How to change default font face on Windows Terminal

On Windows 11 or 10, the Windows Terminal app comes with a predefined set of customization settings, including the “Cascadia Mono” as the default font on every profile.

However, changing the default font face to anything you want is possible. For example, if you prefer the “Consolas” font, the original default for Command Prompt, or any other font face available on your device with the settings UI or the “settings.json” file.

This guide will teach you how to change the default font face for the Windows Terminal app on Windows 11 or 10.

Change default Windows Terminal font face with settings UI
Change default Windows Terminal font face with settings.json

Change default Windows Terminal font face with settings UI

To change the default font face with the settings UI, use these steps:

Open Windows Terminal.
Use the Shift + Ctrl + , (comma) keyboard shortcut to open the settings UI.
Click on Defaults.
Click the Appearance tab.
Under the “Text” section, use the “Font face” setting and type the name of the style – for example, Consolas.
Click the Save button in the bottom-right corner.

Once you complete the steps, the new font style will apply immediately to every profile configured on the Windows Terminal.

Configure default specific profile font face

To change the font style for a specific command-line tool, use these steps:

Open Windows Terminal.
Use the Shift + Ctrl + , (comma) keyboard shortcut to open the settings UI.
Click on the profile to change the settings — for example, Windows PowerShell or Command Prompt.
Click the Appearance tab.
Under the “Text” section, use the “Font face” setting and type the name of the style – for example, Consolas.
Click the Save button.

After you complete the steps, only the command-line tool you configured will start using the new font family.

Change default Windows Terminal font face with settings.json

To set a new default font face for the terminal with the settings.json file, use these steps:

Open Windows Terminal.
Use the Ctrl + Alt + , (comma) keyboard shortcut to open the settings.json file with the default code editor.

Quick tip: It is recommended to use Visual Studio Code. You can also open the file by clicking the menu (down-arrow) button next to the tab and selecting the Settings option.
Under the “profiles” section, inside the “defaults” brackets, type the following command to change the font face:
```
"fontFace": "Consolas"
```
In the command, make sure to change the Consolas for the name of the font style you want to use.

Quick tip: If you have more than one line of code inside the bracket, ensure all the lines end with a comma (,) except for the last line. Otherwise, the settings may not save correctly. You can find the name of all the available font faces on Settings > Personalization > Fonts.
Use the Ctrl + S keyboard shortcut to save the file.

After you complete the steps, the font settings will apply automatically.

Configure default specific profile font face

To specify a new font style for a command-line tool with the settings.json file, use these steps:

Open Windows Terminal.
Use the Ctrl + Alt + , (comma) keyboard shortcut to open the settings.json file with the default code editor.
Under the “profiles” section, inside the brackets of the profile you want to update, type the following command to change the font face:
```
"fontFace": "Consolas"
```
In the command, make sure to change the Consolas for the name of the font style you want to use.

Quick tip: If you have more than one line of code inside the bracket, ensure all the lines end with a comma (,) except for the last line. Otherwise, the settings may not save correctly.
Use the Ctrl + S keyboard shortcut to save the file.

Once you complete the steps, only the profile you configured will start using the new font family.