How to Set Up and Customize Windows Terminal

Windows Terminal replaces the old CMD and PowerShell windows with tabs, split panes, GPU-accelerated text rendering, and full customization. It's installed by default on Windows 11 and available free on Windows 10.

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Install Windows Terminal

Windows 11: already installed. Search Terminal in Start.

Windows 10:

winget install Microsoft.WindowsTerminal

Or from Microsoft Store: search Windows Terminal.

Set as default terminal: Win + I → Privacy & Security → For developers → Terminal → Windows Terminal

Now CMD and PowerShell open inside Windows Terminal instead of separate windows.

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Basic Usage

• New tab: Ctrl + Shift + T or click +
• New tab with specific shell: click the dropdown arrow next to +
• Split pane horizontally: Alt + Shift + -
• Split pane vertically: Alt + Shift + +
• Switch panes: Alt + Arrow keys
• Close pane/tab: Ctrl + Shift + W
• Full screen: F11
• Search in terminal: Ctrl + Shift + F

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Open Terminal Here

Right-click any folder in File Explorer → Open in Terminal

This opens the terminal directly in that folder — no cd needed.

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Configure Profiles (settings.json)

Ctrl + , opens Settings. Click the JSON icon (top right) to edit directly:

{
  "defaultProfile": "{profile-guid}",
  "profiles": {
    "defaults": {
      "font": {
        "face": "Cascadia Code",
        "size": 12
      },
      "opacity": 90,
      "useAcrylic": true
    },
    "list": [
      {
        "name": "PowerShell",
        "commandline": "pwsh.exe",
        "startingDirectory": "%USERPROFILE%",
        "icon": "ms-appx:///ProfileIcons/pwsh.png"
      },
      {
        "name": "Ubuntu",
        "source": "Windows.Terminal.Wsl",
        "startingDirectory": "//wsl.localhost/Ubuntu/home/username"
      },
      {
        "name": "SSH to Server",
        "commandline": "ssh user@192.168.1.100",
        "icon": "🖥️"
      }
    ]
  }
}

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Install Cascadia Code Font

Microsoft's monospace font with ligatures — designed for terminals:

winget install Microsoft.CascadiaCode

Or download from github.com/microsoft/cascadia-code.

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Useful Keyboard Shortcuts

Shortcut	Action
Ctrl + Shift + T	New tab (default profile)
Ctrl + Shift + 1-9	New tab with profile N
Ctrl + Tab	Next tab
Ctrl + Shift + Tab	Previous tab
Ctrl + Shift + W	Close tab
Alt + Shift + D	Duplicate pane
Ctrl + Shift + F	Find in terminal
Ctrl + +/-	Zoom in/out
Ctrl + 0	Reset zoom

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Set PowerShell 7 as Default

Windows comes with PowerShell 5. PowerShell 7 is faster and more capable:

winget install Microsoft.PowerShell

After installing, set it as default in Terminal Settings → Startup → Default profile → select PowerShell (the newer one, not Windows PowerShell).

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Add Oh My Posh (Better Prompt)

Oh My Posh adds Git status, exit codes, and command timing to your prompt:

winget install JanDeDobbeleer.OhMyPosh
oh-my-posh font install meslo

# Add to PowerShell profile
Add-Content $PROFILE "`noh-my-posh init pwsh --config `"$(oh-my-posh env shell)`" | Invoke-Expression"

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Quake Mode (Drop-Down Terminal)

Press a hotkey to drop a terminal from the top of the screen:

Settings → Actions → add:

{ "command": "quakeMode", "keys": "win+`" }

Press Win + ` to show/hide the terminal from any app.

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Summary

Install with winget install Microsoft.WindowsTerminal. Set as default terminal in Developer settings. Add a custom SSH profile for quick server access. Install PowerShell 7 and set as default profile. Use Alt + Shift + -/+ for split panes when working with multiple sessions.