Powershell: Profile

Posted 2021-01-18 · Updated 2025-10-19

A Powershell profile is a script file that is run each time a new Powershell is opened.

You can define session-specific items in it (variables, aliases, functions, etc.) or call other scripts and commands at the start of a new Powershell session.

Contents

General Notes

Variables defined in a profile file become automatically and always global variables ($global:...) in the Powershell session that begins.
My attempts to limit the scope and lifetime of such internal variables (with $local:..., $script:... or $private:..) weren’t successful 😞
For reference: A backup of my own profile is saved here.

Names & Locations

Profile files are expected to be found under specific paths, with specific filenames (see below).

On this page, only the Microsoft Windows paths are listed; paths for Linux or MacOS can be found in the official Powershell profile documentation.
(Note: I have omitted variables and paths specific to the PowerShell ISE: I’ve never used it much myself and it’s also no longer under active development).

The order in which the profile scripts are executed can also be important:
A profile that is applied at a later stage (e.g. 4) overrides a value that was set at an earlier stage (e.g. 1).

Windows Powershell (≤ Version 5.1)

“Windows Powershell” is the name for the variant of Powershell that is only available for Microsoft Windows.

Order	Profile Type	Predefined variable	Location and filename
1	All Users & All Hosts	$PROFILE.AllUsersAllHosts	$PSHome\profile.ps1
2	All Users & Current Host	$PROFILE.AllUsersCurrentHost	$PSHome\Microsoft.PowerShell_profile.ps1
3	Current User & All Hosts	$PROFILE.CurrentUserAllHosts	$Home\Documents\WindowsPowerShell\profile.ps1
4	Current User & Current Host	$PROFILE.CurrentUserCurrentHost (= $PROFILE)	$Home\Documents\WindowsPowerShell\Microsoft.PowerShell_profile.ps1

Powershell (≥ Version 6)

With version 6, PS became cross-plattform and open-source; it was renamed to “Powershell Core” for version 6.x and then to simply “Powershell” since version 7.x

Order	Profile Type	Predefined variable	Location and filename
1	All Users & All Hosts	$PROFILE.AllUsersAllHosts	$PSHome\profile.ps1
2	All Users & Current Host	$PROFILE.AllUsersCurrentHost	$PSHome\Microsoft.PowerShell_profile.ps1
3	Current User & All Hosts	$PROFILE.CurrentUserAllHosts	$Home\Documents\PowerShell\profile.ps1
4	Current User & Current Host	$PROFILE.CurrentUserCurrentHost (= $PROFILE)	$Home\Documents\PowerShell\Microsoft.PowerShell_profile.ps1

Starting a Powershell without a profile

Sometimes you need to start a fresh and clean Powershell, without any setup; for that, call the Powershell executable with the -NoProfile parameter:

powershell -NoProfile # "Windows Powershell" (up to v5.1)
pwsh -NoProfile       # "Powershell" (since v6)

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