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Windows Terminal is the app that hosts command-line tools; it is not itself a shell. Open a profile such as PowerShell, Command Prompt, or an installed WSL distribution, then use tabs and panes to work with multiple sessions. This guide covers the first launch, everyday controls, settings, custom profiles, automation, and common fixes.
What Windows Terminal is—and what it is not
Windows Terminal provides the window and interface for command-line applications: tabs, panes, text rendering, profiles, appearance settings, and keyboard actions. The active shell or program interprets the commands you enter. PowerShell, Command Prompt (cmd.exe), and Linux shells in WSL are separate tools that can run inside Terminal. Installing Terminal does not install WSL or every shell.
Terminal supports Unicode and UTF-8 text and GPU-accelerated rendering; that describes how it handles display, not a guaranteed speed increase for every task. Its overview is at Microsoft’s Windows Terminal documentation.
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Install and open Windows Terminal
Install the stable app
- Open Microsoft Store and search for Windows Terminal.
- Choose the official Microsoft app, select Get or Install, and wait for installation to finish.
- Open Start, search for Windows Terminal, and launch it.
Microsoft recommends the Store route for most users because Store installations receive automatic updates. Other documented options include Windows Package Manager, GitHub releases, Chocolatey, and Scoop. A GitHub-installed build does not update automatically in the same way as the Store app. See the Windows Terminal FAQ, installation instructions, and official releases. Stable is the sensible choice for ordinary use; Preview is a separate channel for features under development, so do not assume a Preview feature is available in stable.
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Open Terminal from Windows or a command line
Start-menu search is the simplest way to launch it. From a Windows command line, use wt or wt.exe if the execution alias is enabled. Terminal’s documented post-installation default profile is PowerShell, though that can be changed.
Choose a shell profile
A profile tells Terminal what to launch in a new tab or pane. Select the arrow beside the + button to see available profiles. Common options include PowerShell, Windows PowerShell, Command Prompt, installed WSL distributions, Azure Cloud Shell when configured, and profiles you add yourself.
Terminal can dynamically create profiles for supported PowerShell and WSL installations, including installations added after Terminal. That does not mean every third-party shell is detected; some tools require a manually created profile. See Microsoft’s dynamic profiles documentation.
To change what opens when you click +, open the dropdown, choose Settings, go to Startup, and select a Default profile. This changes Terminal’s launch choice, not the shell executable or the operating system’s shell configuration.
Use tabs and panes
Tabs for separate sessions
- Select + to open a tab with the default profile.
- Select the arrow beside + to choose a different profile.
Ctrl+Shift+Topens a new tab by default.Ctrl+Tabswitches between open tabs by default.
For example, keep PowerShell in one tab for Windows tasks, Command Prompt in another for a legacy batch file, and Ubuntu in a third for Linux tools. Each tab is normally a separate shell session; changing the directory or running a command in one does not automatically change another. Tabs can also be dragged or torn out into separate windows, as described in the Terminal overview.
Panes for side-by-side work
Panes place multiple sessions inside one tab. Default shortcuts include Alt+Shift++ for a vertical split, Alt+Shift+- for a horizontal split, and Alt+Shift+D to duplicate the focused profile into a pane. You can use one pane for a development server and another for commands, or keep a local shell beside an SSH session. Shortcuts are configurable and may be affected by keyboard layout or other applications. Microsoft lists the defaults in its installation and setup documentation.
Find actions with the command palette
Press Ctrl+Shift+P to open the command palette, then type an action such as New tab, Split pane, Close pane, Search, or Settings and select it. This is useful when you do not know a shortcut. The palette also supports command-line mode: remove the leading > and enter a wt command for the current window. See Microsoft’s command palette guide.
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Run commands in the right shell
Commands belong to the active shell, so syntax is not interchangeable. These examples show the current directory or its contents in different environments:
| Environment | Example commands | What they illustrate |
|---|---|---|
| PowerShell | Get-LocationGet-ChildItem |
PowerShell cmdlets for location and directory contents. |
| Command Prompt | cddir |
Command Prompt commands for location and directory contents. |
| Linux shell in WSL | pwdls |
Linux commands for location and directory contents. |
Typing a PowerShell cmdlet into Command Prompt will not make Command Prompt behave like PowerShell. Likewise, commands and paths used in a WSL shell follow that Linux environment.
Copy, paste, search, and adjust the view
Select output to copy it; the documented default copy shortcut is Ctrl+Shift+C. Search within terminal output using the Search action in the command palette. Use Terminal’s font-size actions or settings to make text larger or smaller, and scroll back through prior output within the session’s scrollback. These defaults can be customized, so a shortcut may differ on your installation.
Set Windows Terminal as the default terminal application
On supported systems, open Terminal Settings, select Startup, then set Default terminal application to Windows Terminal. Microsoft documents this option for Windows 11 and Windows 10 version 22H2 after the May 23, 2023 update, KB5026435. It selects the host used to open command-line applications; it does not turn Terminal into a shell. Details are in the installation documentation.
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Use the Settings interface before editing JSON if you are new to Terminal. Explore Startup, Profiles, Appearance, and Actions to change the default profile, font, color scheme, cursor, background, tab appearance, and keyboard actions. A profile’s starting directory can be set in its settings so that new sessions open where you work.
If you use settings.json, a profile can include a starting directory such as:
{
"name": "PowerShell",
"startingDirectory": "%USERPROFILE%/Documents/Projects"
}Use a valid path for the relevant shell. Windows paths and Linux paths are not interchangeable in every context. Newer Terminal versions accept Linux-style paths such as ~ for WSL; older configurations may require a distribution-specific home path. Background images or GIFs, color schemes, tab titles, and custom actions are also configurable. The product overview describes these customization options.
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Edit settings.json when you need repeatable configuration
JSON is useful for backing up, transferring, or precisely tuning configuration, but the Settings UI is less prone to syntax mistakes. To open the JSON file intentionally, open the Terminal dropdown and hold Shift while selecting Settings; it opens in the default JSON editor. Use the ordinary Settings action for the graphical interface.
Common file locations depend on how Terminal was installed:
| Installation | Settings file |
|---|---|
| Stable Store/package installation | %LOCALAPPDATA%PackagesMicrosoft.WindowsTerminal_8wekyb3d8bbweLocalStatesettings.json |
| Preview | %LOCALAPPDATA%PackagesMicrosoft.WindowsTerminalPreview_8wekyb3d8bbweLocalStatesettings.json |
| Unpackaged installation | %LOCALAPPDATA%MicrosoftWindows Terminalsettings.json |
Back up the file before editing and preserve JSON commas, quotation marks, braces, and brackets. Add the schema property to enable editor validation:
"$schema": "https://aka.ms/terminal-profiles-schema"Do not edit defaults.json to change your configuration: it is generated automatically and edits to it are ignored. The file locations and setup details are documented in Microsoft’s installation guide; troubleshooting advice is at Microsoft’s troubleshooting page.
Add a custom profile
For a third-party shell, batch file, SSH command, or other executable, open Settings, go to Profiles, select Add a new profile, then choose New empty profile. Give it a name, command or executable, icon if desired, and starting directory, then save it. Verify the executable path and required arguments in that tool’s own documentation.
A minimal example for a batch file is:
{
"name": "My Tool",
"commandline": "%USERPROFILE%/Scripts/start-tool.bat",
"startingDirectory": "%USERPROFILE%"
}Terminal profiles can launch commands and executables; the FAQ covers profile setup.
Use wt.exe to open tabs and panes
wt.exe launches Terminal or sends commands to a Terminal window. The documented general syntax is wt [options] [command ; ]; with no command, Terminal uses new-tab. Get built-in help with wt -h, wt --help, wt -?, or wt /?. See the full command-line arguments reference.
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Open a profile or directory
wt -p "Ubuntu"
wt new-tab -d "%USERPROFILE%DocumentsProjects"The profile name must exactly match the configured name. The second example opens a tab in the specified Windows directory.
Split a pane or create a layout
wt split-pane -V -p "PowerShell"
wt split-pane -H -p "Command Prompt"-V requests a vertical split and -H a horizontal one. Semicolon-separated commands can combine profiles and panes into one launch:
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Choose a Terminal window
wt -w 0 nt
wt -w -1 nt
wt -w my-window ntIn the documented window targeting syntax, 0 means the most recently used window, -1 or new requests a new window, and a name targets a named window.
Use WSL in Terminal
WSL and its Linux distributions are installed separately from Windows Terminal. After installing WSL and a distribution, open the Terminal profile dropdown and select that distribution. You then use Linux commands, environment variables, home directory, package manager, and startup files within the WSL session. Terminal hosts that session; it does not provide or install Linux by itself. See Microsoft’s WSL documentation and its dynamic profiles guide.
Keep path context in mind: a Windows path is not automatically a valid Linux path. The wt execution alias also does not work directly inside WSL; Microsoft documents invoking Windows Terminal through cmd.exe when needed. See the command-line arguments guide.
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Fix common Windows Terminal problems
wt is not recognized
- Confirm Windows Terminal is installed.
- In Windows Settings, open Manage app execution aliases and check that the Terminal alias is enabled.
- Confirm
%LOCALAPPDATA%MicrosoftWindowsAppsis available inPATH. - If the command is being run inside WSL, use the documented
cmd.exeroute where appropriate.
Do not try to edit the protected C:Program FilesWindowsApps directory. See Microsoft’s alias and command-line guidance.
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Tabs or the title bar disappeared
Focus mode may be hiding interface elements. Press Ctrl+Shift+P, search for toggle focus mode, and run it. If Terminal opens in focus mode each time, check its Startup settings. The recovery steps are in the FAQ.
Settings opened in a text editor
You likely invoked the JSON-opening action, or Windows associated the Settings command with a JSON editor. Use the normal dropdown Settings option for the graphical interface; hold Shift while selecting it only when you intend to open settings.json. See Microsoft’s troubleshooting guidance.
A profile is missing
Check that the shell or distribution is installed and that it is one of the supported sources for automatic profiles. A third-party executable may need a manual entry under Profiles. The dynamic profile documentation explains which profile sources Terminal detects.
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- Check for JSON syntax errors and confirm the path exists.
- Make sure the path format matches the shell, especially for WSL.
- Check whether a PowerShell startup script or the profile’s
commandlinelaunches another script that changes directories afterward.
Shell startup commands can take precedence over the Terminal profile’s starting-directory setting; Microsoft describes this behavior in its troubleshooting guide.
Text looks blurry or a shortcut does not work
For blurry text, update graphics drivers and, if needed, test Terminal’s rendering settings after noting the original values; display and hardware combinations can affect rendering, so a setting is not a guaranteed fix. For a shortcut failure, check Terminal’s Actions settings, keyboard layout behavior, and Windows-level shortcut conflicts. Microsoft documents, for example, a conflict involving Ctrl+= on German keyboard layouts; that is a specific case, not a universal defect. See the troubleshooting documentation.
Default shortcut and command reference
| Action | Documented default |
|---|---|
| New tab | Ctrl+Shift+T |
| Switch tabs | Ctrl+Tab |
| Command palette | Ctrl+Shift+P |
| Copy | Ctrl+Shift+C |
| Vertical pane | Alt+Shift++ |
| Horizontal pane | Alt+Shift+- |
| Duplicate focused profile in pane | Alt+Shift+D |
| Terminal command help | wt -h, wt --help, wt -?, or wt /? |
These are documented defaults, not guarantees: actions can be customized, and keyboard layouts or other shortcuts can interfere. The official references are the setup guide, command palette guide, and command-line reference.
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