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Windows Terminal

Microsoft's modern, open-source terminal for Command Prompt, PowerShell and WSL on Windows.

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About Windows Terminal

Windows Terminal is Microsoft's tabbed terminal application for Windows 10 and 11, and the default terminal on recent Windows 11 releases. It hosts any command-line shell in one window: Command Prompt, PowerShell, Linux distributions through the Windows Subsystem for Linux, Azure Cloud Shell and SSH sessions, each as a profile with its own colours, fonts and starting directory. Features include tabs and split panes, a GPU-accelerated text renderer, full Unicode and emoji support, a command palette, a Quake-style drop-down window and a settings UI on top of a JSON file. It is developed in the open on GitHub under the MIT licence and distributed through the Microsoft Store, winget and GitHub releases. For most Windows users it is the obvious choice. It is Windows only, has fewer power-user extras than terminals like WezTerm, and does not include SSH session management of the kind dedicated clients provide.

Best for: Windows users who switch between PowerShell, Command Prompt and WSL.

Pros and cons

What works

  • Free, open source and preinstalled on recent Windows 11
  • Profiles for every shell, including WSL distributions
  • Tabs, panes and GPU-accelerated rendering

Why people leave

  • Windows only
  • No saved SSH hosts or file transfer like dedicated clients
  • Advanced settings still mean editing JSON

Top Windows Terminal alternatives

See all 5
  1. 1WezTerm logo
    WezTerm

    Cross-platform with a built-in multiplexer and Lua scripting.

    66.5
  2. 2Tabby (terminal) logo
    Tabby (terminal)

    Adds saved SSH and serial connections with a built-in SFTP panel.

    62.6
  3. 3Warp logo
    Warp

    AI agents and modern command editing, also available on Windows.

    59.6
  4. 4MobaXterm logo
    MobaXterm

    Bundles an X server, SSH sessions and network tools for remote admin work.

    57.2
  5. 5Alacritty logo
    Alacritty

    Minimal, very fast GPU terminal for Windows, macOS and Linux.

    55.3

Why people left Windows Terminal

In reviewers' own words, from reviews of the apps they moved to. These are their opinions, not ours.

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Reviews

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Windows Terminal: common questions

Is Windows Terminal free?

Yes. Windows Terminal is free, open-source software.

Is Windows Terminal open source?

Yes. The source code is on GitHub at microsoft/terminal.

What platforms does Windows Terminal run on?

Windows Terminal is available for Windows.

What are the best alternatives to Windows Terminal?

The highest-ranked Windows Terminal alternatives right now are WezTerm, Tabby (terminal) and Warp. See the full ranked list for pricing, platforms and verified facts.

See all 5 Windows Terminal alternatives