If you often use the command line in Windows, you've probably already noticed that Windows Terminal can become your control center for CMD, PowerShell, and WSL. The great thing is that, with a few tweaks and tricks, it goes from being a simple text window to a powerful tool for productivity, administration, and development.
Throughout this guide we will break down, step by step, How to get the most out of Windows TerminalFrom basic setup and visual customization to advanced keyboard shortcuts, essential diagnostic commands, and creative ways to integrate other tools, the goal is for you to have a comfortable, powerful terminal tailored to your workflow.
Getting Started with Windows Terminal
The first time you open Windows Terminal, it starts with a profile of Windows PowerShell as the main consoleIt also comes pre-configured with Command Prompt (CMD) and Azure Cloud Shell. All of this is organized into tabs, so you can switch environments without closing the window.
As soon as you install any distribution of the Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL)Windows Terminal automatically detects these distributions and creates profiles for each one. If you later add another WSL distribution, The new profile will only appear on the next startup. of the terminal, usually with the Tux icon so you can identify it on the fly.
How to view and understand the default settings
Windows Terminal has a lot of built-in options: color schemes, keyboard shortcuts, tab styles, transparencies and much more. To see the complete factory settings, you can press and hold the key Alt and click the button Configuration from the drop-down menu in the tab bar.
That opens the base settings file, where you'll see the object profiles with a block defaultsThere you can define parameters that will apply to all profiles without having to repeat them one by one, such as the default font (fontFace) or the text size. Then, in the list "list"Each profile can overwrite only what it needs.
Profiles, tabs, and visual customization
Once you have the settings under control, the next step is to customize the interface to your liking. Each Windows Terminal profile can have your own name, icon, background color, and tab color, in addition to other aesthetic details.
Rename tabs on the fly
If you manage multiple tabs at once, it's very convenient to be able to Rename each tab for the current sessionRight-click on the tab, choose Change tab name and enter the title you want. This only affects that session; if you want all new windows in that profile to always have the same title, you'll need to configure it in the corresponding profile within settings.json.
Coloring eyelashes to help you find your way better
In addition to the title, you can assign a specific color to a tab for quickly identify what environment you are inRight-click on the tab, option Color and you choose one of the suggested colors or Personalized… to define your own tone with the selector or RGB/HSV/hex values.
If you want that color to always be applied to a profile, you must use the property tabColor within the profile object in settings.jsonIt is usual that background and tabColor share the same color so that everything is visually integrated. Keep in mind that tabColor cannot be set from a color scheme nor through escape sequences from the shell.
Mouse tricks within Windows Terminal
Although the terminal is a text-based environment, mouse support in Windows Terminal is very well implemented and It allows for quick actions without relying so heavily on keyboard shortcuts.There are several interesting interactions worth knowing about.
Zoom in on the text using the wheel
If you want to temporarily increase or decrease the font size, simply Hold down the Ctrl key and move the mouse wheelThe zoom level is maintained only during that session, so it's ideal for specific situations without changing the profile font size.
Adjust the background transparency with the mouse
Another interesting option is background opacity. If you press Press Ctrl+Shift and move the wheel, Can vary the transparency of the window in real time. This opacity only lasts until you close that instance, but if you want to control the acrylic transparency permanently, you do so in the profile's appearance settings (useAcrylic, acrylicOpacity).
Open links with Ctrl+click
When a URL appears in the terminal text, you can open it directly in your browser with Ctrl + clickThis way, any link you see in the output of a command it becomes interactive without needing to copy it manually or paste it into the browser.
Drag files or folders to the new tab button
A very useful trick is that you can drag a file or folder from File Explorer and release it onto the button New tab from Windows Terminal. By default, a new tab opens with the default profile using that path or object as the context.
If you keep Alt pressed when releasedInstead of a tab, a new panel in the current tabAnd if you maintain Shift, a begins standalone terminal windowwhich gives you a lot of control over how you want to organize the sessions.
Copy and paste quickly
In Windows Terminal, the right-click can be used very conveniently to Copy and paste without keyboard shortcutsYou select text with the mouse and, depending on your settings, the right click can either paste or display a context menu.
There is also the option copyOnSelect: if you activate it with a value true, Everything you select with the mouse is automatically copied to the clipboardIn this mode, right-clicking always pastes, which greatly speeds up interaction when working by copying results or commands.
Mouse support in WSL and virtual terminal
Many advanced console applications (such as tmux or Midnight CommanderThey use what's called virtual terminal (VT) mouse mode. Windows Terminal supports this mode for both WSL for Windows apps that use VT inputso you can select items, move panels, or interact with menus directly using the mouse.
If an application is using the mouse in VT mode and you want make a traditional text selection Instead of sending clicks to the app, hold down the key Shift While you select with the mouse, the terminal interprets the gesture as a normal selection.
Custom shortcuts: send commands with a single key
One of the most powerful features of Windows Terminal is the ability to define custom actions that send text to the shell as if you had typed it yourself. This is done through the action sendInput in the section "actions" file settings.json.
The basic structure of this type of shortcut consists of an object with the key command, where the action is indicated "sendInput" and the text you want to send, along with the key combination in KeysOptionally, you can add a name descriptive that will be displayed in the list of actions.
Example: automatically clean the screen
A typical case is mapping a shortcut to clean the terminal exitIn bash-type shells you can use clear, whereas in CMD it is usual to clsSetting up a sendInput With the text of that command and the key you choose, you clear the screen with a shortcut without typing anything.
Example: move to the parent directory
Another practical example is assigning a shortcut to change to the parent directory with “cd ..”If you link "cd ..\r" to a key combination like Ctrl + Up ArrowMoving through the folder hierarchy becomes much more agile, especially when you're navigating deep structures.
In general, this feature allows you automate commands you use very often: launch build scripts (and know where to store them), run tests, start development servers, or any repetitive action you want to turn into a shortcut.
Focus mode: work without distractions
The call focus mode Windows Terminal removes the title bar and top tabs from view, leaving only the console content. It's a kind of "Zen mode" similar to that of Visual Studio Code, designed for focus only on what happens at the terminal.
To enter this mode manually, open the command palette to Ctrl + Shift + P, type “focus mode” and choose the option Toggle focus modeIf you repeat those steps, you return to the normal state, so you can switch as needed.
If you want Windows Terminal Always start in focus mode, enter the panel of Configuration (Ctrl + ,), go to the tab Home and in “Startup mode” select Our Approach o Maximized focusDon't forget to click on Save to apply the changes.
You can also assign a direct shortcut to this mode in settings.json through action toggleFocusModeYou just need to add it to the section "actions" with your preferred key combination, for example Ctrl + F12 or another that is not already in use.
Quake mode: fold-out terminal like a game console
Another very interesting special mode is the one known as Quake modewhich makes the terminal behave like the foldable console of many video gamesThis mode is activated when Windows Terminal starts a window whose name is _quake.
In this mode, the window automatically snaps into place. the upper half of the screenAnd you can't resize it horizontally or from the top, only adjust the height from the bottom. Furthermore, it goes directly into focus, hides tabs and the title bar, and centers the content.
there can only be a window in Quake mode is active at the same timeWhen you minimize that window, it disappears from both the taskbar and the menu selector. Alt + Tabso that it remains in a very discreet background role.
To open this special window you can link the quakeMode action to a key combination or manually launch the command wt -w _quake From another console or via a shortcut. This way you always have a terminal available, ready to deploy at any time.
Divided panels and complex work areas
One of Windows Terminal's greatest strengths is its management of divided panels within the same tabThis allows you to have a server log, an administration shell, and a text editor in view at the same time, for example.
The action splitPane allows you to divide the active panel in a way that automatic, vertical or horizontal. Using "split": "auto"The terminal decides whether to divide vertically or horizontally depending on the available space. If you specify "vertical" u "horizontal" forces the type of division you prefer.
The action duplicatePane It creates a new panel by cloning both the profile and working directory of the current panel, which is very convenient if you want Continue in the same folder but with a separate sessionIn addition, you have shares for move the focus (moveFocus) between panels and for resize them (resizePane) with keyboard shortcuts that you can customize.
With these features you can assemble real mosaic work environments, adjusting the dimensions so that the most important panel occupies more space and the rest remain as support utilities.
Preconfigured startups with multiple tabs and panels
If you always work with a similar structure (for example, PowerShell for the backend, CMD for legacy tools, and Ubuntu WSL for scripts), you can automate it with a single command wtWindows Terminal allows you to chain together several commands separated by ; to open new tabs and custom home panels.
Within this command, subcommands such as new-tab, split-pane (or its abbreviation) sp) and focus-tabwith parameters such as -p to choose the profile or -H to indicate a horizontal division. Additionally, you can add -d . or a specific route behind -p so that each profile Start now in the directory you are interested in., and use --title to set the initial title of each tab.
The beauty of this system is that you can convert that command wt in a shortcut or startup scriptso that with a double click you open your "standard working environment" with all the tabs and panels ready.
Advanced search and terminal history
Another very useful feature of Windows Terminal is its integrated search, which is activated with Ctrl+Shift+FThe search is performed on the entire offset buffernot only on the lines visible at that moment, allowing you to easily locate old error messages or specific command outputs.
From the search interface you can toggle options such as distinguish between uppercase and lowercase letters or use regular expressionsThis makes it a very powerful tool for filtering results. However, the longer the history, the further back you can search.
If you want to increase the number of lines stored in memory, you can adjust the parameter "historySize" in the top-level configuration of the file settings.jsonA higher value means that canned goods plus historical exit, at the cost of slightly more memory usage, which is acceptable in most modern computers.
If you need the search to also include output from previous sessions, the ideal solution is redirect output to log files and use external search tools (such as findstr, Select-String or grep in WSL) to track those files with more control.
Organize the configuration with JSON fragments
When your file settings.json As it grows, maintaining it can become cumbersome. To avoid chaos, Windows Terminal supports modular configuration using JSON fragmentswhich allow you to divide the settings into several thematic files.
The idea is simple: you create separate files, for example my-actions.json for keyboard shortcuts and my-themes.json for themes, and then you include them in the main configuration using the key "Import" in the root of the JSON. Each fragment can contain only one subset (such as "actions" o "themes"), and the system takes care of integrating everything.
This method makes it much more convenient share settings between teams, maintain separate versions for work and personal use, or simply test changes without touching the main file.
Dynamic profiles and specific environmental variables
Windows Terminal automatically generates dynamic profiles For certain sources, such as PowerShell, Azure Cloud Shell, or WSL. If you don't use one of these, you can hide it to simplify the profile listing using the option "disabledProfileSources" in the root of the configuration file, indicating there the sources you want to disable.
Additionally, each profile can include a block "environment" with your own environment variables, which allows you, for example, to create a “Dev” profile with NODE_ENV, DEBUG or other variables predefined, without affecting the rest of the system. If you combine it with a specific startingDirectoryYou get shells already geared towards a specific project as soon as you open the tab.
Retro effects, themes and fonts with special glyphs
If you like the classic aesthetic of CRT monitors, Windows Terminal includes a experimental retro terminal effect It simulates that vintage look with scanlines and a slight blur. You can activate it in a profile by adding the property "Experimental.retroTerminalEffect": true.
That mode looks especially good combined with a dark background (approx. #101010), the activated acrylic transparency (useAcrylic: true, acrylicOpacity: 0.8) and a tabColor matching the backgroundYou can complete the look by selecting a monochromatic color scheme or the built-in "Vintage" theme to further evoke the terminals of yesteryear.
If you want to take customization a step further, you can install fonts with Powerline glyphs (like Cascadia Code PL or similar), which allows you to use Advanced prompts with icons, progress bars, and status symbols in shells like PowerShell, Bash or Zsh under WSL.
Shell integration and smart tab titles
Beyond the visual effects, one of the most welcome improvements is the ability to customize the shell prompt (either PowerShell, CMD or Bash) so that Tab titles should reflect useful information such as the current path, the Git branch, or the active virtual environment.
In PowerShell, for example, you can use modules like oh-my-posh or customize the prompt itself to send escape sequences that update the window title. This way, each tab displays at a glance What project are you working on and what is the status of the repository?saving many mistakes.
You can also use the action sendInput to automate a title "refresh" with a command like clear or scripts that recalculate the prompt informationThis is useful when you change environments or resolve error states and want the title to update to the new context.
Essential commands for diagnosis and administration
Beyond Windows Terminal as an application, what really makes the difference are the commands you execute withinThe Windows terminal is still less flexible than that of GNU/Linux in many respects, but with the right tools it becomes tremendously useful for both advanced users and administrators.
CMD, PowerShell and WSL: each with its role
Windows Terminal coexists CMD, PowerShell and Bash (via WSL) under a single interface. CMD offers classic system commands, PowerShell adds scripting and advanced automation, and WSL opens the door to Creating Bash scripts in Windows and native Linux tools. Thanks to this, you can mix, in separate windows, Windows commands, PowerShell scripts, and utilities like grep, sed, or awk.
Network and connectivity: ipconfig, netstat, ping and company
For network problems, there are several commands that should be in your arsenal. With ipconfig you can see the current IP address of your network adaptersGateway, DNS, and other data. Using variants such as ipconfig /release e ipconfig /renew You renew your DHCP configuration, while ipconfig /flushdns Clear your DNS cache if you experience unusual outages or pages that don't resolve properly.
The command netstat ideal results for View active connections, open ports, and associated processes. Running netstat -ano You also get the PID, which allows you to link a suspicious connection to a specific process from the Task Manager or with tasklist.
If you suspect general connectivity problems, ping It allows you to test if you can reach a specific host, while netsh int ip reset It can reset the TCP/IP stack to its original state and help you resolve more persistent network issues.
System and storage health: chkdsk, sfc, driverquery
When you notice that your computer starts slowly, generates strange errors, or corrupts files, there are two key commands. First, chkdsk analyzes and repairs logical and physical disk errorsdetecting defective sectors and read problems. On the other hand, sfc / scannow It launches the System File Checker, which It scans the operating system files and restores them. If you find damage, use protected original copies.
To check installed drivers, driverquery displays a list of all system drivers, their path and the link date (LinkDate)This information is very useful for determining if a driver is outdated or potentially conflicting after a hardware change or a Windows reinstallation.
Tasks, processes, and controlled shutdowns
When you need to control what's running on the system, tasklist It returns a static list of active processes and tasks, ideal for calmly examine what is being executed without the view constantly refreshing as happens in the Task Manager.
If you want to end a specific process, you can use taskkill /im name.exe o taskkill /pid PIDtargeting the problematic process precisely. This way of working is very accurate for Close frozen applications or unresponsive services..
On the other hand, the command shutdown It offers you very fine control over shutdowns, restarts, and hibernationsincluding timers and forced options. It is ideal for automating maintenance scripts or scheduling remote shutdowns on multiple devices.
System and battery information
Before installing certain demanding software or making major changes, systeminfo It shows you at a glance the Basic PC configuration: model, CPU, memory, BIOS version, Windows edition, and installed updatesThis way you can quickly check if you meet the minimum requirements of an application.
On portable computers, powercfg / batteryreport Generates a detailed HTML report on battery status, charge cycles, and potential degradationOpening that report in your browser helps you understand why the battery life has decreased and what steps to take to extend its lifespan.
External tools to take the terminal to the next level
If you want to go even further, there are several external utilities that, combined with Windows Terminal, They completely transform your console experienceSome are alternative emulators, others are package managers or development tools.
Additional terminal emulators
Although Windows Terminal has improved a lot, there are still those who prefer emulators like ConEmu or cmderwhich for years have been a benchmark in the Windows ecosystem. ConEmu stands out for the huge number of customization options, while cmder builds upon it but adds a more visually friendly environment and a bash-like command line with Clink.
There are also alternatives such as Console2, ConsoleZ or PowerCMDThese ideas offer different approaches to tabs, transparencies, and aesthetic improvements. Even if you ultimately stick with Windows Terminal as your primary interface, many of these ideas have influenced how the console is conceived in Windows today.
Chocolatey package manager
One of the great strengths of Linux is the package managers like apt, yum or pacmanwhich allow you to install, update, and remove applications from the terminal without visiting websites or using graphical wizards. In Windows, Chocolate and It fulfills a very similar role.
Once installed from PowerShell with administrator privileges, you can use commands like choco search, choco install, chocolate remover o Choco Update to manage software centrally. You automate environment assemblies and you avoid having to manually download each program from its website.
Git, UNIX-like tools, and programming languages
Install Git for Windows It not only gives you a version control system, it also provides a UNIX-like environment (MSys, MinGW) with classic commands like grep, sort, find or wgetwhich brings the experience quite close to what you get in a GNU/Linux terminal.
To this you can add your favorite programming language, such as Node.js, Python, Ruby or PHP, which usually incorporate their own package managers (npm, pip, gem, composeretc.). Examples such as npm install less They provide you with tools such as lesssc To compile CSS or all kinds of utilities developed in JavaScript, accessible directly from the terminal, and to choose an editor, consult the The ultimate guide to the best IDEs and code editors.
ADB, SSH and remote administration
If you work with Android devices, install the Android SDK It gives you access to the command adb (Android Debug Bridge), with which you can Install APKs, view system logs, uninstall apps, and open a shell directly on the deviceprovided you have the drivers and USB debugging correctly configured.
For secure remote connections, the protocol SSH It remains the standard. On Windows you can use clients like PuTTY, KiTTY or MTPuTTY To manage multiple tabbed sessions, enable compression, and tunnel ports. If you want to allow incoming connections to your machine, you can set up a ssh-server with solutions like FreeSSHd or OpenSSH for Windows, and manage your PC from anywhere with complete security.
Multimedia processing, PDF and administrative utilities
In the multimedia field, tools such as ImageMagick, NConvert, GIFSicle or FFmpeg permiten resize images, convert between formats, alter audio bitrate, or transform videos using only the command line. This is ideal for automating repetitive conversion tasks or creating scripts for processing large quantities of files.
If you frequently work with PDFs, utilities like PDFtk, GhostScript, or QPDF make it possible split, join, rotate pages or repair damaged documents without the need for heavyweight desktop programs. And for system administration, collections like Sysinternals and Nirsoft, which can be integrated through panels such as WSCC (Windows System Control Center)They offer a large battery of both graphical and console tools to monitor and debug the system in depth.
This whole set of tricks, shortcuts, and tools makes Windows Terminal into a central working platform capable of bringing together CMD, PowerShell, WSL and external utilities Under one window, fully customizable, flexible and ready to adapt to any workflow you need to set up in your day-to-day life. Share this tutorial and more people will know how to use Windows Terminal.