Using the Get-History Cmdlet

Listing the Current Windows PowerShell History

During each session Windows PowerShell keeps track of all the commands you type in the console window. Retrieving a list of those commands is as easy as calling the Get-History cmdlet:

Get-History

By default Windows PowerShell keeps track of the most recent 64 commands typed in the console window; when you invoke the Get-History cmdlet only the 32 most recent of those commands are displayed (e.g., commands 33 through 64). So how do you view commands 1 through 32? In that case you tell Get-History to start with command 32 and count backwards (using the -count parameter) 32 times. Don’t worry; that sounds more complicated than it really is:

Get-History 32 -count 32

Incidentally, for any given Windows PowerShell session you can change the number of commands that Windows PowerShell keeps track of; that can be done by modifying the $MaximumHistoryCount variable. For example, would you prefer that Windows PowerShell keep track of your last 150 commands? Okey-doke:

$MaximumHistoryCount = 150
Get-History Aliases
  • ghy

  • h

  • history