Windows Terminal

microsoft/terminalReviewed by AI

What it does

This is the source code of Windows Terminal, Microsoft's window for typing commands, with tabs, panes, themes, emoji and full Unicode text, able to host PowerShell, the old cmd prompt and Linux shells through WSL. The same repository holds the classic Windows console host (conhost.exe) that ships inside Windows itself. For a normal user it is an app, not a project: Microsoft recommends installing it from the Microsoft Store, and it needs Windows 10 version 2004 (build 19041) or newer.

How easy it is to install

A · download and open · Windows

Windows is the only platform it exists for, and installing it is a single step: the Microsoft Store (the method the README calls preferred, with automatic updates) or `winget install --id Microsoft.WindowsTerminal -e`. Nothing has to be configured before the first use, and there is no grade for macOS or Linux because the program is Windows-only.

Numbers on GitHub

Stars: 105,299on Oct 31, 2026
Downloads: 40,739,482560,596 this week
Growth: +53stars in 5 days

Stars over time

Facts

Runs on: Windows
You need to install: Nothing extra
Disk space: 2 MB–5 MB · from the installer
Accounts or keys: None
Cost: Free · Free, MIT-licensed and published by Microsoft, with no paid tier.
License: MIT (Permissive)
Last update: Oct 30, 2026

Risk signals (4)

Infothe newest releases here do not hold the installer
The README tells manual installers to "Download the Microsoft.WindowsTerminal_<versionNumber>.msixbundle file from the Assets section", but among the three newest releases the only files are a 2 MB Microsoft.Windows.Console.ConPTY nupkg (a component for developers) and, on two of them, an msixbundle "Windows10_PreinstallKit" zip. The ready app comes from the Microsoft Store or winget rather than from these release assets.
AI review
Infomanual installs do not update themselves
README note: "Terminal will not auto-update when new builds are released so you will need to regularly install the latest Terminal release to receive all the latest fixes and improvements!" The same applies to the Canary Portable ZIP, which "will not automatically update and will not automatically check for updates".
AI review
Infotwo install channels are marked unofficial
The README's own headings read "Via Chocolatey (unofficial)" and "Via Scoop (unofficial)", and it sends problems with those packages to the Chocolatey triage process or the Scoop Extras issue tracker, not to Microsoft.
AI review
Infoolder windows and canary limits
README: "Windows Terminal requires Windows 10 2004 (build 19041) or later", a manual install on older Windows 10 builds may also need the VC++ v14 Desktop Framework Package, and the Canary App Installer build "only works on Windows 11". Canary is described as "our least stable offering".
AI review

Evidence is shown in its original language.

What Radar could not check

Whether the app you get from the Microsoft Store was built from exactly this source
Which release file to use if you cannot reach the Store, since the newest releases here carry only developer components
Real disk use after installing, estimated at 2 to 5 MB from the published files, which is far below a full app install
How it behaves on your Windows version and graphics drivers, as rendering is hardware-accelerated