Why doesn’t my PowerShell shortcut open the Windows Terminal profile I selected?

Make sure you distinguish the Terminal profile from the PowerShell profile script. `$PROFILE` points to a PowerShell script that runs when a session starts; it controls things like functions, aliases, and startup commands. Terminal’s JSON settings control the profile’s font, colors, starting directory, elevation behavior, and other window settings. If you want PowerShell startup customizations to apply across different hosts, check `$PROFILE.CurrentUserAllHosts` and place the shared commands there.

You can launch a particular profile from a shortcut or command by passing its name to Windows Terminal. For example, `wt.exe -p "PowerShell-Admin"` opens the profile named `PowerShell-Admin`. You can also configure that profile to run as administrator automatically, or launch it elevated with the appropriate Windows shortcut settings. If you only need elevation occasionally, Ctrl+Shift-clicking a profile in the Terminal menu will usually open it as administrator.

The profile you configured belongs to Windows Terminal, not PowerShell itself. PowerShell is the shell running inside the terminal, while Windows Terminal handles the window, tabs, colors, and profile selection. Your shortcut is probably launching PowerShell directly, so Terminal starts it using the default behavior instead of the profile you intended. Replace the shortcut with a Windows Terminal shortcut, or edit it to launch `wt.exe` without arguments so Terminal uses its configured default profile. If you want a specific profile every time, the shortcut can launch `wt.exe` with that profile name explicitly.