Use $PSVersionTable.PSVersion to determine the engine version. If the variable does not exist, it is safe to assume the engine is version 1.0 .

Note that $Host.Version and (Get-Host).Version are not reliable - they reflect the version of the host only, not the engine. PowerGUI, PowerShellPLUS, etc. are all hosting applications, and they will set the host's version to reflect their product version — which is entirely correct, but not what you're looking for.

PS C:\> $PSVersionTable.PSVersion
Major  Minor  Build  Revision
-----  -----  -----  --------
4      0      -1     -1
                @DanielCassidy - two years late to the party, but "some features are unaccountably unavailable" might be caused by only having the .Net 3.5 Compact framework installed instead of the full thing.
                    – Dave Neeley
                Sep 24 '12 at 14:50
                $PSVersionTable is more reliable and returns $PSVersion. You can also use $PSVersionTable.PSVersion. Even if you are connected remotely to the machine running different version (invoke-command -computername myRemotePC -Credential foo {$host}), it looks like $host will just show the lowest version they agreed upon for serializing. While $PSVersionTable will show the true version. Hope it would help someone..
                    – vulcan raven
                Oct 23 '12 at 4:27
                Seems $host.Version isn't a good choice... If you remote to a machine running PowerShell 3, you get back 1.0, as the RemotingHost seems to be v1. Using $PSVersionTable correctly returns 3.
                    – Danny Tuppeny
                Oct 30 '12 at 9:30
                @Starfish The command shown launches Powershell using Command Prompt. Wouldn't the command just error out with "powershell not found" if it's not installed?
                    – jpmc26
                Dec 12 '13 at 4:26
                So tired of coming back here for this that I just ran notepad $profile and dumped function psver { $PSVersionTable; $PSVersionTable.PSVersion } in it. A reload with . $profile and I can just type psver any time to get the detailed version info and other details.
                    – ADTC
                May 8 '16 at 13:13
I would use either Get-Host or $PSVersionTable.  As Andy Schneider points out, $PSVersionTable doesn't work in version 1; it was introduced in version 2.
get-host
Name             : ConsoleHost
Version          : 2.0
InstanceId       : d730016e-2875-4b57-9cd6-d32c8b71e18a
UI               : System.Management.Automation.Internal.Host.InternalHostUserInterface
CurrentCulture   : en-GB
CurrentUICulture : en-US
PrivateData      : Microsoft.PowerShell.ConsoleHost+ConsoleColorProxy
IsRunspacePushed : False
Runspace         : System.Management.Automation.Runspaces.LocalRunspace
$PSVersionTable
Name                           Value
----                           -----
CLRVersion                     2.0.50727.4200
BuildVersion                   6.0.6002.18111
PSVersion                      2.0
WSManStackVersion              2.0
PSCompatibleVersions           {1.0, 2.0}
SerializationVersion           1.1.0.1
PSRemotingProtocolVersion      2.1
                thank you! NB: On my XP where I manually upgraded from v1 Powershell, the actual folder and registry paths (misleadingly?!) reference v1 NOT v2. This is as others here specify, but it was the reason why I was so worried whether I had installed it. My path is ; C:\WINDOWS\system32\windowspowershell\v1.0
                    – AnneTheAgile
                Mar 7 '12 at 20:44
                If $psversiontable does not exist, it's entirely safe to assume you're on v1.0 - and hey presto, that also answers your question. $host.version is not reliable - for example in powergui, it returns the powergui host version which is not the same as the powershell engine version (which is what is desired.)
                    – x0n
                Apr 17 '13 at 20:45
                The accepted answer states "... $Host.Version and (Get-Host).Version are not reliable - they reflect the version of the host only, not the engine".
                    – Peter Mortensen
                Mar 4 '17 at 9:13
To determine if PowerShell is installed, you can check the registry for the existence of 
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\PowerShell\1\Install
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\PowerShell\3
and, if it exists, whether the value is 1 (for installed), as detailed in the blog post Check if PowerShell installed and version.
To determine the version of PowerShell that is installed, you can check the registry keys 
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\PowerShell\1\PowerShellEngine\PowerShellVersion
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\PowerShell\3\PowerShellEngine\PowerShellVersion
To determine the version of PowerShell that is installed from a .ps1 script, you can use the following one-liner, as detailed on PowerShell.com in Which PowerShell Version Am I Running.
$isV2 = test-path variable:\psversiontable
The same site also gives a function to return the version:
function Get-PSVersion {
    if (test-path variable:psversiontable) {$psversiontable.psversion} else {[version]"1.0.0.0"}
                Useful because on a Windows 2003 server I couldn't find the start menu entry for PowerShell (it was there but not obvious), but the registry key answered my question.
                    – Holistic Developer
                Oct 11 '12 at 19:41
                For PowerScript 3.0 there seems to be a new entry, HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\PowerShell\3 (in addition to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\PowerShell\1). The proper place in this case for getting the version appears to be HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\PowerShell\3\PowerShellEngine\PowerShellVersion (sample value is "3.0").
                    – Peter Mortensen
                Aug 26 '13 at 13:46
You can look at the built in variable, $psversiontable. If it doesn't exist, you have V1. If it does exist, it will give you all the info you need.
1 >  $psversiontable
Name                           Value                                           
----                           -----                                           
CLRVersion                     2.0.50727.4927                                  
BuildVersion                   6.1.7600.16385                                  
PSVersion                      2.0                                             
WSManStackVersion              2.0                                             
PSCompatibleVersions           {1.0, 2.0}                                      
SerializationVersion           1.1.0.1                                         
PSRemotingProtocolVersion      2.1    
Just want to add my 2 cents here.
You can directly check the version with one line only by invoking powershell externally, such as from Command Prompt
powershell -Command "$PSVersionTable.PSVersion"
EDIT:
According to @psaul you can actually have one command that is agnostic from where it came (CMD, Powershell or Pwsh), thank you for that.
powershell -command "(Get-Variable PSVersionTable -ValueOnly).PSVersion" 
I've tested and it worked flawlessly on both CMD and Powershell
                I get this horrible error with that try: "System.Collections.Hashtable.PSVersion : The term 'System.Collections.Hashtable.PSVersion' is not recognized as the name of a cmdlet, function, script file, or operable program. Check the spelling of the name, or if a path was included, verify that the path is correct and try again.". So not always works
                    – Gonmator
                Dec 4 '17 at 9:17
                I'm glad that you pointed that out since it's good to know the corner cases, but I guess it still works for the majority of people.
                    – Patrick Bard
                Dec 26 '17 at 11:47
                @Gonmator one would think PowerShell would behave the same way with this command, but it unfortunately does not.  I made attempt to fix the syntax to work agnostically between cmd and powershell to no avail.  I would have expected the same behavior as well. :)
                    – tresf
                Feb 27 '18 at 19:35
                @tresf (and @Gonmator) you CAN run this agnostically from CMD, PowerShell, or even Pwsh (PS 6.0) but you need to use this form: powershell -command "(Get-Variable PSVersionTable -ValueOnly).PSVersion"      (that will work in all cases)
                    – PSaul
                Jul 12 '18 at 15:56
                Tested on mac too.  pwsh -Command "(Get-Variable PSVersionTable -ValueOnly).PSVersion"  works great.
                    – tresf
                Jul 20 '18 at 5:24
You can verify that Windows PowerShell version installed by completing the following check:
Click Start, click All Programs, click Accessories, click Windows PowerShell, and then click Windows PowerShell.
In the Windows PowerShell console, type the following command at the command prompt and then press ENTER:
Get-Host | Select-Object Version
You will see output that looks like this:
Version
-------
http://www.myerrorsandmysolutions.com/how-to-verify-the-windows-powershell-version-installed/
                You assume that powershell was installed with default options and that the shortcuts were not removed from the Start Menu.  Better to use the registry test.
                    – Xalorous
                May 18 '15 at 14:55
                I think that if you need to use PowerShell first you try to run it as standard it should be installed, then if you don't find the icon your try to search it, then maybe you try to run it from the Command Prompt. I don't think you start from the registry.
                    – Eclipses
                May 26 '15 at 14:28
                The accepted answer states "... $Host.Version and (Get-Host).Version are not reliable - they reflect the version of the host only, not the engine".
                    – Peter Mortensen
                Mar 4 '17 at 9:15
Microsoft's recommended forward compatible method for checking if PowerShell is installed and determining the installed version is to look at two specific registry keys. I've reproduced the details here in case the link breaks.
According to the linked page:
  
Depending on any other registry key(s), or version of PowerShell.exe or the location of PowerShell.exe is not guaranteed to work in the long term.
To check if any version of PowerShell is installed, check for the following value in the registry:
Key Location: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\PowerShell\1
Value Name: Install
Value Type: REG_DWORD
Value Data: 0x00000001 (1
To check whether version 1.0 or 2.0 of PowerShell is installed, check for the following value in the registry:
Key Location: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\PowerShell\1\PowerShellEngine
Value Name: PowerShellVersion
Value Type: REG_SZ
Value Data: <1.0 | 2.0>
                For PowerShell 3.0, there appears to be a new one, HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\PowerShell\3.
                    – Peter Mortensen
                Aug 26 '13 at 14:10
You can then check the version from the PowerShell prompt by typing $PSVersionTable.PSVersion:
PS C:\Users\MyUser> $PSVersionTable.PSVersion
Major  Minor  Build  Revision
-----  -----  -----  --------
2      0      -1     -1
PS C:\Users\MyUser>
Type exit if you want to go back to the command prompt (exit again if you want to also close the command prompt).
To run scripts, see http://ss64.com/ps/syntax-run.html.
                Like for the accepted answer  this doesn't return anything for PowerShell 1.0. The registry method is more explicit.
                    – Peter Mortensen
                Dec 1 '14 at 0:08
                If powershell was not in the path, this version will give a false impression that it is not installed.  The Registry method gives full information.  Presence and version.
                    – Xalorous
                May 18 '15 at 14:56
$host.version is just plain wrong/unreliable. This gives you the version of the hosting executable (powershell.exe, powergui.exe, powershell_ise.exe, powershellplus.exe etc) and not the version of the engine itself.
The engine version is contained in $psversiontable.psversion. For PowerShell 1.0, this variable does not exist, so obviously if this variable is not available it is entirely safe to assume the engine is 1.0, obviously.
    #PowerShell Version Mapping
    $psVersionMappings = @()
    $psVersionMappings += New-Object PSObject -Property @{Name='5.1.14393.0';FriendlyName='Windows PowerShell 5.1 Preview';ApplicableOS='Windows 10 Anniversary Update'}
    $psVersionMappings += New-Object PSObject -Property @{Name='5.1.14300.1000';FriendlyName='Windows PowerShell 5.1 Preview';ApplicableOS='Windows Server 2016 Technical Preview 5'}
    $psVersionMappings += New-Object PSObject -Property @{Name='5.0.10586.494';FriendlyName='Windows PowerShell 5 RTM';ApplicableOS='Windows 10 1511 + KB3172985 1607'}
    $psVersionMappings += New-Object PSObject -Property @{Name='5.0.10586.122';FriendlyName='Windows PowerShell 5 RTM';ApplicableOS='Windows 10 1511 + KB3140743 1603'}
    $psVersionMappings += New-Object PSObject -Property @{Name='5.0.10586.117';FriendlyName='Windows PowerShell 5 RTM 1602';ApplicableOS='Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows Server 2012, Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1, Windows 8.1, and Windows 7 SP1'}
    $psVersionMappings += New-Object PSObject -Property @{Name='5.0.10586.63';FriendlyName='Windows PowerShell 5 RTM';ApplicableOS='Windows 10 1511 + KB3135173 1602'}
    $psVersionMappings += New-Object PSObject -Property @{Name='5.0.10586.51';FriendlyName='Windows PowerShell 5 RTM 1512';ApplicableOS='Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows Server 2012, Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1, Windows 8.1, and Windows 7 SP1'}
    $psVersionMappings += New-Object PSObject -Property @{Name='5.0.10514.6';FriendlyName='Windows PowerShell 5 Production Preview 1508';ApplicableOS='Windows Server 2012 R2'}
    $psVersionMappings += New-Object PSObject -Property @{Name='5.0.10018.0';FriendlyName='Windows PowerShell 5 Preview 1502';ApplicableOS='Windows Server 2012 R2'}
    $psVersionMappings += New-Object PSObject -Property @{Name='5.0.9883.0';FriendlyName='Windows PowerShell 5 Preview November 2014';ApplicableOS='Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows Server 2012, Windows 8.1'}
    $psVersionMappings += New-Object PSObject -Property @{Name='4.0';FriendlyName='Windows PowerShell 4 RTM';ApplicableOS='Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows Server 2012, Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1, Windows 8.1, and Windows 7 SP1'}
    $psVersionMappings += New-Object PSObject -Property @{Name='3.0';FriendlyName='Windows PowerShell 3 RTM';ApplicableOS='Windows Server 2012, Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1, Windows 8, and Windows 7 SP1'}
    $psVersionMappings += New-Object PSObject -Property @{Name='2.0';FriendlyName='Windows PowerShell 2 RTM';ApplicableOS='Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 and Windows 7'}
    foreach ($psVersionMapping in $psVersionMappings)
        If ($psVersion -ge $psVersionMapping.Name) {
            @{CurrentVersion=$psVersion;FriendlyName=$psVersionMapping.FriendlyName;ApplicableOS=$psVersionMapping.ApplicableOS}
            Break
Else{
    @{CurrentVersion='1.0';FriendlyName='Windows PowerShell 1 RTM';ApplicableOS='Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2003, Windows Vista, Windows XP'}
You can download the detailed script from How to determine installed PowerShell version.
To check if PowerShell is installed use:
HKLM\Software\Microsoft\PowerShell\1 Install ( = 1 )
To check if RC2 or RTM is installed use:
HKLM\Software\Microsoft\PowerShell\1 PID (=89393-100-0001260-00301) -- For RC2
HKLM\Software\Microsoft\PowerShell\1 PID (=89393-100-0001260-04309) -- For RTM
Source: this website.
Since the most helpful answer didn't address the if exists portion, I thought I'd give one take on it via a quick-and-dirty solution. It relies on PowerShell being in the path environment variable which is likely what you want. (Hat tip to the top answer as I didn't know that.) Paste this into a text file and name it
  
Test Powershell Version.cmd
or similar.
@echo off
echo Checking powershell version...
del "%temp%\PSVers.txt" 2>nul
powershell -command "[string]$PSVersionTable.PSVersion.Major +'.'+ [string]$PSVersionTable.PSVersion.Minor | Out-File ([string](cat env:\temp) + '\PSVers.txt')" 2>nul
if errorlevel 1 (
 echo Powershell is not installed. Please install it from download.Microsoft.com; thanks.
) else (
 echo You have installed Powershell version:
 type "%temp%\PSVers.txt"
 del "%temp%\PSVers.txt" 2>nul
timeout 15
The easiest way to forget this page and never return to it is to learn the Get-Variable: 
Get-Variable | where {$_.Name -Like '*version*'} | %{$_[0].Value}
There is no need to remember every variable. Just Get-Variable is enough (and "There should be something about version"). 
                Looking for the PS version? type $PSVersion [tab] [enter]. Done. Don't need to remember anything :)
                    – orad
                Feb 8 '14 at 20:25
                this really only is useful if one is very familiar with the piping tricks that are used.  No way a beginner is going to be able to remember that all that syntax easier than just remembering $PSVersionTable
                    – Joseph Gabriel
                Oct 20 '15 at 12:24
                Guys, Get-Variable works well alone (if all what you need just to get the version), piping there is just a joke :) I do not remember piping syntax either.
                    – Roman Pokrovskij
                Mar 9 '16 at 18:11
                $PSVersionTable is an automatic variable; an object.  It is not a cmdlet.
                    – TheIncorrigible1
                Nov 26 '18 at 22:56
I needed to check the version of PS and then run the appropriate code. Some of our servers run v5, others v4. This means that some functions, like compress, may or may not be available.
This is my solution: 
if ($PSVersionTable.PSVersion.Major -eq 5) {
    #Execute code available in 5, like Compress
    Write-Host "You are running version 5"
else {
    #Use a different process
    Write-Host "This is version $PSVersionTable.PSVersion.Major"
                This is semi-wrong.  host resolves to Get-Host.  Regardless, it is not a reliable way to get the version.
                    – TheIncorrigible1
                Nov 26 '18 at 22:55
                The accepted answer states "... $Host.Version and (Get-Host).Version are not reliable - they reflect the version of the host only, not the engine".
                    – Peter Mortensen
                Mar 4 '17 at 9:16
                @TylerH so what? I am not following your question. my answer clearly says its a extension to the accepted answer. its a simplified version.
                    – HaBo
                Mar 5 at 5:51
                @HaBo Your previous comment reads like you're justifying your answer by the fact that it was posted before the accepted answer, which is not at all the case. Your answer was posted 7 years after the accepted answer, and 6 years after the answer yours actually 'extends'; speaking of which, your answer does not clearly say it's an extension of the accepted answer (which doesn't even use Get-Host).
                    – TylerH
                Mar 5 at 14:26
This is the top search result for "Batch file get powershell version", so I'd like to provide a basic example of how to do conditional flow in a batch file depending on the powershell version
generic example
powershell "exit $PSVersionTable.PSVersion.Major"
if %errorlevel% GEQ 5 (
    echo Do some fancy stuff that only powershell v5 or higher supports
) else (
    echo Functionality not support by current powershell version.
real world example
powershell "exit $PSVersionTable.PSVersion.Major"
if %errorlevel% GEQ 5 (
    rem Unzip archive automatically
    powershell Expand-Archive Compressed.zip
) else (
    rem Make the user unzip, because lazy
    echo Please unzip Compressed.zip prior to continuing...
    pause
So many answers here. I thought I'd put mine in here because it's a lot shorter than many of these answers. 
$psMajorVer = $PSVersionTable.PSVersion.Major.ToString();$psMinorVer = $PSVersionTable.PSVersion.Minor.ToString();Write-Host "You have Powershell version " -NoNewline; Write-Host ($psMajorVer + "." + $psMinorVer);
Thank you for your interest in this question. 
Because it has attracted low-quality or spam answers that had to be removed, posting an answer now requires 10 reputation on this site (the association bonus does not count).
Would you like to answer one of these unanswered questions instead?

                    
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