diff --git a/changelogs/fragments/powershell-fix-quoting.yaml b/changelogs/fragments/powershell-fix-quoting.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..68ffde593c1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelogs/fragments/powershell-fix-quoting.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+bugfixes:
+- powershell - fix escaping of strings that broken modules like fetch when dealing with special chars - https://github.com/ansible/ansible/issues/62781
diff --git a/lib/ansible/plugins/connection/winrm.py b/lib/ansible/plugins/connection/winrm.py
index 24d4bc35501..d7ead524f66 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/plugins/connection/winrm.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/plugins/connection/winrm.py
@@ -663,7 +663,7 @@ class Connection(ConnectionBase):
             while True:
                 try:
                     script = '''
-                        $path = "%(path)s"
+                        $path = '%(path)s'
                         If (Test-Path -Path $path -PathType Leaf)
                         {
                             $buffer_size = %(buffer_size)d
diff --git a/lib/ansible/plugins/shell/powershell.py b/lib/ansible/plugins/shell/powershell.py
index d8c2e836d3c..7eeb4e0928b 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/plugins/shell/powershell.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/plugins/shell/powershell.py
@@ -120,9 +120,9 @@ class ShellModule(ShellBase):
     def remove(self, path, recurse=False):
         path = self._escape(self._unquote(path))
         if recurse:
-            return self._encode_script('''Remove-Item "%s" -Force -Recurse;''' % path)
+            return self._encode_script('''Remove-Item '%s' -Force -Recurse;''' % path)
         else:
-            return self._encode_script('''Remove-Item "%s" -Force;''' % path)
+            return self._encode_script('''Remove-Item '%s' -Force;''' % path)
 
     def mkdtemp(self, basefile=None, system=False, mode=None, tmpdir=None):
         # Windows does not have an equivalent for the system temp files, so
@@ -147,15 +147,15 @@ class ShellModule(ShellBase):
         if user_home_path == '~':
             script = 'Write-Output (Get-Location).Path'
         elif user_home_path.startswith('~\\'):
-            script = 'Write-Output ((Get-Location).Path + "%s")' % self._escape(user_home_path[1:])
+            script = "Write-Output ((Get-Location).Path + '%s')" % self._escape(user_home_path[1:])
         else:
-            script = 'Write-Output "%s"' % self._escape(user_home_path)
+            script = "Write-Output '%s'" % self._escape(user_home_path)
         return self._encode_script(script)
 
     def exists(self, path):
         path = self._escape(self._unquote(path))
         script = '''
-            If (Test-Path "%s")
+            If (Test-Path '%s')
             {
                 $res = 0;
             }
@@ -163,7 +163,7 @@ class ShellModule(ShellBase):
             {
                 $res = 1;
             }
-            Write-Output "$res";
+            Write-Output '$res';
             Exit $res;
          ''' % path
         return self._encode_script(script)
@@ -171,14 +171,14 @@ class ShellModule(ShellBase):
     def checksum(self, path, *args, **kwargs):
         path = self._escape(self._unquote(path))
         script = '''
-            If (Test-Path -PathType Leaf "%(path)s")
+            If (Test-Path -PathType Leaf '%(path)s')
             {
                 $sp = new-object -TypeName System.Security.Cryptography.SHA1CryptoServiceProvider;
-                $fp = [System.IO.File]::Open("%(path)s", [System.IO.Filemode]::Open, [System.IO.FileAccess]::Read);
+                $fp = [System.IO.File]::Open('%(path)s', [System.IO.Filemode]::Open, [System.IO.FileAccess]::Read);
                 [System.BitConverter]::ToString($sp.ComputeHash($fp)).Replace("-", "").ToLower();
                 $fp.Dispose();
             }
-            ElseIf (Test-Path -PathType Container "%(path)s")
+            ElseIf (Test-Path -PathType Container '%(path)s')
             {
                 Write-Output "3";
             }
@@ -264,22 +264,11 @@ class ShellModule(ShellBase):
             return m.group(1)
         return value
 
-    def _escape(self, value, include_vars=False):
-        '''Return value escaped for use in PowerShell command.'''
-        # http://www.techotopia.com/index.php/Windows_PowerShell_1.0_String_Quoting_and_Escape_Sequences
-        # http://stackoverflow.com/questions/764360/a-list-of-string-replacements-in-python
-        subs = [('\n', '`n'), ('\r', '`r'), ('\t', '`t'), ('\a', '`a'),
-                ('\b', '`b'), ('\f', '`f'), ('\v', '`v'), ('"', '`"'),
-                ('\'', '`\''), ('`', '``'), ('\x00', '`0')]
-        if include_vars:
-            subs.append(('$', '`$'))
-        pattern = '|'.join('(%s)' % re.escape(p) for p, s in subs)
-        substs = [s for p, s in subs]
-
-        def replace(m):
-            return substs[m.lastindex - 1]
-
-        return re.sub(pattern, replace, value)
+    def _escape(self, value):
+        '''Return value escaped for use in PowerShell single quotes.'''
+        # There are 5 chars that need to be escaped in a single quote.
+        # https://github.com/PowerShell/PowerShell/blob/b7cb335f03fe2992d0cbd61699de9d9aafa1d7c1/src/System.Management.Automation/engine/parser/CharTraits.cs#L265-L272
+        return re.compile(u"(['\u2018\u2019\u201a\u201b])").sub(u'\\1\\1', value)
 
     def _encode_script(self, script, as_list=False, strict_mode=True, preserve_rc=True):
         '''Convert a PowerShell script to a single base64-encoded command.'''
diff --git a/test/integration/targets/win_fetch/meta/main.yml b/test/integration/targets/win_fetch/meta/main.yml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..9f37e96cd90
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/integration/targets/win_fetch/meta/main.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+dependencies:
+- setup_remote_tmp_dir
diff --git a/test/integration/targets/win_fetch/tasks/main.yml b/test/integration/targets/win_fetch/tasks/main.yml
index 1c4ff0b142c..78b6fa02c9b 100644
--- a/test/integration/targets/win_fetch/tasks/main.yml
+++ b/test/integration/targets/win_fetch/tasks/main.yml
@@ -187,3 +187,26 @@
       # Doesn't fail anymore, only returns a message.
       - "fetch_dir is not changed"
       - "fetch_dir.msg"
+
+- name: create file with special characters
+  raw: Set-Content -LiteralPath '{{ remote_tmp_dir }}\abc$not var''quote‘‘' -Value 'abc'
+
+- name: fetch file with special characters
+  fetch:
+    src: '{{ remote_tmp_dir }}\abc$not var''quote‘'
+    dest: '{{ host_output_dir }}/'
+    flat: yes
+  register: fetch_special_file
+
+- name: get content of fetched file
+  command: cat {{ (host_output_dir ~ "/abc$not var'quote‘") | quote }}
+  register: fetch_special_file_actual
+  delegate_to: localhost
+
+- name: assert fetch file with special characters
+  assert:
+    that:
+    - fetch_special_file is changed
+    - fetch_special_file.checksum == '34d4150adc3347f1dd8ce19fdf65b74d971ab602'
+    - fetch_special_file.dest == host_output_dir + "/abc$not var'quote‘"
+    - fetch_special_file_actual.stdout == 'abc'
diff --git a/test/sanity/ignore.txt b/test/sanity/ignore.txt
index e2533075783..7ee930142b8 100644
--- a/test/sanity/ignore.txt
+++ b/test/sanity/ignore.txt
@@ -220,6 +220,7 @@ test/integration/targets/template/templates/encoding_1252.j2 no-smart-quotes
 test/integration/targets/unicode/unicode.yml no-smart-quotes
 test/integration/targets/win_exec_wrapper/library/test_fail.ps1 pslint:PSCustomUseLiteralPath
 test/integration/targets/win_exec_wrapper/tasks/main.yml no-smart-quotes  # We are explicitly testing smart quote support for env vars
+test/integration/targets/win_fetch/tasks/main.yml no-smart-quotes  # We are explictly testing smart quotes in the file name to fetch
 test/integration/targets/win_module_utils/library/legacy_only_new_way_win_line_ending.ps1 line-endings  # Explicitly tests that we still work with Windows line endings
 test/integration/targets/win_module_utils/library/legacy_only_old_way_win_line_ending.ps1 line-endings  # Explicitly tests that we still work with Windows line endings
 test/integration/targets/win_script/files/test_script.ps1 pslint:PSAvoidUsingWriteHost # Keep