Many PowerShell users encounter an unexpected situation where their $PROFILE path incorrectly points to a network share location (e.g., H:\WindowsPowerShell\) despite having a local %USERPROFILE% (e.g., C:\Users\username). This creates security warnings and performance issues when loading the profile script.

# Current problematic output:
PS> $PROFILE
H:\WindowsPowerShell\Microsoft.PowerShell_profile.ps1

PS> $env:USERPROFILE
C:\Users\username

PowerShell determines the $PROFILE path using the following precedence:

1. %HOMEDRIVE%%HOMEPATH% (network share in your case)
2. %USERPROFILE% (local profile)
3. Default documents location

Here are three methods to change the profile location:

Method 1: Registry Modification (Permanent Solution)

Change the system's home directory pointers in the registry:

# Run in elevated PowerShell:
Set-ItemProperty -Path "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\ProfileList\$(New-Object System.Security.Principal.SecurityIdentifier (Get-ItemProperty 'HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\ProfileList\*' | Where-Object { $_.ProfileImagePath -like "*$env:USERNAME*" } | Select-Object -First 1).PSChildName)" -Name "ProfileImagePath" -Value $env:USERPROFILE

# Then modify user environment variables:
[Environment]::SetEnvironmentVariable("HOMEDRIVE", "C:", "User")
[Environment]::SetEnvironmentVariable("HOMEPATH", "\Users\$env:USERNAME", "User")

Method 2: Profile Redirection (Immediate Workaround)

Create a custom profile loader in the default location that points to your preferred location:

# Content of Microsoft.PowerShell_profile.ps1 in default location:
$CustomProfilePath = "C:\Users\$env:USERNAME\Documents\PowerShell\CustomProfile.ps1"
if (Test-Path $CustomProfilePath) {
    . $CustomProfilePath
}

Method 3: PowerShell Configuration File

Edit PowerShell's configuration file to override profile paths:

# Create or modify $PSHOME\powershell.config.json
@"
{
    "Microsoft.PowerShell:ExecutionPolicy": "RemoteSigned",
    "PowerShellPolicies": {
        "ScriptExecution": {
            "ExecutionPolicy": "RemoteSigned",
            "ScriptsToProcess": [
                "C:/Users/$env:USERNAME/Documents/PowerShell/Profile.ps1"
            ]
        }
    }
}
"@ | Set-Content "$PSHOME\powershell.config.json"

After implementing any solution, verify with:

# Check new profile path
$PROFILE

# Test profile loading
. $PROFILE

• Network latency when loading from H: drive
• Group Policy restrictions on script execution
• Multiple PowerShell hosts (ISE, VS Code) may have different profile paths

---

Many PowerShell users encounter a situation where their $profile variable unexpectedly points to a network share location (like H:\) instead of the local user profile directory. This happens despite Microsoft's documentation suggesting the path should follow %USERPROFILE%.

In reality, PowerShell determines the $profile location using this priority:

1. The HOME environment variable (if set)
2. The combination of HOMEDRIVE and HOMEPATH
3. Finally falling back to USERPROFILE

To permanently change where PowerShell looks for your profile:

# Set the HOME variable to your preferred location
[Environment]::SetEnvironmentVariable("HOME", "$env:USERPROFILE", "User")

# Verify the change
$env:HOME = [Environment]::GetEnvironmentVariable("HOME", "User")
$profile

For a session-specific solution, you can manually set the profile path:

$profile = "$env:USERPROFILE\Documents\WindowsPowerShell\Microsoft.PowerShell_profile.ps1"
. $profile  # Dot-source to load the profile

After changing the path, create your profile:

if (!(Test-Path -Path $profile)) {
    New-Item -ItemType File -Path $profile -Force
    Add-Content -Path $profile -Value "# My PowerShell Profile"
}

PowerShell actually supports multiple profile paths. You can check all possible locations:

$PROFILE | Format-List -Force

# Sample output:
# AllUsersAllHosts       : C:\Windows\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\profile.ps1
# AllUsersCurrentHost    : C:\Windows\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\Microsoft.PowerShell_profile.ps1
# CurrentUserAllHosts    : C:\Users\username\Documents\WindowsPowerShell\profile.ps1
# CurrentUserCurrentHost : C:\Users\username\Documents\WindowsPowerShell\Microsoft.PowerShell_profile.ps1

When storing your profile on network shares:

• Sign your profile script with a code-signing certificate
• Consider setting the execution policy to RemoteSigned
• Add network share paths to PowerShell's trusted locations

Set-ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned -Scope CurrentUser

For maximum flexibility, create a loader profile that sources your actual profile:

# Content of the default profile location
$actualProfilePath = "$env:USERPROFILE\Documents\PowerShell\MyActualProfile.ps1"
if (Test-Path $actualProfilePath) {
    . $actualProfilePath
} else {
    Write-Warning "Profile not found at $actualProfilePath"
}

If issues persist:

• Check all environment variables: dir env: | Where-Object Name -like "*HOME*"
• Verify group policies that might affect profile locations
• Check for profile scripts in all possible locations