PowerShell ISE does not detect changes to a file open in PowerShell ISE when that file is modified outside of PowerShell ISE.
Votes from Connect: 3
Original Date Submitted: 10/27/2015 6:11:19 PM
Description:
Contact Information
Handle: jwirl
Site Name: PowerShell
Feedback ID: 1950051
Frequency: PowerShell ISE
Regression: 1. Open a script file in PowerShell ISE.
2. Open up the same script file in another editor i.e. notepad++ or Microsoft Visual Studio
3. Make a change to the script file in the other editor and save it.
4. Return to PowerShell ISE, it does not warn you that the script file has been changed else where and it does not re-load the script file into the ISE window.
5. Make a change to the script file in PowerShell ISE and save it.
6. Switch back to the other editor, it warns you that the file has been modified and asks you do you want to reload.
7. When you click 'Yes' to reload it loads the file and you loose the changes you made in the alternative editor.
Problem Description:
PowerShell ISE does not detect changes to a file open in PowerShell ISE when that file is modified outside of PowerShell ISE.
When a file that you have opened in PowerShell ISE is modified outside of ISE, when you return to the PowerShell ISE window it does not detect this and then you can go ahead and make a change in PowerShell ISE and loose the changes that were made outside of PowerShell ISE.
Product Studio item created by Connect Synchronizer due to creation of feedback ID 1950051 (http://connect.microsoft.com/PowerShell/feedback/ViewFeedback.aspx?FeedbackID=1950051).
Repro Steps:
1. Open a script file in PowerShell ISE.
2. Open up the same script file in another editor i.e. notepad++ or Microsoft Visual Studio
3. Make a change to the script file in the other editor and save it.
4. Return to PowerShell ISE, it does not warn you that the script file has been changed else where and it does not re-load the script file into the ISE window.
5. Make a change to the script file in PowerShell ISE and save it.
6. Switch back to the other editor, it warns you that the file has been modified and asks you do you want to reload.
7. When you click 'Yes' to reload it loads the file and you loose the changes you made in the alternative editor.
Expected Results:
If the file you are editing in PowerShell ISE is modified outside of that environment then PowerShell ISE should detect this when you return to the PowerShell ISE window and ask if you want to reload the file. This process is especially common when you are saving script file versions to a source code repository such as git, subversion etc.
Internal BugId: 15926

Hi all,
This work has already been started and will likely ship with a future version of the PowerShell ISE Preview. Read more about the Preview here: https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/powershell/2016/01/20/introducing-the-windows-powershell-ise-preview/
Thanks,
Joey
10 comments
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Anonymous commented
2012 server R2 / PowerShell 2014(4)
running a script with powershell command line or wise do not make the same result. Modifications of a script and running it in powershell command line seem to not take care of file change( no recompilation ?) , modifiying it, and opening with wise run it perfectly, after that Powershell command line continue to use an old file version... this mess is unbelievable ... -
Juho Lehto commented
>When is this feature going to be released?
Never. Windows PowerShell and Windows PowerShell ISE will no longer receive new features. The future of PowerShell is in the open-source version of PowerShell, meaning PowerShell version 6 and newer. There is no PowerShell ISE however.Please use Visual Studio Code and PowerShell extension instead, both are free.
https://code.visualstudio.com/
https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=ms-vscode.PowerShell -
John Warde commented
When is this feature going to be released?
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Scott Pozner commented
Can we get an update on the status please - we've encouraged wide adoption of the native ISE over other tools because of its' extensibility however - this is a critical feature that is missing!
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Willsatroyd commented
Due to no reason but my observation that nothing has changed here in years, I suspect all dev on the ISE preview / future ISE has ceased. I suspect because of VS Code. Would be nice to get confirmation though. MS has stated that PS is 'finished', so that's another bit of evidence.
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John Warde commented
When is this feature going to be released? It is still not available in PowerShell ISE Preview today but was imminent according to the message above on Feb 3rd, 2013.
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John Warde commented
Hi,
I followed the steps in https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/powershell/2016/01/20/introducing-the-windows-powershell-ise-preview/ to install PowerShell ISE Preview but this bug is still reproducible, I am using PowerShell 5 and Creators Update has been installed. This is 19 months after the previous comment. Any progress?
Thanks,
John
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David Wilson commented
Thanks Kirk! This is one of the first things I want to try and fix. .NET's FileSystemWatcher should make it fairly easy.
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Kirk Munro commented
For tracking purposes, this item is a duplicate of another issue logged with the same enhancement request:
https://windowsserver.uservoice.com/forums/301869-powershell/suggestions/11087697-open-ise-files-should-update-when-edited-externall -
Soumitra Kumar Jana commented
This is a must to do thing. I had hard time today to sync the changes.