What Is the Windows Terminal & How Does It Work? GA S REGULAR Menu Lifewire Tech for Humans Newsletter! Search Close GO Software & Apps > Windows

What Is the Windows Terminal & How Does It Work?

Upgrade the command line with this free tool

By Tim Fisher Tim Fisher Senior Vice President & Group General Manager, Tech & Sustainability Emporia State University Tim Fisher has more than 30 years' of professional technology experience. He's been writing about tech for more than two decades and serves as the VP and General Manager of Lifewire. lifewire's editorial guidelines Updated on September 16, 2022 Tweet Share Email Tweet Share Email Windows The Ultimate Laptop Buying Guide Windows Terminal is a terminal application from Microsoft. It only works with Windows 11 and Windows 10.
You might already know about Command Prompt and PowerShell, two command-line utilities that come with most versions of Windows. Windows Terminal is different for multiple reasons, but primarily because it’s a single program that provides developers with quick access to those tools and more.

Windows Terminal Features

Windows Terminal looks pretty basic at first glance, but there are a handful of features that set it apart from other Windows command-line tools: Full screen mode Tabbed interface to open multiple instances of the tools Shortcut keys to quickly open new tabs Zoom with the mouse Unicode and UTF-8 character support permits the use of emoji and non-English characters GPU-accelerated text rendering engine Custom themes and styles can be created Stylus support Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL), SSH, PowerShell, Command Prompt, and Azure Cloud Shell support

How to Use Windows Terminal

If you're on Windows 11, simply search for Windows Terminal from the Start menu to pull it up, or trigger it from the Power User Menu (WIN+X). Another way is through the Run dialog box, with the wt command. Finally, a third method is to right-click an empty space in any folder, and choose Open in Terminal to launch the tool from that folder, specifically. Windows 10 users need to follow these steps to download it:
Download and install Windows Terminal from the Microsoft Store. Use the search bar at the bottom of Windows to find and select Windows Terminal. PowerShell will open. You can enter commands just like you would if you’d had opened Windows PowerShell directly. To open another PowerShell tab, use the plus sign at the top of Windows Terminal. Or, to launch a different tool, select the down arrow and select Command Prompt or Azure Cloud Shell.

Editing Windows Terminal Settings

Changing the settings for Windows Terminal is easy: Use the down arrow at the top of the program, and then select Settings. There are a number of options you can customize there, like to switch to a different color scheme, edit how text looks, force Terminal to always stay on top of other windows, edit shortcuts, change the default starting directory, run as administrator automatically, and a lot more. To edit additional settings, select Open JSON file from the bottom of that screen. The file settings.json will open in your default text editor (likely Notepad, but you can use a different text editor if you want). Microsoft has directions for using the Settings JSON file. There are also example edits here.

Tips for Using Windows Terminal

The default shell is Windows PowerShell, so every time you open Windows Terminal, PowerShell will be the utility you see first (you can change this in the settings). This also means that the plus sign next to the tabs at the top of Windows Terminal will always open PowerShell, regardless of the tool you’re currently using. There are shortcut keys you can use to quickly open an item from the menu. These are the default key bindings for running these actions: Ctrl+Shift+1 opens Windows PowerShellCtrl+Shift+2 opens Command PromptCtrl+Shift+3 opens Azure Cloud ShellCtrl+Shift+F opens the find boxCtrl+, opens Settings Use the Command Palette menu option (Ctrl+Shift+P) to see other shortcuts. Windows Terminal requires Windows 10 version 18362.0 or higher. If you can’t install it, update Windows to the latest version. Was this page helpful? Thanks for letting us know! Get the Latest Tech News Delivered Every Day Subscribe Tell us why! Other Not enough details Hard to understand Submit More from Lifewire How to Find a Windows 11 Product Key How to Open an Elevated Command Prompt in Windows How to Use Quick Settings in Windows 11 How to Open File Explorer in Windows 11 How to Open Command Prompt (Windows 11, 10, 8, 7, etc.) How to Install and Setup BASH on Windows 10 Switch Command Prompt and PowerShell on the Win+X Menu How to Reinstall Windows Defender in Windows 11 How to Open Disk Management From Command Prompt The 4 Best Free Text Editors for Windows & Mac What's Conhost.exe in Windows? What Does it Do? How to Fix It When Windows Spotlight Is Not Working on Windows 10 How to Disable Taskbar Button Grouping in Windows The Best Windows Keyboard Shortcuts in 2022 How to Unlock the Bootloader on Your Android Phone How to Access Device Manager From the Command Prompt Newsletter Sign Up Newsletter Sign Up Newsletter Sign Up Newsletter Sign Up Newsletter Sign Up By clicking “Accept All Cookies”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts. Cookies Settings Accept All Cookies