profile

⬅ profile

A PowerShell profile is a script that runs when PowerShell starts. You can use the profile as a logon script to customize the environment. You can add commands, aliases, functions, variables, snap-ins, modules, and PowerShell drives. You can also add other session-specific elements to your profile so they are available in every session without having to import or re-create them.

You can create a PowerShell profile to customize your environment and to add session-specific elements to every PowerShell session that you start.

The Profile Files

PowerShell supports several profile files. Also, PowerShell host programs can support their own host-specific profiles.

For example, the PowerShell console supports the following basic profile files. The profiles are listed in precedence order. The first profile has the highest precedence.

Description	Path
All Users, All Hosts	$PSHOME\Profile.ps1
All Users, Current Host	$PSHOME\Microsoft.PowerShell_profile.ps1
Current User, All Hosts	$Home\[My ]Documents\PowerShell\Profile.ps1
Current user, Current Host	$Home\[My ]Documents\PowerShell\ Microsoft.PowerShell_profile.ps1

The profile paths include the following variables:

The $PSHOME variable, which stores the installation directory for PowerShell
The $Home variable, which stores the current user's home directory

In addition, other programs that host PowerShell can support their own profiles. For example, Visual Studio Code supports the following host-specific profiles.

Description	Path
All users, Current Host	$PSHOME\Microsoft.VSCode_profile.ps1
Current user, Current Host	$Home\[My ]Documents\PowerShell\ Microsoft.VSCode_profile.ps1

The $PROFILE variable

The $PROFILE automatic variable stores the paths to the PowerShell profiles that are available in the current session.

To view a profile path, display the value of the $PROFILE variable. You can also use the $PROFILE variable in a command to represent a path.

The $PROFILE variable stores the path to the "Current User, Current Host" profile. The other profiles are saved in note properties of the $PROFILE variable.

For example, the $PROFILE variable has the following values in the Windows PowerShell console.

Description	Name
Current User, Current Host	`$PROFILE`
Current User, Current Host	`$PROFILE.CurrentUserCurrentHost`
Current User, All Hosts	`$PROFILE.CurrentUserAllHosts`
All Users, Current Host	`$PROFILE.AllUsersCurrentHost`
All Users, All Hosts	`$PROFILE.AllUsersAllHosts`

Because the values of the $PROFILE variable change for each user and in each host application, ensure that you display the values of the profile variables in each PowerShell host application that you use.

To see the current values of the $PROFILE variable, type:



$PROFILE | Get-Member -Type NoteProperty

How to create a profile

To create a PowerShell profile, use the following command format:



if (!(Test-Path -Path <profile-name>)) {
  New-Item -ItemType File -Path <profile-name> -Force
}

For example, to create a profile for the current user in the current PowerShell host application, use the following command:



if (!(Test-Path -Path $PROFILE)) {
  New-Item -ItemType File -Path $PROFILE -Force
}

In this command, the If statement prevents you from overwriting an existing profile. Replace the value of the <profile-path> placeholder with the path to the profile file that you want to create.

Note

To create "All Users" profiles in Windows Vista and later versions of Windows, start PowerShell with the Run as administrator option.

How to edit a profile

You can open any PowerShell profile in a text editor, such as Notepad.

To open the profile of the current user in the current PowerShell host application in Notepad, type:


notepad $PROFILE

To open other profiles, specify the profile name. For example, to open the profile for all the users of all the host applications, type:


notepad $PROFILE.AllUsersAllHosts

To apply the changes, save the profile file, and then restart PowerShell.

How to choose a profile

If you use multiple host applications, put the items that you use in all the host applications into your $PROFILE.CurrentUserAllHosts profile. Put items that are specific to a host application, such as a command that sets the background color for a host application, in a profile that is specific to that host application.

If you are an administrator who is customizing PowerShell for many users, follow these guidelines:

Store the common items in the $PROFILE.AllUsersAllHosts profile
Store items that are specific to a host application in $PROFILE.AllUsersCurrentHost profiles that are specific to the host application
Store items for particular users in the user-specific profiles

Be sure to check the host application documentation for any special implementation of PowerShell profiles.

How to use a profile

Many of the items that you create in PowerShell and most commands that you run affect only the current session. When you end the session, the items are deleted.

The session-specific commands and items include variables, preference variables, aliases, functions, commands (except for Set-ExecutionPolicy), and PowerShell modules that you add to the session.

To save these items and make them available in all future sessions, add them to a PowerShell profile.

Another common use for profiles is to save frequently-used functions, aliases, and variables. When you save the items in a profile, you can use them in any applicable session without recreating them.

How to start a profile

When you open the profile file, it is blank. However, you can fill it with the variables, aliases, and commands that you use frequently.