Configure commands to run when opening PowerShell instances

Learn the best way to run commands when launching new PowerShell instances.

John Savill

March 11, 2016

1 Min Read
Configure commands to run when opening PowerShell instances

Q. How can I configure commands to run when opening a PowerShell instance?

A. There are a number of ways to run commands when launching a PowerShell instance such as changing the command shortcut however the better option is to utilize a PowerShell profile that contains commands that will be executed when a new PowerShell instance is launched. There are actually 6 different PowerShell profiles available however typically you will use only one. The six profiles are listed below in addition to when they are used.

 

Profile

Path

Current user and host

$HOMEDocumentsWindowsPowerShellMicrosoft.PowerShell_profile.ps1

Current user, all hosts

$HOMEDocumentsWindowsPowerShellprofile.ps1

All users, current host

$PSHOMEMicrosoft.PowerShell_profile.ps1

All users, all hosts

$PSHOMEprofile.ps1

Current user and host in ISE

$HOMEDocumentsWindowsPowerShellMicrosoft.PowerShellISE_profile.ps1

All users, current host ISE

$PSHOMEMicrosoft.PowerShellISE_profile.ps1

 

Typically you will use the profile for the current user and host which is stored in file $HOMEDocumentsWindowsPowerShellMicrosoft.PowerShell_profile.ps1 that is referenced through $profile. An easy way to create this profile is:

#Check if existsTest-Path $profile#Create if does not existNew-Item -Path $profile -ItemType file -Force #Then edit in notepadNotepad $profile

 

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