diff --git a/src/Microsoft.PowerShell.ConsoleHost/host/msh/StartTranscriptCmdlet.cs b/src/Microsoft.PowerShell.ConsoleHost/host/msh/StartTranscriptCmdlet.cs
index 52ff019906..5c1de82aad 100644
--- a/src/Microsoft.PowerShell.ConsoleHost/host/msh/StartTranscriptCmdlet.cs
+++ b/src/Microsoft.PowerShell.ConsoleHost/host/msh/StartTranscriptCmdlet.cs
@@ -137,6 +137,15 @@ namespace Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands
             get; set;
         }
 
+        /// <summary>
+        /// Gets or sets whether to use minimal transcript header.
+        /// </summary>
+        [Parameter]
+        public SwitchParameter UseMinimalHeader
+        {
+            get; set;
+        }
+
         /// <summary>
         /// Starts the transcription
         /// </summary>
@@ -221,7 +230,7 @@ namespace Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands
 
                 System.Management.Automation.Remoting.PSSenderInfo psSenderInfo =
                     this.SessionState.PSVariable.GetValue("PSSenderInfo") as System.Management.Automation.Remoting.PSSenderInfo;
-                Host.UI.StartTranscribing(effectiveFilePath, psSenderInfo, IncludeInvocationHeader.ToBool());
+                Host.UI.StartTranscribing(effectiveFilePath, psSenderInfo, IncludeInvocationHeader.ToBool(), UseMinimalHeader.IsPresent);
 
                 // ch.StartTranscribing(effectiveFilePath, Append);
 
diff --git a/src/System.Management.Automation/engine/hostifaces/MshHostUserInterface.cs b/src/System.Management.Automation/engine/hostifaces/MshHostUserInterface.cs
index 71a82b3f0a..632952c370 100644
--- a/src/System.Management.Automation/engine/hostifaces/MshHostUserInterface.cs
+++ b/src/System.Management.Automation/engine/hostifaces/MshHostUserInterface.cs
@@ -440,66 +440,79 @@ namespace System.Management.Automation.Host
             }
         }
 
-        internal void StartTranscribing(string path, System.Management.Automation.Remoting.PSSenderInfo senderInfo, bool includeInvocationHeader)
+        internal void StartTranscribing(string path, System.Management.Automation.Remoting.PSSenderInfo senderInfo, bool includeInvocationHeader, bool useMinimalHeader)
         {
             TranscriptionOption transcript = new TranscriptionOption();
             transcript.Path = path;
             transcript.IncludeInvocationHeader = includeInvocationHeader;
             TranscriptionData.Transcripts.Add(transcript);
 
-            LogTranscriptHeader(senderInfo, transcript);
+            LogTranscriptHeader(senderInfo, transcript, useMinimalHeader);
         }
 
-        private void LogTranscriptHeader(System.Management.Automation.Remoting.PSSenderInfo senderInfo, TranscriptionOption transcript)
+        private void LogTranscriptHeader(System.Management.Automation.Remoting.PSSenderInfo senderInfo, TranscriptionOption transcript, bool useMinimalHeader = false)
         {
-            string username = Environment.UserDomainName + "\\" + Environment.UserName;
-            string runAsUser = username;
-
-            if (senderInfo != null)
-            {
-                username = senderInfo.UserInfo.Identity.Name;
-            }
-
-            // Add bits from PSVersionTable
-            StringBuilder psVersionInfo = new StringBuilder();
-            Hashtable versionInfo = PSVersionInfo.GetPSVersionTable();
-            foreach (string versionKey in versionInfo.Keys)
-            {
-                Object value = versionInfo[versionKey];
-
-                if (value != null)
-                {
-                    var arrayValue = value as object[];
-                    string valueString = arrayValue != null ? string.Join(", ", arrayValue) : value.ToString();
-                    psVersionInfo.AppendLine(versionKey + ": " + valueString);
-                }
-            }
-            string psConfigurationName = string.Empty;
-            if (senderInfo != null && !string.IsNullOrEmpty(senderInfo.ConfigurationName))
-            {
-                psConfigurationName = senderInfo.ConfigurationName;
-            }
             // Transcribe the transcript header
-            string format = InternalHostUserInterfaceStrings.TranscriptPrologue;
-            string line =
-                String.Format(
-                    Globalization.CultureInfo.InvariantCulture,
-                    format,
-                    DateTime.Now,
-                    username,
-                    runAsUser,
-                    psConfigurationName,
-                    Environment.MachineName,
-                    Environment.OSVersion.VersionString,
-                    String.Join(" ", Environment.GetCommandLineArgs()),
-                    System.Diagnostics.Process.GetCurrentProcess().Id,
-                    psVersionInfo.ToString().TrimEnd()
-                    );
+            string line;
+            if (useMinimalHeader)
+            {
+                line =
+                    string.Format(
+                        Globalization.CultureInfo.InvariantCulture,
+                        InternalHostUserInterfaceStrings.MinimalTranscriptPrologue,
+                        DateTime.Now);
+            }
+            else
+            {
+                string username = Environment.UserDomainName + "\\" + Environment.UserName;
+                string runAsUser = username;
+
+                if (senderInfo != null)
+                {
+                    username = senderInfo.UserInfo.Identity.Name;
+                }
+
+                // Add bits from PSVersionTable
+                StringBuilder versionInfoFooter = new StringBuilder();
+                Hashtable versionInfo = PSVersionInfo.GetPSVersionTable();
+                foreach (string versionKey in versionInfo.Keys)
+                {
+                    object value = versionInfo[versionKey];
+
+                    if (value != null)
+                    {
+                        var arrayValue = value as object[];
+                        string valueString = arrayValue != null ? string.Join(", ", arrayValue) : value.ToString();
+                        versionInfoFooter.AppendLine(versionKey + ": " + valueString);
+                    }
+                }
+
+                string configurationName = string.Empty;
+                if (senderInfo != null && !string.IsNullOrEmpty(senderInfo.ConfigurationName))
+                {
+                    configurationName = senderInfo.ConfigurationName;
+                }
+
+                line =
+                    string.Format(
+                        Globalization.CultureInfo.InvariantCulture,
+                        InternalHostUserInterfaceStrings.TranscriptPrologue,
+                        DateTime.Now,
+                        username,
+                        runAsUser,
+                        configurationName,
+                        Environment.MachineName,
+                        Environment.OSVersion.VersionString,
+                        string.Join(" ", Environment.GetCommandLineArgs()),
+                        System.Diagnostics.Process.GetCurrentProcess().Id,
+                        versionInfoFooter.ToString().TrimEnd());
+            }
 
             lock (transcript.OutputToLog)
             {
                 transcript.OutputToLog.Add(line);
             }
+
             TranscribeCommandComplete(null);
         }
 
diff --git a/src/System.Management.Automation/resources/InternalHostUserInterfaceStrings.resx b/src/System.Management.Automation/resources/InternalHostUserInterfaceStrings.resx
index a40b58cebc..7a8882643d 100644
--- a/src/System.Management.Automation/resources/InternalHostUserInterfaceStrings.resx
+++ b/src/System.Management.Automation/resources/InternalHostUserInterfaceStrings.resx
@@ -203,6 +203,12 @@ Machine: {4} ({5})
 Host Application: {6}
 Process ID: {7}
 {8}
+**********************</value>
+  </data>
+  <data name="MinimalTranscriptPrologue" xml:space="preserve">
+    <value>**********************
+PowerShell transcript start
+Start time: {0:yyyyMMddHHmmss}
 **********************</value>
   </data>
   <data name="TranscriptEpilogue" xml:space="preserve">
diff --git a/test/powershell/Modules/Microsoft.Powershell.Host/Start-Transcript.Tests.ps1 b/test/powershell/Modules/Microsoft.Powershell.Host/Start-Transcript.Tests.ps1
index ade669dcc9..28f6dbc261 100644
--- a/test/powershell/Modules/Microsoft.Powershell.Host/Start-Transcript.Tests.ps1
+++ b/test/powershell/Modules/Microsoft.Powershell.Host/Start-Transcript.Tests.ps1
@@ -293,4 +293,28 @@ Describe "Start-Transcript, Stop-Transcript tests" -tags "CI" {
         $transcriptFilePath | Should -Exist
         $transcriptFilePath | Should -FileContentMatchMultiline $expectedContent
     }
+
+    It "UseMinimalHeader should reduce length of transcript header" {
+        $script = {
+            Start-Transcript -Path $transcriptFilePath
+            Stop-Transcript
+        }
+
+        $transcriptMinHeaderFilePath = $transcriptFilePath + "_minimal" 
+        $scriptMinHeader = {
+            Start-Transcript -Path $transcriptMinHeaderFilePath -UseMinimalHeader
+            Stop-Transcript
+        }
+
+        & $script
+        $transcriptFilePath | Should -Exist
+        $transcriptLength = (Get-Content -Path $transcriptFilePath -Raw).Length
+        
+        & $scriptMinHeader
+        $transcriptMinHeaderFilePath | Should -Exist
+        $transcriptMinHeaderLength = (Get-Content -Path $transcriptMinHeaderFilePath -Raw).Length
+        Remove-Item $transcriptMinHeaderFilePath -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
+
+        $transcriptMinHeaderLength | Should -BeLessThan $transcriptLength
+    }
 }