How to use cURL in PowerShell

If you work in IT, systems administration, or cybersecurity, you’ve likely come across cURL—a versatile command-line tool used for transferring data across networks. Traditionally used in Linux and macOS, cURL has also become popular among Windows administrators.

In PowerShell, the curl command is available but behaves a little differently than in Linux. This article will walk you through how cURL works in PowerShell, its quirks, and practical examples you can use right away.

What Is cURL?

cURL (Client URL) is a command-line tool for making requests to URLs. It supports multiple protocols, including:

• HTTP/HTTPS
• FTP
• SFTP
• SCP
• LDAP
• SMTP

It’s commonly used to:

• Test APIs
• Download/upload files
• Debug web requests
• Automate system scripts

Does PowerShell Have cURL?

Yes—but with a twist. In Windows PowerShell and PowerShell Core:

• Typing curl or wget actually runs Invoke-WebRequest, not the traditional cURL binary.
• If you install real cURL (for example, via Windows package manager or by downloading it), you’ll need to run it as curl.exe to distinguish it from the PowerShell alias.

👉 Tip: To check what curl points to in your environment, run:

Get-Command curl

If it returns Invoke-WebRequest, you’re running PowerShell’s built-in alias.

Using cURL in PowerShell

1. Basic Web Request

curl https://example.com

In PowerShell, this actually runs:

Invoke-WebRequest https://example.com

It retrieves the page content and returns structured data (headers, status code, raw HTML).

2. Downloading a File

curl https://example.com/file.zip -o file.zip

But in PowerShell, the equivalent is:

Invoke-WebRequest https://example.com/file.zip -OutFile file.zip

If you have the actual cURL binary installed, run:

curl.exe https://example.com/file.zip -o file.zip

3. Sending a POST Request

Using PowerShell alias:

curl -Method POST -Uri "https://api.example.com/login" -Body @{username="admin";password="1234"}

With cURL binary:

curl.exe -X POST -d "username=admin&password=1234" https://api.example.com/login

4. Working with JSON APIs

PowerShell:

curl -Uri "https://api.example.com/data" -Headers @{Authorization="Bearer TOKEN"} | ConvertFrom-Json

cURL binary:

curl.exe -H "Authorization: Bearer TOKEN" https://api.example.com/data

5. Uploading Files

PowerShell method:

Invoke-WebRequest -Uri "https://api.example.com/upload" -Method Post -InFile "C:\temp\file.txt" -ContentType "multipart/form-data"

cURL binary:

curl.exe -F "file=@C:\temp\file.txt" https://api.example.com/upload

When to Use PowerShell vs. cURL Binary

• Use PowerShell’s Invoke-WebRequest/Invoke-RestMethod for structured objects and easy JSON handling.
• Use cURL (curl.exe) when you need compatibility with Linux-style scripts, or when following tutorials that assume the standard cURL syntax.

Best Practices

• Always specify curl.exe when you want the actual cURL tool.
• Use Invoke-RestMethod for APIs, as it automatically converts JSON responses.
• Store authentication tokens securely in PowerShell variables instead of hardcoding them.
• Combine with scripts for automation (e.g., nightly downloads, health checks).

Conclusion

cURL in PowerShell can be slightly confusing due to aliasing, but once you know the difference, you gain the best of both worlds:

• PowerShell’s Invoke-WebRequest for object-oriented handling
• Traditional cURL for cross-platform scripting and API testing

With these commands and best practices, you can confidently use cURL in PowerShell for file transfers, API requests, and automation tasks.