How to switch AWS CLI profiles

Switching profiles in AWS CLI keeps each command pointed at the intended AWS account, role, or IAM Identity Center session. That matters when the same workstation or admin shell moves between engineering, production, billing, or audit work.

A named profile is any saved entry under ~/.aws/config and ~/.aws/credentials. Use --profile for a one-command override, or export AWS_PROFILE when several commands in the same shell should use the same saved profile. The same selection flow works for access-key profiles, assumed-role profiles, and IAM Identity Center profiles after they are already configured.

Current AWS documentation puts command-line parameters above environment variables and environment variables above profile files. Raw credential variables such as AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID and AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY still override the credentials behind a named profile, so check the resolved source before commands that can change live resources.

1. List the configured profile names before switching to one of them.

   $ aws configure list-profiles
   default
   engineering
   production

   The target name must already exist in the shared config or credentials files before it can be selected.

2. Inspect the target profile and confirm the Region and credential source the CLI will use.

   $ aws configure list --profile production
   NAME       : VALUE                    : TYPE             : LOCATION
   profile    : production               : manual           : --profile
   access_key : ****************DUCE     : shared-credentials-file :
   secret_key : ****************EKEY     : shared-credentials-file :
   region     : eu-west-1                : config-file      : ~/.aws/config

   The profile row should show manual from --profile, which confirms this command is not falling back to [default] or a shell-level profile export.

3. Add --profile production to the AWS CLI command that should use that account.

   $ aws sts get-caller-identity --profile production --query Account --output text
   210987654321

   --profile affects only that one command, so the next command returns to the current shell default unless you select a profile again.
   Related: How to check the current caller identity in AWS CLI

4. Export AWS_PROFILE=production when several commands in the same shell should stay on the same named profile.

   $ export AWS_PROFILE=production

   Unset AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID, AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY, and AWS_SESSION_TOKEN first if they are already exported in the shell, because those variables override the credentials that the named profile would otherwise supply.

5. Run aws configure list and confirm the shell now resolves the intended profile.

   $ aws configure list
   NAME       : VALUE                    : TYPE             : LOCATION
   profile    : production               : env              : ['AWS_PROFILE', 'AWS_DEFAULT_PROFILE']
   access_key : ****************DUCE     : shared-credentials-file :
   secret_key : ****************EKEY     : shared-credentials-file :
   region     : eu-west-1                : config-file      : ~/.aws/config

   An explicit --profile on a later command still overrides this shell default for that one request.

6. Clear the shell-level profile selection when the session should stop using that named profile.

   $ unset AWS_PROFILE AWS_DEFAULT_PROFILE

   Use AWS_PROFILE as the normal shell selector, and clear AWS_DEFAULT_PROFILE too if your shell or wrapper scripts exported it.

7. Run aws configure list again and confirm the shell has fallen back to the expected default profile or shared-file settings.

   $ aws configure list
   NAME       : VALUE                    : TYPE             : LOCATION
   profile    : <not set>                : None             : None
   access_key : ****************MPLE     : shared-credentials-file :
   secret_key : ****************EKEY     : shared-credentials-file :
   region     : us-east-1                : config-file      : ~/.aws/config

   If the profile row still shows env, another exported variable or shell wrapper is still overriding the session.