Windows Terminal 1.17 outs with menu customization and mica support

A new preview of the Windows Terminal arrives with mica material support, menu customization, launch position option, and more.

Windows Terminal 1.17
Windows Terminal 1.17
  • Windows Terminal 1.17 is now available as a preview.
  • This new version introduces drop-down menu customization, process restart, and mica support.
  • The update also adds an option to control the launch position and updates the Color Schemes page.

The Windows Terminal app is getting a new update that bumps the version number to “1.17” and brings new features, fixes, and improvements.

In version 1.17, the Windows Terminal introduces the ability to customize the drop-down menu in the tab area. After you close a process, you now have shortcuts to close the pane or relaunch it. The terminal now supports the mica material design technique to align the design on Windows 11. You can now control the launch position of the Windows Terminal from the Settings interface instead of updating the Settings.json file. And the Color Schemes page has a new overall design.

Drop-down menu customization

On Windows Terminal 1.17, you can now customize the appearance of the drop-drop menu in the tab area. This feature includes support for adding folders, adding separators, and adding profiles. The only caveat is that this feature is only available using the Settings.json file.

Restart process shortcuts

After you close a process, it’s now possible to use the “Ctrl + D” keyboard shortcut to close its pane or press “Enter” to relaunch it.

Windows Terminal with mica support

This release also brings support for the mica design background material. You can enable this visual feature from the Settings.json file by setting useMica to true in your theme settings.

Here’s an example of the code to enable the mica material in the terminal:

"theme": "myNewTheme",
    "themes": 
    [
        {
            "name": "myNewTheme",
            "tab": 
            {
                "unfocusedBackground": "#00000000"
            },
            "tabRow": 
            {
                "background": "#00000000",
                "unfocusedBackground": "#00000000"
            },
            "window": 
            {
                "applicationTheme": "dark",
                "useMica": true
            }
        }
    ]

Windows Terminal launch position

You can now control the launch position of the Windows Terminal from the Settings interface instead of updating the Settings.json file. The option is available on Settings > Startup > Launch parameters.

Color Schemes page update

Finally, Windows Terminal 1.17 also updates the design of the Color Schemes page for a more intuitive user flow. Also, when customizing a profile’s color scheme, you will now see a tiny preview of that color scheme before you select it.

Furthermore, you can now configure a color scheme (per profile) to apply in the System Light theme and System Dark theme and configure a color scheme (per profile) to apply in the Application theme.

This release also includes a bunch of fixes and other minor improvements.

Windows Terminal 1.17 is now available as a preview with the new features mentioned above and several bug fixes, and you can download it from the Microsoft Store or GitHub. If you are using the stable channel of the app, you can now update to version 1.16, which includes all these improvements.

About the author

Mauro Huculak is a Windows How-To Expert who started Pureinfotech in 2010 as an independent online publication. He has also been a Windows Central contributor for nearly a decade. Mauro has over 15 years of experience writing comprehensive guides and creating professional videos about Windows and software, including Android and Linux. Before becoming a technology writer, he was an IT administrator for seven years. In total, Mauro has over 21 years of combined experience in technology. Throughout his career, he achieved different professional certifications from Microsoft (MSCA), Cisco (CCNP), VMware (VCP), and CompTIA (A+ and Network+), and he has been recognized as a Microsoft MVP for many years. You can follow him on X (Twitter), YouTube, LinkedIn and About.me. Email him at [email protected].