\monitor.py"
$trigger = New-ScheduledTaskTrigger -RepetitionInterval (New-TimeSpan -Minutes 30) -Once -At (Get-Date)

Register-ScheduledTask -TaskName "MonitorEvery30m" `
  -Action $action -Trigger $trigger -RunLevel Limited

Enable or disable a task

powershell
Enable-ScheduledTask  -TaskName "DailyBackup"
Disable-ScheduledTask -TaskName "DailyBackup"

Run a task immediately

powershell
Start-ScheduledTask -TaskName "DailyBackup"

Delete a task

powershell
Unregister-ScheduledTask -TaskName "DailyBackup" -Confirm:$false

View task run history

powershell
Get-WinEvent -LogName "Microsoft-Windows-TaskScheduler/Operational" |
  Where-Object { $_.Message -match "DailyBackup" } |
  Select-Object TimeCreated, Message |
  Select-Object -First 10

Examples

"Schedule a Python script to run every day at 9 AM" → New-ScheduledTaskAction with python.exe + script path, New-ScheduledTaskTrigger -Daily -At "09:00AM", then Register-ScheduledTask.

"List all tasks that are currently ready to run" → Get-ScheduledTask | Where-Object State -eq 'Ready' | Select-Object TaskName, TaskPath

"When did my backup task last run and did it succeed?" → Get-ScheduledTaskInfo -TaskName "DailyBackup" | Select-Object LastRunTime, LastTaskResult (0 = success)

Cautions

• Tasks registered with -RunLevel Limited run as the current user without UAC prompt — preferred for most automation
• -RunLevel Highest requires the task to be created in an elevated session; it will not prompt the user during execution
• LastTaskResult of 0 means success; any other value is an error code
• Task Scheduler event log must be enabled to use Get-WinEvent history queries