How to Manage Windows Services via PowerShell: Start, Stop, Configure

Windows Services run in the background and control everything from networking to print spooling. PowerShell gives you complete control over all of them.

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View Services

# All services with status
Get-Service | Sort-Object Status -Descending | Format-Table Name, Status, StartType

# Running services only
Get-Service | Where-Object {$_.Status -eq "Running"} | Select-Object Name, DisplayName

# Stopped services that should be running
Get-Service | Where-Object {$_.Status -eq "Stopped" -and $_.StartType -eq "Automatic"} |
  Select-Object Name, DisplayName

# Detailed info about specific service
Get-Service Spooler | Select-Object *

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Start, Stop, Restart

# Start
Start-Service -Name "Spooler"
Start-Service -DisplayName "Print Spooler"

# Stop
Stop-Service -Name "Spooler" -Force

# Restart
Restart-Service -Name "Spooler" -Force

# Suspend (if supported)
Suspend-Service -Name "ServiceName"

# Resume
Resume-Service -Name "ServiceName"

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Change Startup Type

# Startup types: Automatic, Manual, Disabled, AutomaticDelayedStart

# Set to Auto (start with Windows)
Set-Service -Name "WSearch" -StartupType Automatic

# Set to Manual (start on demand)
Set-Service -Name "WSearch" -StartupType Manual

# Disable (won't start at all)
Set-Service -Name "WSearch" -StartupType Disabled

# AutomaticDelayedStart (start 2-3 min after boot)
Set-Service -Name "ServiceName" -StartupType AutomaticDelayedStart

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Configure Service Recovery (Auto-Restart on Failure)

# Set service to restart on failure via sc.exe
sc.exe failure "Spooler" reset= 86400 actions= restart/5000/restart/10000/restart/30000

# Parameters:
# reset= 86400  = reset failure count after 86400 seconds (1 day)
# actions=       = restart/delay_ms for each failure (1st, 2nd, 3rd)

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Run Service as Specific Account

# Change service account via WMI
$svc = Get-WmiObject Win32_Service -Filter "Name='MyService'"
$svc.Change($null, $null, $null, $null, $null, $null, "Domain\ServiceUser", "Password")

# Or via sc.exe
sc.exe config "MyService" obj= "Domain\ServiceUser" password= "Password"

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Create a Custom Service

# Create a new service from an executable
New-Service -Name "MyMonitor" `
  -BinaryPathName "C:\Tools\monitor.exe" `
  -DisplayName "My Monitoring Service" `
  -Description "Monitors system health" `
  -StartupType Automatic

# Start it
Start-Service -Name "MyMonitor"

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Find Services by Executable

# Which service uses a specific executable
Get-WmiObject Win32_Service | Where-Object {$_.PathName -like "*spoolsv*"} |
  Select-Object Name, PathName, State

# Services running as a specific account
Get-WmiObject Win32_Service | Where-Object {$_.StartName -like "*LocalSystem*"} |
  Select-Object Name, StartName, State

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Services Safe to Disable on a Home PC

$toDisable = @(
  "Fax", "RemoteRegistry", "XblGameSave", "XblAuthManager",
  "XboxNetApiSvc", "lfsvc", "MapsBroker", "WbioSrvc"
)
foreach ($svc in $toDisable) {
  Stop-Service $svc -Force -EA 0
  Set-Service $svc -StartupType Disabled -EA 0
}

Services You Should NOT Disable

Service	Why it's needed
Windows Defender Antivirus	Core security
Windows Update	Security patches
Windows Firewall	Network security
Cryptographic Services	SSL, Windows Update
DCOM Server Process Launcher	Core Windows functionality
RPC (Remote Procedure Call)	Required by most Windows features
Windows Management Instrumentation	Required by many management tools
Task Scheduler	Scheduled maintenance tasks

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Fix "Service Failed to Start" Errors

# Check Event Log for service errors
Get-WinEvent -FilterHashtable @{LogName='System'; Level=2,1} -MaxEvents 20 |
  Where-Object {$_.Message -like "*service*"} |
  Select-Object TimeCreated, Message | Format-List

# Check service dependencies
(Get-Service -Name "wuauserv").DependentServices
(Get-Service -Name "wuauserv").ServicesDependedOn

Common fixes: sfc /scannow (repairs corrupted service files), DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth (fixes the Windows image).

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Security Audit

# Services running as SYSTEM (highest privilege)
Get-WmiObject Win32_Service |
  Where-Object {$_.StartName -eq 'LocalSystem' -and $_.State -eq 'Running'} |
  Select-Object Name, DisplayName, PathName

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Bulk Operations

# Stop all non-essential services (for troubleshooting)
$nonEssential = @("Fax", "WSearch", "DiagTrack", "MapsBroker", "lfsvc")
$nonEssential | ForEach-Object { Stop-Service $_ -Force -EA 0 }

# Restart all stopped Automatic services
Get-Service | Where-Object {$_.StartType -eq "Automatic" -and $_.Status -eq "Stopped"} |
  ForEach-Object {
    Start-Service $_ -EA 0
    Write-Host "Started: $($_.Name)"
  }

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Delete a Service

Stop-Service "MyMonitor" -Force
Remove-Service -Name "MyMonitor"
# Or for older Windows:
sc.exe delete "MyMonitor"

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Summary

Get-Service to view, Start/Stop/Restart-Service to control, Set-Service for startup type. sc.exe failure for recovery settings. New-Service to create custom services. Remove-Service to delete.

Frequently Asked Questions

A critical service keeps stopping — how do I prevent it?

Configure recovery with sc.exe failure to auto-restart. Check Event Log for the error before the crash — usually points to a dependency or configuration issue.

Can I start a service without Administrator rights?

Only if you've been granted explicit permission via security descriptor. By default, starting/stopping services requires Administrator. Use Task Scheduler with SYSTEM account as a workaround for specific use cases.

What's the difference between Automatic and AutomaticDelayedStart?

Automatic starts during boot sequence, adding to boot time. AutomaticDelayedStart starts 2-3 minutes after desktop appears — reduces boot time for non-critical services.