How to Use Windows Terminal: Tabs, Profiles and Customization

Windows Terminal is the modern replacement for the old CMD and PowerShell windows — it supports tabs, multiple shells, GPU rendering and full customization.

Install Windows Terminal

winget install Microsoft.WindowsTerminal

Or download from the Microsoft Store (pre-installed on Windows 11).

Open Shells

Win + X → Terminal (opens default shell)
Click + in tab bar → select shell
Ctrl + Shift + 1 — new PowerShell tab
Ctrl + Shift + 2 — new CMD tab
Ctrl + Shift + 5 — new WSL tab (if installed)

Essential Shortcuts

Shortcut	Action
`Ctrl + Shift + T`	New tab (default profile)
`Ctrl + Shift + W`	Close tab
`Alt + Shift + D`	Split pane horizontally
`Alt + Shift + +`	Split pane vertically
`Ctrl + Tab`	Next tab
`Ctrl + Shift + F`	Find in terminal
`Ctrl + ,`	Open settings
`F11`	Full screen

Configure Default Profile

Ctrl + , → Startup → Default profile → select PowerShell, CMD or WSL

// settings.json — set default profile
{
  "defaultProfile": "{574e775e-4f2a-5b96-ac1e-a2962a402336}"
}

Customize Appearance

// settings.json → profiles → defaults
{
  "profiles": {
    "defaults": {
      "colorScheme": "One Half Dark",
      "font": {
        "face": "Cascadia Code",
        "size": 12
      },
      "opacity": 90,
      "useAcrylic": true,
      "padding": "8, 8, 8, 8",
      "cursorShape": "bar"
    }
  }
}

Add Custom Profile

// Add to profiles → list in settings.json
{
  "name": "Admin PowerShell",
  "commandline": "powershell.exe -NoExit -Command \"Start-Process powershell -Verb RunAs\"",
  "icon": "ms-appx:///ProfileIcons/{61c54bbd-c2c6-5271-96e7-009a87ff44bf}.png",
  "colorScheme": "Campbell Powershell"
}

Set Starting Directory

{
  "profiles": {
    "list": [
      {
        "name": "PowerShell",
        "startingDirectory": "C:\\Projects"
      }
    ]
  }
}

Custom Key Bindings

{
  "actions": [
    { "command": "newTab", "keys": "ctrl+t" },
    { "command": "closeTab", "keys": "ctrl+w" },
    { "command": { "action": "splitPane", "split": "vertical" }, "keys": "ctrl+shift+e" },
    { "command": "toggleFullscreen", "keys": "f11" }
  ]
}

Install Cascadia Code Font (Recommended)

winget install Microsoft.CascadiaCode

Cascadia Code supports programming ligatures (->, =>, !=) and Nerd Font icons for a better terminal experience.

Open Terminal Here (Context Menu)

Right-click any folder → Open in Terminal (Windows 11 built-in)

For Windows 10:

# Add "Open Terminal here" to context menu
$regPath = "HKCU:\SOFTWARE\Classes\Directory\Background\shell\wt"
New-Item -Path $regPath -Force
Set-ItemProperty $regPath -Name "(Default)" -Value "Open in Terminal"
New-Item -Path "$regPath\command" -Force
Set-ItemProperty "$regPath\command" -Name "(Default)" -Value "wt.exe -d ."

Summary

Install via winget or Store. Essential: tabs (Ctrl+Shift+T), split panes (Alt+Shift+D), settings via JSON (Ctrl+,). Install Cascadia Code for the best experience. Set starting directory per profile for faster workflow.

Frequently Asked Questions

Windows Terminal vs PowerShell ISE — which should I use?

Windows Terminal for everyday command-line work. PowerShell ISE for writing and debugging scripts (it has a proper script editor). ISE doesn't support PowerShell 7 — use VS Code with PowerShell extension instead.

Can I run Linux commands in Windows Terminal?

Yes — install WSL (wsl --install) then open a WSL tab in Terminal. Full Linux environment alongside Windows shells in the same window.

My terminal doesn't show UTF-8 characters correctly — fix?

# Set UTF-8 in PowerShell profile
[Console]::OutputEncoding = [System.Text.Encoding]::UTF8
# Or in settings.json add "experimental.rendering.forceFullRepaint": true