Get-History
Gets a list of the commands entered during the current session.
Syntax
Get-History
[[-Id] <Int64[]>]
[[-Count] <Int32>]
[<CommonParameters>]
Description
The Get-History
cmdlet gets the session history, that is, the list of commands entered during the
current session.
PowerShell automatically maintains a history of each session. The number of entries in the session
history is determined by the value of the $MaximumHistoryCount
preference variable. Beginning in
Windows PowerShell 3.0, the default value is 4096
. By default, history files are saved in the home
directory, but you can save the file in any location. For more information about the history
features in PowerShell, see about_History.
The session history is managed separately from the history maintained by the PSReadLine module. Both histories are available in sessions where PSReadLine is loaded. This cmdlet only works with the session history. For more information see, about_PSReadLine.
Examples
Example 1: Get the session history
This example gets the entries in the session history. The default display shows each command and its ID, which indicates the order in which they ran.
Get-History
Example 2: Get entries that include a string
This example gets entries in the command history that include the string service. The first command
gets all entries in the session history. The pipeline operator (|
) passes the results to the
Where-Object
cmdlet, which selects only the commands that include service.
Get-History | Where-Object {$_.CommandLine -like "*Service*"}
Example 3: Export history entries up to a specific ID
This example gets the five most recent history entries ending with entry 7. The pipeline operator
passes the result to the Export-Csv
cmdlet, which formats the history as comma-separated text and
saves it in the History.csv file. The file includes the data that is displayed when you format the
history as a list. This includes the status and start and end times of the command.
Get-History -ID 7 -Count 5 | Export-Csv -Path History.csv
Example 4: Display the most recent command
This example gets the last command in the command history. The last command is the most recently
entered command. This command uses the Count parameter to display just one command. By default,
Get-History
gets the most recent commands. This command can be abbreviated to "h -c 1" and is
equivalent to pressing the up-arrow key.
Get-History -Count 1
Example 5: Display all the properties of the entries in the history
This example displays all of the properties of entries in the session history. The pipeline operator
passes the results of a Get-History
command to the Format-List
cmdlet, which displays all of the
properties of each history entry. This includes the ID, status, and start and end times of the
command.
Get-History | Format-List -Property *
Parameters
-Count
Specifies the number of the most recent history entries that this cmdlet gets. By, default,
Get-History
gets all entries in the session history. If you use both the Count and Id
parameters in a command, the display ends with the command that is specified by the Id
parameter.
In Windows PowerShell 2.0, by default, Get-History
gets the 32 most recent entries.
Type: | Int32 |
Position: | 1 |
Default value: | None |
Required: | False |
Accept pipeline input: | False |
Accept wildcard characters: | False |
-Id
Specifies an array of the IDs of entries in the session history. Get-History
gets only specified
entries. If you use both the Id and Count parameters in a command, Get-History
gets the
most recent entries ending with the entry specified by the Id parameter.
Type: | Int64[] |
Position: | 0 |
Default value: | None |
Required: | False |
Accept pipeline input: | True |
Accept wildcard characters: | False |
Inputs
You can pipe a history ID to this cmdlet.
Outputs
This cmdlet returns a history object for each history item that it gets.
Notes
Windows PowerShell includes the following aliases for Get-History
:
h
history
ghy
The session history is a list of the commands entered during the session. The session history represents the run order, the status, and the start and end times of the command. As you enter each command, PowerShell adds it to the history so that you can reuse it. For more information about the command history, see about_History.
Starting in Windows PowerShell 3.0, the default value of the $MaximumHistoryCount
preference
variable is 4096
. In Windows PowerShell 2.0, the default value is 64
. For more information about
the $MaximumHistoryCount
variable, see about_Preference_Variables.
Related Links
PowerShell