Windows Terminal: The Complete Guide

Windows Terminal: The Perfect Partner of WSL2

This article will explore in-depth Windows Terminal, which is an ideal companion for WSL2. It is fast, configurable, beautifully designed, and has all the benefits of Windows and Linux development.

Windows has completely embraced Linux, and WSL2 makes it extremely smooth.

You can access the distribution's terminal in the following ways:

1. Click its Start menu icon.
2. Enter wsl or bash in PowerShell or command prompt.
3. Use third-party terminal options such as Cmder, ConEmu, and Hyper, and use the configuration file that launches %windir%system32bash.exe ~.
4. Set Linux settings in VS Code by pressing Ctrl Shift PP
> and type/select "Terminal: Select Default Shell" and select WSL Bash is the default shell.

Windows Terminal (available from the Microsoft Store) offers another option, but you won't regret installing it. Features of this new app include:

Supports WSL2, SSH, PowerShell, cmd and other command lines.
Multiple tabs and split panes.
Configurable theme, background image and transparent effects.
Search box.
Custom key binding.
GPU accelerates text rendering.
Fine new font Cascadia Code.
Low resource usage (usually 10MB per tab).
Automatically updated (if using the Microsoft Store).
Perfect documentation.
It is open source!

Key Points

Windows Terminal is a fast and configurable terminal application that supports WSL2, SSH, PowerShell, cmd and other command lines, and has multiple tabs, split panes, search boxes, custom key bindings, GPU accelerates text rendering and other functions.
The application can be installed through the Microsoft Store or downloaded from GitHub, and it includes options for managing tabs and panes, resizing text, scrolling, searching, copying and pasting, and changing settings.
• settings.jsonThe settings in Windows Terminal are controlled by a single
file that controls global settings, configuration file settings, custom color scheme settings, and key binding settings for all configuration files.
• wt.exeWindows Terminal also provides command-line options that allow you to start it from a shortcut or any Windows or Linux terminal by running
, with the option of maximizing or full-screen boot, and passing a semicolon-delimited list of commands.

How to install Windows Terminal

The easiest way to install Windows Terminal is through the Microsoft Store:

<code>ms-windows-store://pdp/?ProductId=9n0dx20hk701</code>

If this link fails, try opening Microsoft Store in your browser or launching the Microsoft Store app from the Windows Start menu and searching for "Terminal".

Note: Be careful not to select the earlier Windows Terminal Preview application.

Click "Get" and wait for a few seconds to complete the installation.

If you cannot access the Store, you can download the latest version from GitHub.

The Windows Terminal application icon is now available in the Windows Start menu. For easy access, right-click the icon and select Pin to Start or More, and select Pin to Taskbar.

Beginner of Windows Terminal

When the first run, Windows Terminal starts with PowerShell as the default configuration file. You can use the drop-down menu to launch additional tabs and access settings:

Terminal automatically generates configuration files for all installed WSL distributions and Windows shells, although build can be disabled in global settings.

Management Tabs and Panes

Open a new tab for the default profile by clicking the ' icon or Ctrl Shift T>>. To open a tab for a different profile, select it from the drop-down menu or press Ctrl Shift N (where N>> is the number of the configuration file).

Press Alt Shift D

> Copy and split the pane. Each time you use the active pane, it is divided into two parts along the longest axis:

To force creation:

• Vertical pane, press Alt Shift
• , or Horizontal pane, press Alt Shift

-

>

To open another profile in a new pane, hold down the

Alt key when selecting it from the drop-down menu. Press and hold Alt and use the cursor keys to switch the active pane from the keyboard. The pane can be resized by holding down Alt

Shift

and resize accordingly using the cursor keys.

There can be renamed by double-clicking the text. You can also change the name or color by right-clicking on the tab and selecting the menu option:

This will only affect the current tab; it will not permanently change the configuration file. To close the active pane or tab, press Alt Shift W

W

>Enter the terminal's standard exit command (usually

exit

). Text size Ctrl and Ctrl and

Ctrl -> can be used to adjust the text size of the active terminal. Alternatively, press and hold Ctrl and scroll the mouse wheel.

Scroll

Use the scroll bar to browse terminal output. Alternatively, press Ctrl and press up, down, Page Up or Page Down to navigate using the keyboard.

Search

Press Ctrl Shift F>>To open the search box:

Enter any term and use the up and down icons to search for terminal output. Click the Aa icon to activate and deactivate exact case matching.

Copy and paste

By default, copy and paste are bound to Ctrl Shift C and Ctrl Shift V, although Ctrl C and Ctrl V

will also work.

Note: Please note that Ctrl C can terminate Linux applications, so it is recommended to use Shift.

The automatic copy selection option is available in the global settings, and you can also paste the current clipboard item by right-clicking the mouse.

Settings

The settings can be accessed through the drop-down menu or Ctrl ,settings.json (comma). The configuration is defined in a single

file, so you may be prompted to select a text editor. VS Code is a great choice, but Notepad is OK too if you are happy to edit without color coding and syntax checking.

settings.json

Control:

Global settings, applied to all configuration files.
Profile settings, define the configuration file.
Custom color scheme settings.
Key binding settings.

This file uses the following format:

<code>ms-windows-store://pdp/?ProductId=9n0dx20hk701</code>

defaults.jsonThe default value is defined in . Open it by holding down the Alt

key when clicking Settings in the drop-down menu.

defaultsWarning: Do not change settings.json files! Use it to view the default settings and add or change settings in if necessary.

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