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microsoft/terminal

The modern Windows Terminal app with tabs and Unicode support, plus the source for the classic Windows console host (conhost.exe).

Open-source alternative to:iTerm2

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What is it?

This repository holds the source code for Windows Terminal, a command-line application for Windows that supports tabs, rich text, theming and configurability. It also contains the original Windows console host, conhost.exe, which hosts Windows' command-line infrastructure and the Console API server, input and rendering engines.

The console host is the code from which conhost.exe in Windows itself is built. The repo also includes ColorTool, sample projects that show how to use the Windows Console APIs, and shared components such as a DirectWrite-based text rendering engine, a text buffer that stores UTF-16 and UTF-8, and a VT parser and emitter that other terminal implementations can reuse.

Windows Terminal can be installed from the Microsoft Store, winget, or GitHub release packages. Building requires Visual Studio with the C++ and WinUI workloads, and the app runs on Windows 10 build 19041 or later.

Key features

  • 01Tabbed interface with rich text and configurable theming
  • 02Supports ANSI/VT sequences and 24-bit color
  • 03Includes the Windows console host (conhost.exe) source code
  • 04Provides reusable components such as a DirectWrite text renderer and VT parser
  • 05Installable via Microsoft Store, winget, Chocolatey, or Scoop

Use cases

  • Using a modern tabbed terminal on Windows with WSL and command-line tools
  • Studying how the Windows console and ConPTY are implemented
  • Reusing terminal rendering or VT parsing components in a Windows application

Quick start

  1. 1

    Install Windows Terminal via winget

    winget install --id Microsoft.WindowsTerminal -e
  2. 2

    Or install from the Microsoft Store (recommended)

Things to know

  • Windows only; requires Windows 10 2004 (build 19041) or later.
  • The manual GitHub install does not auto-update.

Topics

#terminal#windows#command-line#console#cpp#windows-console#cmd#contributions-welcome#good-first-issue#hacktoberfest

FAQ

What is terminal?
The modern Windows Terminal app with tabs and Unicode support, plus the source for the classic Windows console host (conhost.exe). This repository holds the source code for Windows Terminal, a command-line application for Windows that supports tabs, rich text, theming and configurability. It also contains the original Windows console host, conhost.exe, which hosts Windows' command-line infrastructure and the Console API server, input and rendering engines.
Is terminal free to use? What license does it have?
terminal is open source under the MIT license. Check the license terms before using it in commercial products.
Is terminal still maintained?
Actively maintained. The last commit to terminal was on Oct 20, 2026.
What can I use terminal for?
Using a modern tabbed terminal on Windows with WSL and command-line tools Studying how the Windows console and ConPTY are implemented Reusing terminal rendering or VT parsing components in a Windows application
How do I install terminal?
Install Windows Terminal via winget: winget install --id Microsoft.WindowsTerminal -e Or install from the Microsoft Store (recommended)
Where can I get terminal?
The source code and installation instructions are on GitHub: https://github.com/microsoft/terminal

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