The token '&&' is not a valid statement separator in this version

# The token '&&' is not a valid statement separator in this version

The error "The token '&&' is not a valid statement separator in this version" occurs because the two ampersand characters && are not a valid statement separator in PowerShell.

There are multiple ways to resolve the issue:

Rerun the command in CMD (Command Prompt) or Git Bash.
Use the ; character to run the command separately.
Simply run the commands one after the other.
Use the -and statement separator.

Here is an example of how the error occurs.

PowerShell

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echo "bobby" && echo "hadz"

Running the command in PowerShell produces the following error.

shell

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The token '&&' is not a valid statement separator in this version.
  + CategoryInfo    : ParserError: (:) [], ParentContainsErrorRecordException
  + FullyQualifiedErrorId : InvalidEndOfLine

the token is not a valid statement separator in this version

One way to solve the error is to rerun the command in CMD (Command Prompt) or Git Bash.

To open CMD (Command Prompt):

Click on the search field and type cmd:
Start the Command Prompt application.

open cmd on windows

cmd

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echo "bobby && echo "hadz"

rerun command with ampersand in cmd

To open Git Bash (assuming you have Git installed):

Click on the search field and type git bash.
Start the Git Bash application.

start git bash application on windows

GitBash

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echo "bobby && echo "hadz"

run command without error in git bash

# Alternatively, you can run the command with a semicolon separator in PowerShell

Alternatively, you can use a semicolon separator in PowerShell.

PowerShell

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echo "bobby" ; echo "hadz"

run powershell command with semicolon separator

The semicolon separates the two commands, just like a semicolon is used to separate statements in programming languages (e.g. JavaScript).

However the semicolon ; in PowerShell results in the unconditional sequencing of commands.

This is not equivalent to && which only executes the right-hand side of the command on the left-hand side succeeds.

The || (or) characters do the inverse - the right-hand side is only executed if the left-hand side fails.

# Using an if statement to implement `&&` in PowerShell

In some cases, you might only want to run the right-hand side if the left-hand side succeeds.

You can do this by using an if statement.

PowerShell

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echo "bobby"; if ($?) {echo "hadz"}

implement separator with if statement

The $? variable is a boolean that indicates whether the most recent command has succeeded.

# Running the commands one after the other

If this suits your use case, you could also run the commands one after the other.

The two ampersand && characters are meant to glue the two commands together.

You can split the commands on each usage of the && characters.

PowerShell

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echo "bobby"
echo "hadz"

run the two commands separately

# Using the `-and` option when running the PowerShell command

You can also use the -and option instead of && when running the PowerShell command.

PowerShell

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echo "bobby" -and echo "hadz"

Notice that the and is prefixed with a hyphen, so it becomes -and.

Note that the && and || operators are available in PowerShell 7 and more recent versions.

&& and || are known as the Pipeline chain operators in PowerShell 7.

# Additional Resources

You can learn more about the related topics by checking out the following tutorials:

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The token '&&' is not a valid statement separator in this version