PowerShell Commands

Get-History

Get-History [[-Id] <Int64[]>] [[-Count] <Int32>] [<CommonParameters>]

The Get-History cmdlet gets the session history, that is, the list of commands entered during the current session.

Windows 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.

You can save the session history in XML or CSV format. 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 Windows PowerShell, see about_History (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=113233) in the Microsoft TechNet library.

Parameters

-Count <Int32>

  • Default value is None
  • Accepts pipeline input False

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.

-Id <Int64[]>

  • Default value is None
  • Accepts pipeline input ByValue

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.

<CommonParameters>

This cmdlet supports the common parameters: Verbose, Debug,ErrorAction, ErrorVariable, WarningAction, WarningVariable,OutBuffer, PipelineVariable, and OutVariable.

Inputs
Int64
You can pipe a history ID to this cmdlet.
Outputs
Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.HistoryInfo
This cmdlet returns a history object for each history item that it gets.
Examples
  1. Get the session history:
    PS C:\> Get-History
    

    This command gets the entries in the session history. The default display shows each command and its ID, which indicates the order in which they ran.

  2. Get entries that include a string:
    PS C:\> Get-History | Where-Object {$_.CommandLine -like "*Service*"}
    

    This command 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.

  3. Export at most seven entries:
    PS C:\> Get-History -ID 7 -Count 5 | Export-Csv History.csv
    

    This command 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.

  4. Display the most recent command:
    PS C:\> Get-History -Count 1
    

    This command 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.

  5. Display all the properties of the entries in the history:
    PS C:\> Get-History | Format-List -Property *
    

    This command 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.

Additional Notes
 * 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, Windows 
 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 (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=113248) in the TechNet 
 library.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International. It is attributed to Microsoft Corporation and can be found here.

PowerShell Commands