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Get-Alias

  • Reference
Module:
Microsoft.PowerShell.Utility

Gets the aliases for the current session.

Syntax

Get-Alias
   [[-Name] <String[]>]
   [-Exclude <String[]>]
   [-Scope <String>]
   [<CommonParameters>]
Get-Alias
   [-Exclude <String[]>]
   [-Scope <String>]
   [-Definition <String[]>]
   [<CommonParameters>]

Description

The Get-Alias cmdlet gets the aliases in the current session. This includes built-in aliases, aliases that you have set or imported, and aliases that you have added to your PowerShell profile.

By default, Get-Alias takes an alias and returns the command name. When you use the Definition parameter, Get-Alias takes a command name and returns its aliases.

Beginning in Windows PowerShell 3.0, Get-Alias displays non-hyphenated alias names in an <alias> -> <definition> format to make it even easier to find the information that you need.

Examples

Example 1: Get all aliases in the current session

Get-Alias

CommandType     Name
-----------     ----
Alias           % -> ForEach-Object
Alias           ? -> Where-Object
Alias           ac -> Add-Content
Alias           asnp -> Add-PSSnapin
Alias           cat -> Get-Content
Alias           cd -> Set-Location
Alias           chdir -> Set-Location
Alias           clc -> Clear-Content
Alias           clear -> Clear-Host
Alias           clhy -> Clear-History
...

This command gets all aliases in the current session.

The output shows the <alias> -> <definition> format that was introduced in Windows PowerShell 3.0. This format is used only for aliases that do not include hyphens, because aliases with hyphens are typically preferred names for cmdlets and functions, rather than nicknames.

Example 2: Get aliases by name

Get-Alias -Name gp*, sp* -Exclude *ps

This command gets all aliases that begin with gp or sp, except for aliases that end with ps.

Example 3: Get aliases for a cmdlet

Get-Alias -Definition Get-ChildItem

This command gets the aliases for the Get-ChildItem cmdlet.

By default, the Get-Alias cmdlet gets the item name when you know the alias. The Definition parameter gets the alias when you know the item name.

Example 4: Get aliases by property

Get-Alias | Where-Object {$_.Options -Match "ReadOnly"}

This command gets all aliases in which the value of the Options property is ReadOnly. This command provides a quick way to find the aliases that are built into PowerShell, because they have the ReadOnly option.

Options is just one property of the AliasInfo objects that Get-Alias gets. To find all properties and methods of AliasInfo objects, type Get-Alias | get-member.

Example 5: Get aliases by name and filter by beginning letter

Get-Alias -Definition "*-PSSession" -Exclude e* -Scope Global

This example gets aliases for commands that have names that end in "-PSSession", except for those that begin with "e".

The command uses the Scope parameter to apply the command in the global scope. This is useful in scripts when you want to get the aliases in the session.

Parameters

-Definition

Gets the aliases for the specified item. Enter the name of a cmdlet, function, script, file, or executable file.

This parameter is called Definition, because it searches for the item name in the Definition property of the alias object.

Type:String[]
Position:Named
Default value:None
Required:False
Accept pipeline input:False
Accept wildcard characters:True

-Exclude

Omits the specified items. The value of this parameter qualifies the Name and Definition parameters. Enter a name, a definition, or a pattern, such as "s*". Wildcards are permitted.

Type:String[]
Position:Named
Default value:None
Required:False
Accept pipeline input:False
Accept wildcard characters:True

-Name

Specifies the aliases that this cmdlet gets. Wildcards are permitted. By default, Get-Alias retrieves all aliases defined for the current session. The parameter name Name is optional. You can also pipe alias names to Get-Alias.

Type:String[]
Position:0
Default value:All aliases
Required:False
Accept pipeline input:True
Accept wildcard characters:True

-Scope

Specifies the scope for which this cmdlet gets aliases. The acceptable values for this parameter are:

  • Global
  • Local
  • Script
  • A number relative to the current scope (0 through the number of scopes, where 0 is the current scope and 1 is its parent)

Local is the default. For more information, see about_Scopes.

Type:String
Position:Named
Default value:Local
Required:False
Accept pipeline input:False
Accept wildcard characters:False

Inputs

String

You can pipe a string containing an alias name to this cmdlet.

Outputs

AliasInfo

This cmdlet returns an object that represents each alias. It returns the same type of object for every alias, but PowerShell uses an arrow-based format to display the names of non-hyphenated aliases.

Notes

PowerShell includes the following aliases for Get-Alias:

  • All platforms:

    • gal

  • To create a new alias, use Set-Alias or New-Alias. To delete an alias, use Remove-Item.

  • The arrow-based alias name format is not used for aliases that include a hyphen. These are likely to be preferred substitute names for cmdlets and functions, instead of typical abbreviations or nicknames.