Is there a way to change the default shell in Windows Terminal?

Question

When opening the new Windows Terminal, it opens up PowerShell. Also by default new tabs are PowerShell.

You have to manually switch to your desired shell.

Is there a way in the settings JSON file to change this to cmd or something else?

windows version : 1903

What version of Windows 10 are you running. Edit your question instead of submitting a comment — Ramhound, Jul 05 '19 at 14:08
Did you install the new Windows Terminal UWP application from the Windows Store? — Ramhound, Jul 05 '19 at 18:03
The tags on this question may need tweaking. The `terminal` tag is too generic and it's not a direct `powershell` question. — Parsa, Sep 13 '19 at 16:04

score 126 · Accepted Answer · edited Jun 05 '20 at 12:09

126

Open Windows Terminal JSON settings. Next, in profiles array find the object for the shell you're searching and copy the guid value from it. The last step is to paste this value into the defaultProfile attribute.

{
    "$schema": "https://aka.ms/terminal-profiles-schema",

    "defaultProfile": "{0caa0dad-35be-5f56-a8ff-afceeeaa6101}"

    ....

It may change your default shell.

edited Jun 05 '20 at 12:09

software2000

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answered Jul 05 '19 at 18:33

dotandl

1,376
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Note that the curly braces must be included: `{CMD-GUID-GOES-HERE}` – hughes Feb 14 '20 at 00:36
3

Note also that in mine, (Version 0.9.443.0), there's no "globals" section, it starts thusly: (after I changed mine to use PS7/Core) ```// To view the default settings, hold "alt" while clicking on the "Settings" button. // For documentation on these settings, see: https://aka.ms/terminal-documentation { "$schema": "https://aka.ms/terminal-profiles-schema", "defaultProfile": "{574e775e-4f2a-5b96-ac1e-a2962a402336}", "profiles": [ { // Make changes... ``` – Orangutech Mar 08 '20 at 00:13
I just replaced the defaultProfile (line 11) with the GUID mentioned in the Ubuntu array. Worked fine for me – Mark Aug 09 '20 at 16:34
This doesn't appear to work with the "Open in Windows Terminal" command in File Explorer – NetMage Feb 18 '21 at 21:50

score 14 · Answer 2 · answered Sep 14 '19 at 05:58

The procedure requires some knowledge about JSON file format. Here is a brief outline. Every member is represented as "name":"value" pair. Arrays use square brackets and Objects use curly brackets. Read this Wikipedia: JSON for more details.

Procedure:

Open Windows Terminal. Click on the down arrow symbol ˅ from menu bar. This will open a drop down menu from which select Settings option. Alternatively use Ctrl + , to open Settings directly. Here is a sample screenshot:

After selecting the Settings, Notepad (or the default text editor) will open profiles.json file. Here is a sample, see first JSON object i.e. "globals".

"globals" : 
{
    "alwaysShowTabs" : true,
    "copyOnSelect" : false,
    "defaultProfile" : "{12345678-1234-1234-1234-1234567890AB}",
    "initialCols" : 120,
    "initialRows" : 30,

We are interested in defaultProfile name. The value with 128-bit format {12345678-1234-1234-1234-1234567890AB} is called UUID. Assume its like a nickname for default shell :)

Now in that file, find "name" : "cmd" pair (or "commandline" : "cmd.exe" pair) for Command Prompt. There will be a "guid" pair adjacent of it. Copy the value, i.e. the 128-bit nickname. And paste it to globals > defaultProfile.
Restart Windows Terminal.

If you have installed Windows Terminal without Windows Store, the actual path of the profiles.json is "%LocalAppData%\Microsoft\Windows Terminal\profiles.json". You can directly open the path in any text editor.

Is there a way to change the default shell in Windows Terminal?

4 Answers4

Procedure:

Further Readings

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