Tips and Tricks for Windows Terminals (2023)

at first start

When installing Windows Terminal for the first time, you will be greeted with a Windows PowerShell prompt. Windows Terminal ships with Windows PowerShell, Command Prompt, and Azure Cloud Shell profiles by default.

In addition to these profiles, if you have anySubsistema do Windows para Linux (WSL)installed distributions, the terminal also automatically creates profiles for these distributions. If you want to install additional WSL distributions on your computer, you can do so after installing Terminal, and the next time you start Terminal, profiles for those distributions will automatically appear. These profiles have the Linux Tux image as the icon.

show default settings

Windows Terminal comes with a large number of default settings, includingcolor schemeekeyboard shortcuts(now called "Custom Actions"). If you want to see the default settings file, you can holdAltand click the Settings button in the drop-down menu.

default profile settings

With Windows Terminal, you can apply a configuration to each profile without having to duplicate the configuration for each profile entry. This can be done by adding a setting within the "defaults" array within theProfileObject. learn more aboutGeneral profile settings,Appearance Profile Settings, eAdvanced profile settings.

"profiles": { "defaults": { // Specify here the settings you want to apply to all profiles. "fontFace": "Cascadia Code" }, "List": [] }

Rename a tab

You can right-click a tab and select Rename Tab to rename a tab for that terminal session. By clicking on this option in the context menu, the title of your tab will be converted into a text field where you can edit the title. If you want to set the tab title for this profile for each terminal instance, see theTab title tutorial.

color a tab

You can right-click on a tab and selectcor... to color the tab for this terminal session. You can pick or choose from a predefined list of colorsCustom...to choose any color with the color picker or the RGB/HSV or Hex fields.

Diecor da abacan be defined as part of a profile. To seeProfile - Appearance: Tab Color. For example:

{ "guid": "{1234abc-abcd-1234-12ab-1234abc}", "name": "Windows PowerShell", "background": "#012456", "tabColor": "#012456", },

Diecor da abacannot be specified as part of a color scheme. Furthermore, although it is possibleSet the tab title on the command linecurrently it is not possible to set the tab color in this way for escape sequences.

mouse interaction

There are several ways to interact with Windows Terminal using a mouse.

Zoom com o mouse

You can zoom in (increase or decrease the text size) in the Windows Terminal text window by pressing and holdingctrland roll. Zoom remains for this terminal session. If you want to change the font size, learn more about the font size feature onProfile - appearance page.

Adjust background opacity with mouse

You can adjust background opacity by pressing and holdingctrl+layerand roll. The opacity remains for this terminal session. If you want to change the acrylic opacity for a profile, learn more about acrylic background effects atProfile - appearance page.

open a hyperlink

You can open a hyperlink in Windows Terminal with the mousectrl+ clique.

Drag and drop file/folder to open

You can drag and drop a file or folder onto the New Tab button to open your default profile with that file or folder. By default, this opens a new tab. you can holdAltto open or maintain a new space in your current tablayerto open a new window.

copy paste

You can right-click to copy and paste text in Windows Terminal using the clipboard.

Windows Terminal also includes acopyOnSelectConfiguration that can be adjustedIs correctso that any text marked with the mouse is immediately copied to the clipboard. Right mouse click will always paste in this case.

Virtual Terminal and WSL mouse support

Windows Terminal supports mouse input in Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) applications and in Windows applications that use virtual terminal (VT) input. This means that apps liketmuxemidnight commanderrecognizes when you select items in the terminal window. When an app is in mouse mode, you can press and holdlayerto make a selection instead of sending a VT entry.

Send input commands with a key binding

The Windows Terminal provides the ability to send input to your shell with a keyboard shortcut. This can be done with the following structure within the"Actions"Array of your settings.json file.

{ "command": {"action": "sendInput", "input": ""}, "keys": "" }

You can also add a"Name": ""value if you want.

clear your screen

Sending input to the shell with a keyboard shortcut can be useful for frequently executed commands. An example would be clearing your screen:

{ "command": {"action": "sendInput", "input": "clear\r"}, "keys": "alt+k", "name": "limpar terminal" }

Navigate to parent directory

It can also be helpful to use a keyboard shortcut to navigate to the parent directory.

{ "command": {"action": "sendInput", "input": "cd ..\r"}, "keys": "ctrl+up" }

You can also use this function to run builds or test scripts.

focus mode

"Focus mode" hides the title bar and tabs that are normally located at the top of the Windows terminal, allowing you to focus only on the contents of the terminal. This is comparable to"Moda Zen"no Visual Studio-Code.

To enter focus mode, open thecommand paddleusectrl+layer+p, go to "Focus Mode" and select "Toggle Focus Mode". To exit focus mode, repeat the same steps.

To set the focus mode to start whenever you start Windows Terminal, open theDefinitions(ctrl+,) and select itStartTab. belowstart mode, selectFocus(ormaximum focus, which is the focus mode with the terminal window maximized). Choosesave not computerbefore you leave. The next time you launch Windows Terminal, it will open in focus mode. To prevent Windows Terminal from starting in focus mode, follow the same steps but selectPatternfrom the list ofstart modeoptions.

To add a keyboard shortcut (or key combination) to enter focus mode, open thesettings.jsonArchive (ctrl+layer+,). Back thensettings.jsonfile, locate the"Actions":section and add the following command:

{ "Command": "ToggleFocusMode", "Teclas": "Ctrl+F12" }

Replace "Ctrl+F12" with the key combination/key combination of your choice, but be careful not to repeat any existing key combinations in the list of actions. You can also see a list of actions with associated keyboard shortcuts and+ add newloops in whichActionsWindows Terminal GuideDefinitionsPanel. to remembersave not computerafter making changes. Now you can toggle focus mode using the "Action" keyboard shortcut you created. (In our examplelayer+F12).

For more information about this command, seetoggle focus mode.

Quake-Modus

"Quake Mode" is the name of the special mode the terminal enters when naming a window_earthquake. When a window is in earthquake mode:

• The terminal will automatically snap to the top half of the monitor.

• The window can no longer be resized horizontally or from above. It can only be resized below.

• The window will automatically switch to focus mode (note that you can have multiple tabs in focus mode).

• WhenwindowingBehavioris set to"use existing"or"use any existing", they will ignore the existence of the_earthquakeWindow.

• When minimized, the window is hidden from the taskbar and theAlt+Aba.

• Only one window can be the earthquake mode window at a time.

The earthquake mode window can be created by turning on theearthquake modeAction or manually running the command line:

wt -w _quake