Windows Terminal

Name: Windows Terminal — Download free. Command-Line Tool
Availability: InStock
Rating: 5 (1 reviews)
Author: Microsoft

Windows Terminal — Free Download. Command-Line Tool

Windows Terminal is a terminal application for command-line users, created by Microsoft. It supports multiple tabs, split panes, rich text rendering, Unicode and emoji, GPU-accelerated text rendering, customizable themes and profiles. The program works with PowerShell, Command Prompt, WSL, SSH and other command-line tools. It provides broad configuration options through a JSON settings file and supports keybindings, background images, acrylic material, and a command palette. Windows Terminal also includes a settings search experience, an actions editor, Kitty input protocol support, window persistence, community translations into Ukrainian and Serbian, and configuration of ambiguous Unicode character width. The application is distributed through the Microsoft Store and GitHub releases, receiving regular updates with new features and fixes.

★★★★★

5.0(1 ratings)

Download Windows Terminal (Official links)

File size: 11.6 MB

The latest version of Windows Terminal is: 1.25.2733.0

Operating system: Windows

Languages: English

Developer: Microsoft

Price: $0.00 USD (Open Source (MIT))

Multiple tabs. The application allows opening several terminal sessions in separate tabs within one window. Each tab can run a different shell or profile, such as PowerShell, Command Prompt, WSL distribution or SSH connection. Tabs can be rearranged, renamed, duplicated, and closed independently. This reduces desktop clutter and simplifies switching between concurrent command-line tasks.
Split panes. A window can be divided into horizontal and vertical panes, each running its own terminal session. Users can create complex layouts with several shells visible at once, resize panes by dragging borders, and move focus between panes with keyboard shortcuts. This supports parallel monitoring of logs, builds, and interactive commands.
Profiles. Each profile defines a shell executable, starting directory, icon, color scheme, font settings, and other parameters. Windows Terminal automatically generates profiles for detected shells and allows creating custom profiles manually. Profiles can be set as default and launched from the command line or from the tab dropdown menu.
Command palette. A searchable list of all available actions and commands is invoked by a keyboard shortcut. It provides access to tab management, pane creation, profile launching, settings opening, and other operations without remembering key combinations. Users can filter commands by typing part of the name.
Settings search. The settings interface includes a search field that filters options by name and description. Because the number of settings is large, this helps locate specific parameters quickly. Search works across appearance, interaction, profiles, and keybinding sections.
Actions editor. A dedicated editor lets users customize keybindings and command actions through a graphical interface. It shows available actions, assigned keys, and allows adding, removing, or modifying bindings. The editor reduces the need to edit JSON manually for common customization tasks.
JSON configuration file. All settings are stored in a structured JSON file named settings.json. The file supports profiles, color schemes, keybindings, appearance options, and experimental features. Users can edit it directly or through the graphical settings interface, and changes are applied without reinstalling the application.
GPU-accelerated rendering. The terminal uses DirectWrite and DirectX-based rendering to display text smoothly at high refresh rates. It handles large amounts of output with reduced CPU usage compared to older console hosts. This improves responsiveness when running verbose commands or streaming logs.
Unicode and emoji support. The text buffer stores both UTF-16 and UTF-8, and the renderer displays a wide range of Unicode characters, including CJK glyphs and emoji. Users can configure how wide ambiguous Unicode characters are treated for better compatibility with Chinese, Japanese, and Korean console applications.
Color schemes and themes. Windows Terminal includes predefined color schemes and allows creating custom ones with foreground, background, cursor, and ANSI palette colors. Themes can be applied per profile, and the window frame, tab row, and background can use acrylic or image materials.
Background images and acrylic. Profiles can use a background image with configurable opacity, alignment, and stretch mode. Acrylic material provides a translucent effect behind the terminal surface. These options affect only appearance and do not change command execution.
Keybindings. Users can assign keyboard shortcuts to actions such as opening a new tab, closing a pane, switching profiles, copying text, or invoking the command palette. Bindings support modifier keys and can be scoped to specific contexts. Default bindings cover common operations.
Copy and paste. The terminal supports copying selected text and pasting from the clipboard with keyboard shortcuts and mouse actions. Selection can be line-based or block-based, and the copy behavior can be configured to trim trailing whitespace or include formatting.
Search in buffer. A search function scans the scrollback buffer for text entered by the user. It highlights matches and allows moving between them. This assists in locating errors, warnings, or specific output lines in long command histories.
Scrollback buffer. Each terminal session retains a configurable number of lines in memory for scrolling. Users can set the buffer size per profile. The scrollback content can be cleared manually or preserved depending on window persistence settings.
Window persistence. The application can remember window position, size, and open tabs between sessions. Persistence can include or exclude scrollback history depending on configuration. This restores the working layout after restarting the terminal.
Kitty input protocol. Support for the Kitty keyboard protocol provides a way to distinguish keyboard keys and how they were pressed, including modifiers and repeat states. This benefits applications that require detailed key event information, such as terminal-based editors and games.
Pseudoconsole (ConPTY). ConPTY is a Windows API that allows terminal applications to host command-line programs through a pseudoconsole interface. Windows Terminal uses ConPTY to run console applications while providing modern rendering, input handling, and session management.
Command-line arguments. The terminal can be launched with arguments that specify a profile, starting directory, command to execute, or window behavior. This supports scripting and integration with other tools that need to open a terminal session with predefined parameters.
Community translations. The interface is translated into multiple languages, including Ukrainian and Serbian in Cyrillic script. Translations are contributed by community members and distributed with the application. Language selection follows system settings or can be configured manually.

Windows Terminal was announced by Microsoft in 2019 and reached version 1.0 in 2020. The project is developed by the Microsoft Command-Line team, which took ownership of the Windows command-line in 2014. The application is written primarily in C++ and uses the Windows Implementation Libraries (WIL), DirectWrite, and DirectX. It is distributed through the Microsoft Store and GitHub.