microsoft/terminal

microsoft/terminal

Description: The new Windows Terminal and the original Windows console host, all in the same place!

Language: C++

License: MIT

Stars: 103552

Forks: 9330

Open issues: 1732

Created: 2017-08-11T18:38:22Z

Pushed: 2026-06-11T00:14:13Z

Default branch: main

Fork: no

Archived: no

README: !terminal-logos


Welcome to the Windows Terminal, Console and Command-Line repo

Table of Contents

• [Installing and running Windows Terminal](#installing-and-running-windows-terminal)
• [Microsoft Store \[Recommended\]](#microsoft-store-recommended)
• [Other install methods](#other-install-methods)
• [Via GitHub](#via-github)
• [Via Windows Package Manager CLI (aka winget)](#via-windows-package-manager-cli-aka-winget)
• [Via Chocolatey (unofficial)](#via-chocolatey-unofficial)
• [Via Scoop (unofficial)](#via-scoop-unofficial)
• [Installing Windows Terminal Canary](#installing-windows-terminal-canary)
• [Terminal \& Console Overview](#terminal--console-overview)
• [Windows Terminal](#windows-terminal)
• [The Windows Console Host](#the-windows-console-host)
• [Shared Components](#shared-components)
• [Creating the new Windows Terminal](#creating-the-new-windows-terminal)
• [Resources](#resources)
• [FAQ](#faq)
• [I built and ran the new Terminal, but it looks just like the old console](#i-built-and-ran-the-new-terminal-but-it-looks-just-like-the-old-console)
• [Documentation](#documentation)
• [Contributing](#contributing)
• [Communicating with the Team](#communicating-with-the-team)
• [Developer Guidance](#developer-guidance)
• [Prerequisites](#prerequisites)
• [Building the Code](#building-the-code)
• [Building in PowerShell](#building-in-powershell)
• [Building in Cmd](#building-in-cmd)
• [Running \& Debugging](#running--debugging)
• [Coding Guidance](#coding-guidance)
• [Code of Conduct](#code-of-conduct)

This repository contains the source code for:

• Windows Terminal
• Windows Terminal Preview
• The Windows console host (conhost.exe)
• Components shared between the two projects
• [ColorTool](./src/tools/ColorTool)
• [Sample projects](./samples)

that show how to consume the Windows Console APIs

Related repositories include:

• Windows Terminal Documentation

(Repo: Contribute to the docs)

• Console API Documentation
• Cascadia Code Font

Installing and running Windows Terminal

> [!NOTE] > Windows Terminal requires Windows 10 2004 (build 19041) or later

Microsoft Store [Recommended]

Install the [Windows Terminal from the Microsoft Store][store-install-link]. This allows you to always be on the latest version when we release new builds with automatic upgrades.

This is our preferred method.

Other install methods

Via GitHub

For users who are unable to install Windows Terminal from the Microsoft Store, released builds can be manually downloaded from this repository's Releases page.

Download the Microsoft.WindowsTerminal_.msixbundle file from the Assets section. To install the app, you can simply double-click on the .msixbundle file, and the app installer should automatically run. If that fails for any reason, you can try the following command at a PowerShell prompt:

# NOTE: If you are using PowerShell 7+, please run
# Import-Module Appx -UseWindowsPowerShell
# before using Add-AppxPackage.

Add-AppxPackage Microsoft.WindowsTerminal_.msixbundle

> [!NOTE] > If you install Terminal manually: > > * You may need to install the VC++ v14 Desktop Framework Package. > This should only be necessary on older builds of Windows 10 and only if you get an error about missing framework packages. > * Terminal will not auto-update when new builds are released so you will need > to regularly install the latest Terminal release to receive all the latest > fixes and improvements!

Via Windows Package Manager CLI (aka winget)

winget users can download and install the latest Terminal release by installing the Microsoft.WindowsTerminal package:

winget install --id Microsoft.WindowsTerminal -e

> [!NOTE] > Dependency support is available in WinGet version 1.6.2631 or later. To install the Terminal stable release 1.18 or later, please make sure you have the updated version of the WinGet client.

Via Chocolatey (unofficial)

Chocolatey users can download and install the latest Terminal release by installing the microsoft-windows-terminal package:

choco install microsoft-windows-terminal

To upgrade Windows Terminal using Chocolatey, run the following:

choco upgrade microsoft-windows-terminal

If you have any issues when installing/upgrading the package please go to the Windows Terminal package page and follow the Chocolatey triage process

Via Scoop (unofficial)

Scoop users can download and install the latest Terminal release by installing the windows-terminal package:

scoop bucket add extras
scoop install windows-terminal

To update Windows Terminal using Scoop, run the following:

scoop update windows-terminal

If you have any issues when installing/updating the package, please search for or report the same on the issues page of Scoop Extras bucket repository.

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Installing Windows Terminal Canary

Windows Terminal Canary is a nightly build of Windows Terminal. This build has the latest code from our main branch, giving you an opportunity to try features before they make it to Windows…