# Windows Terminal — The Modern Terminal for Windows by Microsoft

> A GPU-accelerated terminal application for Windows that supports tabs, panes, Unicode, UTF-8, custom themes, and multiple shell profiles including PowerShell, CMD, and WSL.

## Install

Save as a script file and run:

# Windows Terminal — The Modern Terminal for Windows by Microsoft

## Quick Use
```powershell
# Install via winget (built into Windows 11)
winget install Microsoft.WindowsTerminal

# Or via Microsoft Store
# Search "Windows Terminal" in the Store

# Launch
wt
```

## Introduction
Windows Terminal is a modern host application for command-line shells like PowerShell, CMD, and WSL. It was released as open source by Microsoft to replace the legacy Windows Console Host with a fast, GPU-accelerated experience that supports tabs, split panes, and rich text rendering.

## What Windows Terminal Does
- Hosts multiple shell profiles (PowerShell, CMD, WSL, Azure Cloud Shell) in a single tabbed window
- Renders text with GPU acceleration using DirectX for smooth scrolling and crisp fonts
- Supports Unicode and UTF-8 for multilingual and emoji-rich output
- Provides split panes to run shells side by side in a single tab
- Offers deep customization via a JSON settings file for themes, keybindings, and profiles

## Architecture Overview
Windows Terminal is a C++ UWP/WinUI application that uses a DirectWrite/DirectX-based text renderer called the Atlas engine. Each tab runs a ConPTY (Console Pseudo Terminal) session connected to a shell process. The settings layer reads a JSON file that defines profiles, color schemes, key bindings, and appearance. A XAML-based UI hosts the terminal control, and multiple panes share a single tab via a tree layout managed by the Pane class.

## Self-Hosting & Configuration
- Settings live in `%LOCALAPPDATA%PackagesMicrosoft.WindowsTerminal_8wekyb3d8bbweLocalStatesettings.json`
- Edit settings via the UI (Ctrl+,) or directly in the JSON file
- Add custom shell profiles by specifying `commandline`, `startingDirectory`, and `icon`
- Install color schemes from the community or define your own under `schemes`
- Set `"defaultProfile"` to your preferred shell GUID

## Key Features
- Tabs and split panes for multitasking across shells
- GPU-accelerated Atlas text rendering engine for high-DPI displays
- Full Unicode, UTF-8, and emoji support including colored glyphs
- Customizable key bindings, color schemes, and background images
- Quake-mode dropdown terminal via global hotkey

## Comparison with Similar Tools
- **PowerShell console** — the legacy host lacks tabs, GPU rendering, and split panes
- **Alacritty** — cross-platform and GPU-accelerated but no built-in tabs or panes
- **WezTerm** — Lua-scriptable cross-platform terminal with multiplexer built in
- **Hyper** — Electron-based terminal with plugin ecosystem but higher resource usage
- **Ghostty** — Zig-based terminal focused on correctness; Linux and macOS only

## FAQ
**Q: Does Windows Terminal work on Windows 10?**
A: Yes. It requires Windows 10 version 1903 or later and can be installed from the Microsoft Store or winget.

**Q: Can I use it as the default terminal on Windows 11?**
A: Yes. Go to Settings → Privacy & Security → For developers → Terminal, or set it in Windows Terminal's own settings under Startup → Default terminal application.

**Q: How do I add a WSL distro as a profile?**
A: Windows Terminal auto-detects installed WSL distros. They appear in the profile dropdown after installing a distro via `wsl --install -d <distro>`.

**Q: Is there a portable or standalone version?**
A: Microsoft provides a standalone ZIP archive on the GitHub releases page that can run without installation from the Store.

## Sources
- https://github.com/microsoft/terminal
- https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/terminal/

---
Source: https://tokrepo.com/en/workflows/asset-5eefbaec
Author: Script Depot