He was born in Schwyz, the son of aristocrat Josef Rudolf Reding von Biberegg (1726–1799). His brother was a general, Theodor von Reding (1755–1809). Until 1788, Alois von Reding served in the Schwyzer regiments in the service of Spain, rising to the rank of lieutenant colonel. After he returned to Switzerland, he became a national captain of the canton of Schwyz. Von Reding formed a Tagsatzung after the collapse of the centralist Helvetic Republic in the Stecklikrieg of October 1802.