Exit status variable $?

In PowerShell, the $? variable represents the exit status of the previous command. If it's true, the command succeeded. If it's false, the command failed. However, you need to be careful if using the variable, since enclosing a command in parentheses can reset $? to true in PowerShell 6 and earlier.

$local:ErrorActionPreference = "SilentlyContinue"

Write-Error error
Write-Output "outside of parentheses: `$? = $?"

(Write-Error error)
Write-Output "inside of parentheses: `$? = $?"

Output by version
2.x, 5.x, 6.x	7.x
outside of parentheses: $? = False inside of parentheses: $? = True	outside of parentheses: $? = False inside of parentheses: $? = False