Use Set-Location for an ordinary move to another PowerShell location. Use Push-Location when you want to save where you are first, so you can return later with Pop-Location. The difference is whether PowerShell keeps a return point on a location stack.
What each command does
Set-Location changes the current working location to the one you specify; it does not, by itself, save your starting location on the location stack. Push-Location saves the current location on a stack and then changes to the requested location. Pop-Location retrieves a saved location. Microsoft describes Push-Location as adding the current location to the top of a location stack and Set-Location as setting the current working location to a specified location.
That makes Push-Location useful for a temporary detour, especially when you may want to return without typing your original path again. For a normal navigation change where you do not need a stack-based return, Set-Location is the direct choice.
Choose the command for the job
| Need | Command | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Move somewhere without saving a return point on the location stack | Set-Location <path> |
Changes the current working location. |
| Save the current location, then move | Push-Location <path> |
Pushes the current location onto the stack, then changes to the target. |
| Save the current location without moving | Push-Location |
Adds the current location to the stack; the location stays the same. |
| Return to a saved location | Pop-Location |
Retrieves a location from the stack. |
| Navigate recent locations interactively | Set-Location -Path - or Set-Location -Path + |
Uses recent-location history, which is separate from the explicit location stack. |
Use Push-Location for a temporary detour
For an interactive session, push the current location before visiting another one, then pop when you are ready to return:
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Push-Location C:Windows
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Pop-LocationFor a script, a try/finally block is a robust way to ensure the saved location is restored after the work finishes, including when a command in the block encounters an error:
Push-Location -Path 'C:Program FilesPowerShell'
try {
# Run commands that should use this location
}
finally {
Pop-Location
}By contrast, an ordinary move needs no push/pop pair:
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Set-Location -Path 'C:Program FilesPowerShell'Nested detours unwind in reverse order
Location stacks are last-in, first-out. Each Pop-Location returns to the most recently saved location, so nested visits unwind in reverse order:
Push-Location C:Windows
Push-Location C:Temp
Pop-Location # returns to C:Windows
Pop-Location # returns to the location from before C:WindowsThis is useful when a task temporarily moves through several locations and needs to retrace them in order. A single Set-Location does not create those stack entries.
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Named location stacks
PowerShell uses an unnamed location stack by default. You can create and use a named stack with Push-Location -StackName, then return from that stack with Pop-Location -StackName. For example:
Push-Location -Path HKLM:SOFTWARE -StackName Registry
# Work in the registry provider
Pop-Location -StackName RegistrySet-Location -StackName <name> selects a named stack as the current stack; it does not change the current location. When a named stack is current, ordinary current-stack operations do not fully access the unnamed default stack. To select the unnamed stack again, use a null or empty stack name, as described in the Set-Location reference.
These commands work beyond filesystem directories
PowerShell locations come from providers, so they can include filesystem paths, registry paths, and other provider locations—not only folders on a drive. The Push-Location reference includes examples using both filesystem and registry locations.
For shorter commands, pushd is an alias for Push-Location. Set-Location has the aliases cd, chdir, and sl. The Managing current location guide covers location workflows and aliases.
Set-Location’s recent-location history is separate
The PowerShell 7.4 Set-Location documentation says PowerShell 6.2 added support for - and + as -Path values. These values navigate a history of the last 20 locations. That history is separate from the explicit location stack used by Push-Location and Pop-Location; check the reference for the PowerShell version you use if this behavior matters to your workflow.
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