How to change the default shell in Windows terminal

When you open Windows Terminal, PowerShell starts as your default shell. If you wish, you can change this default shell to something you like, like Command Prompt or Ubuntu (Linux). This is done by changing a bit of code in the config file.

Change default shell in Windows terminal

There is some code in the Windows Terminal configuration file that decides which shell to open first. You can modify this code so that your favorite shell becomes the default in this app.

You can configure any shell available in Windows Terminal, including command prompt, Ubuntu (Linux) y Azure Cloud Shell, as default in Windows Terminal.

To do this, open the menu “Beginning”, I searched “Windows Terminal” and click the app in the results.

In the Windows Terminal window, haga clic en el icono de flecha hacia abajo en la parte de arriba y seleccione “Setting”.

Windows asks how you want to open the configuration file. Please select “Notepad” en el listado y haga clic en “To accept”.

Tip: You can also use any other text editor you prefer. Just make sure it's a plain text editor.

In settings, navigate to the shell section you want to set as the default. There is a heading at the top of each section that tells what each shell is for.

As an example, la sección de PowerShell dice “Realice cambios aquí en el perfil de powershell.exe”. In the same way, la sección del símbolo del sistema dice “Realice cambios aquí en el perfil cmd.exe”. La sección de Ubuntu tiene “Ubuntu” to the right of “Name”.

Now, copie el texto que está escrito junto a “guid” en su sección de shell. No es necesario copiar las comillas dobles. Simplemente copie el texto dentro de las comillas, including brackets.

Desplácese hasta la parte de arriba de la configuración y busque el campo “Default profile”. Delete the text that is written next to this field and paste your copied guide here. Presione Ctrl + V to quickly paste your code.