How to set the default output format in AWS CLI

Setting a default output format in AWS CLI keeps repeated commands consistent without adding --output to every invocation. That matters when one profile is mainly used for automation that expects stable machine-readable output, while another profile is used interactively and is easier to read as yaml or table.

The AWS CLI stores the profile-level output setting in the shared config file, normally ~/.aws/config. Running aws configure set output VALUE writes that preference locally without making an AWS API call, and current AWS documentation lists json, text, table, yaml, yaml-stream, and off as supported output values.

The saved value is only the profile default. AWS_DEFAULT_OUTPUT in the current environment overrides the config file, and an explicit --output flag overrides both, so unexpected formatting usually comes from a higher-precedence override rather than a failed write. The output key belongs in the shared config file instead of the shared credentials file.

Steps to set the default output format in AWS CLI:

Choose the output format that matches the normal job for the target profile.

Format	Typical use
json	Structured output for automation and downstream parsers
yaml	Readable structured output for interactive review
yaml-stream	Incremental YAML documents for larger responses
text	Flat tab-delimited output after the command already returns the exact fields needed
table	Human-readable terminal output for quick inspection
off	No stdout output when only the exit status matters

Prefer json or yaml while building --query expressions, and switch to text only after the command already returns the exact scalar or flat list needed.

Save the preferred format for the default profile.
```
$ aws configure set output yaml
```
This writes
```
output = yaml
```
under the
```
[default]
```
section in the shared config file. Replace yaml with the value chosen in the previous step when another format fits better.
Save a different format for a named profile when that profile serves a separate workflow.
```
$ aws configure set output table --profile work
```
The --profile flag writes the setting under
```
[profile work]
```
instead of changing
```
[default]
```
.
Related: How to configure multiple AWS CLI profiles
Read the saved value back from each profile that was changed.
```
$ aws configure get output
yaml
$ aws configure get output --profile work
table
```
An empty result means that profile does not have an explicit output value saved yet, so the effective format will come from a higher-precedence override or the CLI default.
Inspect the shared config file when the wrong profile appears to have been updated or an older value needs to be removed manually.
```
$ sed -n '1,40p' ~/.aws/config
[default]
output = yaml

[profile work]
output = table
```
The output format belongs in the config file, not in ~/.aws/credentials. On Windows, inspect
```
%UserProfile%\.aws\config
```
instead.
Related: How to find the AWS CLI config file

Run a local skeleton command without --output to confirm that the saved profile default is shaping command output.

$ aws s3api list-buckets --generate-cli-skeleton output
Buckets:
- BucketArn: BucketArn
  BucketRegion: BucketRegion
  CreationDate: 1970-01-01 00:00:00
  Name: Name
ContinuationToken: ContinuationToken
Owner:
  DisplayName: DisplayName
  ID: ID
Prefix: Prefix

$ aws s3api list-buckets --generate-cli-skeleton output --profile work
----------------------------------------------------------------
|                          ListBuckets                         |
+-----------------------------------------+--------------------+
|            ContinuationToken            |      Prefix        |
+-----------------------------------------+--------------------+
|  ContinuationToken                      |  Prefix            |
+-----------------------------------------+--------------------+
##### snipped #####

--generate-cli-skeleton output renders locally, so it is useful for confirming the selected format even before live credentials are configured or a service call is made.