diff --git a/cmd/minikube/cmd/config/profile.go b/cmd/minikube/cmd/config/profile.go
index 918b015902e0..770e5f6bf25d 100644
--- a/cmd/minikube/cmd/config/profile.go
+++ b/cmd/minikube/cmd/config/profile.go
@@ -23,7 +23,9 @@ import (
 	"github.com/spf13/viper"
 	pkgConfig "k8s.io/minikube/pkg/minikube/config"
 	"k8s.io/minikube/pkg/minikube/console"
+	"k8s.io/minikube/pkg/minikube/constants"
 	"k8s.io/minikube/pkg/minikube/exit"
+	pkgutil "k8s.io/minikube/pkg/util"
 )
 
 // ProfileCmd represents the profile command
@@ -48,9 +50,24 @@ var ProfileCmd = &cobra.Command{
 		}
 		err := Set(pkgConfig.MachineProfile, profile)
 		if err != nil {
-			exit.WithError("set failed", err)
-		} else {
-			console.Success("minikube profile was successfully set to %s", profile)
+			exit.WithError("Setting profile failed", err)
 		}
+		cc, err := pkgConfig.Load()
+		// might err when loading older version of cfg file that doesn't have KeepContext field
+		if err != nil && !os.IsNotExist(err) {
+			console.ErrLn("Error loading profile config: %v", err)
+		}
+		if err == nil {
+			if cc.MachineConfig.KeepContext {
+				console.Success("Skipped switching kubectl context for %s , because --keep-context", profile)
+				console.Success("To connect to this cluster, use: kubectl --context=%s", profile)
+			} else {
+				err := pkgutil.SetCurrentContext(constants.KubeconfigPath, profile)
+				if err != nil {
+					console.ErrLn("Error while setting kubectl current context :  %v", err)
+				}
+			}
+		}
+		console.Success("minikube profile was successfully set to %s", profile)
 	},
 }
diff --git a/cmd/minikube/cmd/start.go b/cmd/minikube/cmd/start.go
index 28d73025faaa..41c60e69c58a 100644
--- a/cmd/minikube/cmd/start.go
+++ b/cmd/minikube/cmd/start.go
@@ -446,6 +446,7 @@ func generateConfig(cmd *cobra.Command, k8sVersion string) (cfg.Config, error) {
 
 	cfg := cfg.Config{
 		MachineConfig: cfg.MachineConfig{
+			KeepContext:         viper.GetBool(keepContext),
 			MinikubeISO:         viper.GetString(isoURL),
 			Memory:              viper.GetInt(memory),
 			CPUs:                viper.GetInt(cpus),
diff --git a/pkg/minikube/config/types.go b/pkg/minikube/config/types.go
index 2537ebbd2fd8..0aa61d402a7a 100644
--- a/pkg/minikube/config/types.go
+++ b/pkg/minikube/config/types.go
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@ type Config struct {
 
 // MachineConfig contains the parameters used to start a cluster.
 type MachineConfig struct {
+	KeepContext         bool // used by start and profile command to or not to switch kubectl's current context
 	MinikubeISO         string
 	Memory              int
 	CPUs                int
diff --git a/pkg/util/kubeconfig.go b/pkg/util/kubeconfig.go
index 887c7a884111..3c881c58f69e 100644
--- a/pkg/util/kubeconfig.go
+++ b/pkg/util/kubeconfig.go
@@ -325,3 +325,16 @@ func UnsetCurrentContext(filename, machineName string) error {
 	}
 	return nil
 }
+
+//SetCurrentContext sets the kubectl's current-context
+func SetCurrentContext(kubeCfgPath, name string) error {
+	kcfg, err := ReadConfigOrNew(kubeCfgPath)
+	if err != nil {
+		return errors.Wrap(err, "Error getting kubeconfig status")
+	}
+	kcfg.CurrentContext = name
+	if err := WriteConfig(kcfg, kubeCfgPath); err != nil {
+		return errors.Wrap(err, "writing kubeconfig")
+	}
+	return nil
+}