The Windows Terminal app version 1.8 is now rolling out in the preview channel with a bunch of new features and improvements and ships version 1.7 to the stable channel.
In this release, the app finally brings the Settings graphical interface to the stable channel. It also implements the Shift and Click shortcut to open a new profile window, settings to customize the console when a window is not in focus, new command arguments, and there is a new option to name windows, and more.
What’s new on Windows Terminal 1.8
Here’s everything new with version 1.8 of the Windows Terminal app for Windows 10.
New Settings interface
In version 1.7 available in the stable channel and with version 1.8 in the preview channel, the Windows Terminal app now has a Settings interface to customize the experience, appearance, color scheme, startup behavior, profiles, and more. This means no more having to modify JSON files with a text editor (for the most part).
You can open the Settings from the main menu or using the Ctrl + , (comma) keyboard shortcut.
As part of the Settings improvements, when updating a profile, you will now find a drop-down to select the font, which means that you no longer have to type the font family name.
In this release, Microsoft is removing the base layer settings that allow you to specify all the common settings you want to use in all the profiles due to some architectural conflicts. However, the company is looking into other ways to bring the feature back.
Open profile in new window
Starting with version 1.8, you can now press and hold the Shift key and click in the profile drop-down menu to open the profile in a new window.
Appearance settings for unfocused profile
You can now add the "unfocusedAppearance" object into your profile’s JSON object and specify the appearance settings inside it.
Once you specify the settings, the profile will enable the appearance changes when the window is not in focus.
// Sets the profile's background image opacity to 0.3 when it is unfocused
"unfocusedAppearance":
{
"backgroundImageOpacity": 0.3<
},
New command arguements
Windows Terminal also includes some new command-line arguments in the list of wt, including the suppressApplicationTitle argument and --suppressApplicationTitle/--useApplicationTitle flags.
These new additions specify a specific profile to suppress app title changes upon start when using the command line.
Other improvements, includes tabSwitcherMode has been added to the nextTab and prevTab actions. The split-pane subcommand now accepts -D,–duplicate to duplicate the profile of the currently active pane, and you can now use the --colorScheme parameter on new-tab and split-pane commands.
Windows Terminal 1.8 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.
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].