---
title: "Case-sensitive and Case-insensitive String Comparisons in PowerShell — Ivan Kahl"
description: "PowerShell offers separate operators for case-sensitive and case-insensitive string comparisons, such as -eq, -ceq, -like, and -clike. Each is explained with examples."
url: https://ivankahl.com/blog/case-sensitive-and-insensitive-string-comparisons-in-powershell/
published: 2021-12-18T00:00:00.000Z
tags:
  - "Powershell"
  - "Quick Tip"
  - "Guides"
---

18 Dec 2021 · 1 min read

# Case-sensitive and Case-insensitive String Comparisons in PowerShell

PowerShell offers separate operators for case-sensitive and case-insensitive string comparisons, such as -eq, -ceq, -like, and -clike. Each is explained with examples.

I wrote a PowerShell script the other day and, while doing so, discovered an interesting fact about string comparison in PowerShell that is quite contrary to .NET (and thus unfamiliar to me): string comparisons are case-insensitive by default.

This caught me off guard since my particular use case required a case-sensitive comparison. I managed to get case-sensitive comparisons to work and thought I’d share it.

## Using the Equals operator (-eq/-ceq)

When you would like to see if two strings are the same, you can make use of the equals operator.

### Case-Insensitive Equals (-eq)

You can use `-eq` to perform a case-insensitive string comparison.

` ``` ❯ "Ivan Kahl's Blog" -eq "ivan kahl's BLOG" True ``` `

### Case-Sensitive Equals (-ceq)

If you would like to do a case-sensitive string comparison, you can use `-ceq`:

` ``` ❯ "Ivan Kahl's Blog" -ceq "ivan kahl's BLOG" False ``` `

## Using the Like operator (-like/-clike)

You can also use patterns for string comparisons using the Like operator in Powershell.

### Case-Insensitive Like (-like)

If you want to use a pattern for string comparison and not worry about the case, use `-like`:

` ``` ❯ "Ivan Kahl's Blog" -like "ivan kahl's*" True ``` `

### Case-Sensitive Like (-clike)

If you do want to check the case while using string patterns, you can make use of `-clike`:

` ``` ❯ "Ivan Kahl's BLog" -clike "ivan kahl's*" False ``` `

## Closing

I hope you found this quick tip useful. If you have any questions or thoughts, please leave a comment below.

Tags: [Powershell](https://ivankahl.com/blog/tags/powershell/), [Quick Tip](https://ivankahl.com/blog/tags/quick-tip/), [Guides](https://ivankahl.com/blog/tags/guides/)