PowerShell - Sendkeys

Published: 08 July 2021
on channel: Mr Automation

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203

(How to send keyboard input with PowerShell to any open window or application)
In this video I demonstrate a practical use case for using sendkeys in a PowerShell script. You can use sendkeys to automatically click a button, or confirm a prompt for instance.

add-type -AssemblyName microsoft.VisualBasic
add-type -AssemblyName System.Windows.Forms
[Microsoft.VisualBasic.Interaction]::AppActivate()
[System.Windows.Forms.SendKeys]::SendWait()

*powershell
*learn powershell
*automation
*learn automation
*windows
*windows powershell
*automatic installations

Code:
Demo1
add-type -AssemblyName microsoft.VisualBasic
add-type -AssemblyName System.Windows.Forms

Start-Process -FilePath "notepad.exe"
start-sleep -Milliseconds 2500

[Microsoft.VisualBasic.Interaction]::AppActivate("Notepad")
start-sleep -Milliseconds 100
[System.Windows.Forms.SendKeys]::SendWait("+{h}")
start-sleep -Milliseconds 100
[System.Windows.Forms.SendKeys]::SendWait("{e}")
start-sleep -Milliseconds 100
[System.Windows.Forms.SendKeys]::SendWait("{l}")
start-sleep -Milliseconds 100
[System.Windows.Forms.SendKeys]::SendWait("{l}")
start-sleep -Milliseconds 100
[System.Windows.Forms.SendKeys]::SendWait("{o}")

Demo2
add-type -AssemblyName microsoft.VisualBasic
add-type -AssemblyName System.Windows.Forms

Start-Process -FilePath "notepad.exe"
Start-Sleep -Milliseconds 100
[Microsoft.VisualBasic.Interaction]::AppActivate("Notepad")

$line = "some line to write to notepad" #this can also come from a file or database

foreach ($c in $line.GetEnumerator()){
[System.Windows.Forms.SendKeys]::SendWait("{$c}")
Start-Sleep -Milliseconds 10
}

Demo3
add-type -AssemblyName microsoft.VisualBasic
add-type -AssemblyName System.Windows.Forms

Start-Process -FilePath "mmc.exe" -ArgumentList "compmgmt.msc"

start-sleep -Milliseconds 2500

[Microsoft.VisualBasic.Interaction]::AppActivate("Computer Management")
start-sleep -Milliseconds 1000

[System.Windows.Forms.SendKeys]::SendWait("{DOWN 3}")
start-sleep -Milliseconds 1000
[System.Windows.Forms.SendKeys]::SendWait("{RIGHT 2}")
start-sleep -Milliseconds 1000
[System.Windows.Forms.SendKeys]::SendWait("{DOWN 1}")
start-sleep -Milliseconds 1000
[System.Windows.Forms.SendKeys]::SendWait("{RIGHT 1}")
start-sleep -Milliseconds 1000
[System.Windows.Forms.SendKeys]::SendWait("{DOWN 2}")

Demo4
add-type -AssemblyName microsoft.VisualBasic

Start-Process powershell.exe -ArgumentList "D:\__DEMOS\powershell-part57\installer-hangs.ps1" -Windowstyle Hidden

start-sleep -Milliseconds 5000

[Microsoft.VisualBasic.Interaction]::AppActivate("Yes or no")
start-sleep -Milliseconds 1000

[System.Windows.Forms.SendKeys]::SendWait("{ENTER}")

Installer hangs script

Add-Type -AssemblyName System.Windows.Forms
$useip = [System.Windows.Forms.MessageBox]::Show("Do you want to provide a static IP?","Yes or no",4)
if ($useip -eq "Yes"){
#$ipnumber = Read-Host "enter last octect 1-255 is valid : $network_prefix"
}

Write-Output "and now we are done"

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