PowerShell 7.3.6 Warning of “Import-Module PSReadLine”

Devanand Yadav
3 min readSep 8, 2023

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Figure: Above screenshot shows PowerShell 7.3.6 Warning: “PowerShell detected that you might be using a screen reader and has disabled PSReadLine for compatibility purposes.”

PowerShell 7.3.6
Warning: PowerShell detected that you might be using a screen reader and has disabled PSReadLine for compatibility purposes.
If you want to re-enable it,
run ‘Import-Module PSReadLine’.

PowerShell 7.3.6 is the latest version of PowerShell. It is distributed as a universal RPM package³. PowerShell 7.3 includes PSReadline 2.2.6, which enables Predictive IntelliSense by default⁴. However, beginning with PowerShell 7.0, PowerShell skips autoloading PSReadLine on Windows if a screen reader program is detected². Currently, PSReadLine doesn’t work well with screen readers². The default rendering and formatting of PowerShell 7.0 on Windows works properly². You can manually load the module if necessary².

Source: Conversation with Bing, 8/9/2023
(1) Installing PowerShell on Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL). https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/scripting/install/install-rhel?view=powershell-7.3.
(2) What’s New in PowerShell 7.3 — PowerShell | Microsoft Learn. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/scripting/whats-new/what-s-new-in-powershell-73?view=powershell-7.3.
(3) about PSReadLine — PowerShell | Microsoft Learn. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/module/psreadline/about/about_psreadline?view=powershell-7.3.
(4) PowerShell 7 module compatibility — PowerShell | Microsoft Learn. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/scripting/whats-new/module-compatibility?view=powershell-7.3.
(5) undefined. https://github.com/PowerShell/PowerShell/releases/download/v7.3.6/powershell-7.3.6-1.rh.x86_64.rpm.

What will happen if we enabled it by running the following command “Import-Module PSReadLine”?

- If you run the command `Import-Module PSReadLine`, it will manually load the PSReadLine module. However, it is important to note that currently,
PSReadLine doesn’t work well with screen readers. The default rendering and formatting of PowerShell 7.0 on Windows works properly with screen readers.
So, if you are using a screen reader, it is recommended to not load the PSReadLine module. If you are not using a screen reader, you can safely load the module. Is there anything else I can help with? 😊

- If you run the command `Import-Module PSReadLine`, it will manually load the PSReadLine module. However, it is important to note that currently, PSReadLine doesn’t work well with screen readers.
The default rendering and formatting of PowerShell 7.0 on Windows works properly with screen readers. So, if you are using a screen reader, it is recommended to not load the PSReadLine module. If you are not using a screen reader, you can safely load the module.
Is there anything else I can help with? 😊

What are the benefits of enabling the above warning of powershell?

- The warning message you mentioned is displayed when PowerShell detects that you might be using a screen reader. It informs you that the PSReadLine module has been disabled for compatibility purposes. The benefits of enabling the warning are that it informs you about the current state of the PSReadLine module and provides you with the option to manually load it if necessary. However, it is important to note that currently, PSReadLine doesn’t work well with screen readers, so if you are using a screen reader, it is recommended to not load the PSReadLine module.
Is there anything else I can help with? 😊

CONCLUSION:
In conclusion, the warning message in PowerShell 7.3.6 is displayed when a screen reader is detected. It informs the user that the PSReadLine module has been disabled for compatibility purposes. The PSReadLine module doesn’t work well with screen readers, and the default rendering and formatting of PowerShell 7.0 on Windows works properly with screen readers. Therefore, if a user is using a screen reader, it is recommended to not load the PSReadLine module. However, if a user is not using a screen reader, they can manually load the module by running the command `Import-Module PSReadLine`.
The warning message provides users with this information and gives them the option to manually load the module if necessary.

SUMMARY:
In summary, we discussed the warning message displayed in PowerShell 7.3.6 when a screen reader is detected. The warning informs the user that the PSReadLine module has been disabled for compatibility purposes. The PSReadLine module doesn’t work well with screen readers, and the default rendering and formatting of PowerShell 7.0 on Windows works properly with screen readers. Therefore, if a user is using a screen reader, it is recommended to not load the PSReadLine module.
However, if a user is not using a screen reader, they can manually load the module by running the command `Import-Module PSReadLine`. The warning message provides users with this information and gives them the option to manually load the module if necessary.

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