PowerShell Profiles

A profile is a script that runs automatically every time you start a new PowerShell session. Use it to set up aliases, load modules, customize the prompt, and define helper functions.

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Profile Files

PowerShell checks several profile files, from most specific to most general:

Profile Variable	Path	Scope
$PROFILE.CurrentUserCurrentHost	~\Documents\PowerShell\Microsoft.PowerShell_profile.ps1	You, in this host only
$PROFILE.CurrentUserAllHosts	~\Documents\PowerShell\profile.ps1	You, in all hosts
$PROFILE.AllUsersCurrentHost	$PSHOME\Microsoft.PowerShell_profile.ps1	All users, this host
$PROFILE.AllUsersAllHosts	$PSHOME\profile.ps1	All users, all hosts

$PROFILE (without a dot property) points to CurrentUserCurrentHost.

Note

$PSHOME is PowerShell's install directory. On Windows it's typically C:\Program Files\PowerShell\7.

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Creating Your Profile

# Check if the profile file exists
Test-Path $PROFILE

# Create it if it doesn't exist
if (-not (Test-Path $PROFILE)) {
    New-Item -Path $PROFILE -ItemType File -Force
}

# Open in your default editor
notepad $PROFILE

# Or open in VS Code
code $PROFILE

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What to Put in Your Profile

Aliases

Set-Alias grep Select-String
Set-Alias which Get-Command
Set-Alias touch New-Item

Useful functions

function which ($name) { Get-Command $name | Select-Object -ExpandProperty Source }

function uptime {
    $os = Get-CimInstance Win32_OperatingSystem
    $uptime = (Get-Date) - $os.LastBootUpTime
    "Up {0} days, {1} hours, {2} minutes" -f $uptime.Days, $uptime.Hours, $uptime.Minutes
}

function Reload-Profile {
    . $PROFILE
    Write-Host "Profile reloaded."
}

Environment variables

$env:EDITOR = "code"
$env:PAGER  = "less"

Default parameters

$PSDefaultParameterValues = @{
    'Format-Table:AutoSize'     = $true
    'Export-Csv:NoTypeInformation' = $true
    'Get-Help:ShowWindow'        = $true
}

Auto-load modules

Import-Module PSReadLine
Import-Module Terminal-Icons
Import-Module posh-git

PSReadLine configuration

# Predictive IntelliSense from history
Set-PSReadLineOption -PredictionSource History
Set-PSReadLineOption -PredictionViewStyle ListView

# Emacs/Bash-style key bindings
Set-PSReadLineOption -EditMode Emacs

# History search with arrow keys
Set-PSReadLineKeyHandler -Key UpArrow   -Function HistorySearchBackward
Set-PSReadLineKeyHandler -Key DownArrow -Function HistorySearchForward

Custom prompt

function prompt {
    $path = $PWD.Path -replace [regex]::Escape($HOME), '~'
    $branch = if (git rev-parse --is-inside-work-tree 2>$null) {
        " (" + (git branch --show-current) + ")"
    }
    Write-Host "PS " -NoNewline -ForegroundColor DarkGray
    Write-Host $path -NoNewline -ForegroundColor Cyan
    Write-Host $branch -NoNewline -ForegroundColor Yellow
    " > "
}

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Example Profile

~\Documents\PowerShell\Microsoft.PowerShell_profile.ps1

# ── Modules ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Import-Module PSReadLine -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
Import-Module Terminal-Icons -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue

# ── PSReadLine ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Set-PSReadLineOption -PredictionSource History
Set-PSReadLineOption -PredictionViewStyle ListView
Set-PSReadLineKeyHandler -Key UpArrow -Function HistorySearchBackward
Set-PSReadLineKeyHandler -Key DownArrow -Function HistorySearchForward

# ── Aliases ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Set-Alias grep Select-String
Set-Alias vi  notepad

# ── Default parameter values ─────────────────────────────────────────────
$PSDefaultParameterValues = @{
    'Format-Table:AutoSize'          = $true
    'Export-Csv:NoTypeInformation'   = $true
    'Out-Default:OutVariable'        = '__'   # last output available as $__
}

# ── Helper functions ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────
function which ($name) {
    (Get-Command $name -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue)?.Source
}

function uptime {
    $boot   = (Get-CimInstance Win32_OperatingSystem).LastBootUpTime
    $uptime = (Get-Date) - $boot
    "Up {0}d {1}h {2}m" -f $uptime.Days, $uptime.Hours, $uptime.Minutes
}

# ── Greeting ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Write-Host "PowerShell $($PSVersionTable.PSVersion)" -ForegroundColor Cyan

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Reloading the Profile

. $PROFILE          # dot-source to reload

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Conditional Loading

Guard against slow imports or modules that may not be installed:

if (Get-Module -ListAvailable -Name posh-git) {
    Import-Module posh-git
}