How to open terminal in windows

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The Windows Terminal is the latest effort from Microsoft in turning the use of command-line tools and shells into a pleasant experience, similar to the one offered by Linux and other operating systems. However, if you are interested in learning how it works and how to use it, you first need to know how to open it. To help you out, here’s a long list of all the ways in which you can start the Windows Terminal, with and without administrator privileges:

NOTE: If you use Windows 10, make sure that you have installed the Windows Terminal first. Here’s how to get the Windows Terminal app. If you use Windows 11, there’s nothing you need to do before using the Windows Terminal.

1. Open the Windows Terminal using search

One of the fastest ways to start the Windows Terminal is to use search. In Windows 11, click the Search icon and then type “terminal” or “windows terminal.” Press Enter on your keyboard when you see the Windows Terminal search result or click or tap the search result itself or the Open option on the right. If you need to run this app with administrator permissions, press the arrow pointing downwards on the right of the search result, and then choose “Run as administrator.”

Search for terminal in Windows 11

In Windows 10, click inside the search box from the taskbar and type “terminal” or “windows terminal.” Then, click or tap the Windows Terminal search result. You can also click or tap the Open option on the right. To see the “Run as administrator” option, first press on the arrow pointing downwards.

Search for terminal in Windows 10

2. Use the Run window to open the Windows Terminal

Another fast method is to open the Run window by pressing the Windows + R keys on your keyboard. Then, type wt and press Enter or click OK.

Run the command wt

3. Use the WinX menu to start the Windows Terminal (Windows 11 only)

The Windows Terminal is included by default in Windows 11 and promoted by Microsoft as the main command-line app. The company wants people to get used to it and use it instead of the traditional Command Prompt and PowerShell. Therefore, the Windows Terminal is included in the WinX menu. To access it, right-click (or press and hold) the Windows logo on the taskbar, or press the Windows + X keys simultaneously on the keyboard. In the WinX menu, notice the Windows Terminal and Windows Terminal (Admin) entries. The second one starts the app with administrator permissions. Before you can run it, you also see a UAC prompt where you should press Yes, so that the Windows Terminal is allowed to run.

The WinX menu can be used to open the Windows Terminal

NOTE: This method does not work in Windows 10.

4. Run the Windows Terminal from the Start Menu

This method is a bit slower than the previous ones. If you use Windows 11, click or tap on Start (the Windows logo) and then on All apps.

Open the Start Menu and go to All apps

Scroll down the list of apps to the letter W and press the Windows Terminal shortcut. To run the app with administrator permissions, right-click (or press and hold) on its shortcut and select More, followed by “Run as administrator.” Don’t forget to press Yes when you see the UAC prompt.

Scroll down to the Windows Terminal shortcut

In Windows 10, the steps involved are slightly fewer: click or tap Start, and then scroll down the list of apps to Windows Terminal. Press on the shortcut to open the app.

The Windows Terminal shortcut in the Windows 10 Start Menu

To start it with administrator permissions, right-click or press and hold the Windows Terminal shortcut, and then choose “More -> Run as administrator.”

5. Open the Windows Terminal by creating a shortcut

You can also create a shortcut for the Windows Terminal to place on the desktop or someplace else. To do that, right-click (or press and hold) on the empty space on the desktop and choose “New item -> Shortcut.”

Create a new shortcut

In the Create Shortcut wizard, type wt as the location and follow the rest of the wizard. Give the shortcut a name and keep it on the desktop or move it where you want.

Write wt as the target of the shortcut

If you need help shortcuts, read our guide on creating shortcuts for apps, files, folders, and web pages in Windows.

6. Start the Windows Terminal from Command Prompt or PowerShell

If you find yourself inside the Command Prompt (CMD) or PowerShell, you can run the Windows Terminal from both. All you have to do is enter the command wt and press Enter.

The Windows Terminal can be opened from CMD and PowerShell

The Windows Terminal is immediately opened as a separate window. Also, if CMD or PowerShell were opened as administrator, the Windows Terminal inherits the same administrator permissions.

7. How to open the Windows Terminal from File Explorer’s address bar

If you are browsing the files and folders on your computer using File Explorer, you can start Windows Terminal from there too. In the address bar on the top side of File Explorer, type wt and press Enter on your keyboard.

Run the Windows Terminal from File Explorer

The Windows Terminal opens immediately. Unfortunately, you cannot open the Windows Terminal as an administrator using this method.

8. Start the Windows Terminal using Cortana

If you have a microphone installed on your Windows 11 computer or device, you can also tell Cortana what you want to do. First, start Cortana by pressing on her shortcut from the Start Menu or with the Windows + C keyboard shortcut. Then, ask Cortana to «start the terminal» or «open the windows terminal.»

Cortana can start the Windows Terminal for you

This method works both in Windows 11 and Windows 10. However, you can’t use it to open the Windows Terminal as administrator.

9. Open the Windows Terminal from the Task Manager

Few people know that you can use the Task Manager to start apps too, not just terminate their processes. You can use it to open the Windows Terminal as well. To do that, start the Task Manager (press Ctrl + Shift + Esc). If you get the compact view of the Task Manager, first press More details. Open the File menu, select «Run new task,» and then type wt in the «Create new task» window. Press Enter on your keyboard or press the OK button. If you want to run the Windows Terminal as an administrator, don’t forget to check the «Create this task with administrative privileges» setting before you do that.

The Windows Terminal can be opened from the Task Manager

Which is your favorite method for opening the Windows Terminal?

These are all the ways we know for starting the Windows Terminal in Windows 10 and Windows 11. If you know other methods, let us know in a comment. Also, don’t hesitate to tell us which method you prefer from our list and why. We’re curious to know which methods our readers like the most.

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The Windows Terminal app is a relatively new feature that Microsoft released in 2019. Windows Terminal merges the Command Prompt, PowerShell, and Azure Cloud Shell into a single app. As such, you can open a tab for each of the three command-line tools and keep things tidy. You can also add additional Linux consoles to the Terminal.

The Windows Terminal comes pre-installed with Windows 11. It’s the default command-line terminal emulator in Microsoft’s latest desktop platform, which you can open in various different ways. Here are eight alternative methods for opening Terminal in Windows 11.

The WinX menu includes a handy Windows Terminal shortcut with which you can open that app. To open Terminal via that menu, right-click the Start button and select Windows Terminal (Admin). Alternatively, you can press Win + X to bring up the menu. And yes, that’s how the WinX menu got its name.

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Windows 11’s search tool always comes in handy for finding apps and built-in tools. It’s not exactly an app launcher, but you can usually find and open whatever software you need to launch with the trusty search utility. This is how you can open Windows Terminal with that search tool.

1. Press the search tool’s magnifying glass icon on the taskbar.
2. Type Windows Terminal in the search box to find it.
   

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3. Then click Windows Terminal to open that app.
4. To open Windows Terminal with elevated rights, right-click that app’s search result and select Run as administrator.

The Start menu includes apps for most software on your desktop or laptop. So, that’s a pretty obvious place to launch the Windows Terminal from. You can open Terminal from the Start menu like this.

1. Press the Start taskbar button.
2. Select All apps on the Start menu.
3. Scroll down the Start menu to the Windows Terminal app shown directly below.
   

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4. Then click Windows Terminal there to open it. Alternatively, right-click it and select More > Run as administrator.

4. Open Windows Terminal via Run

The Run tool is a handy accessory for launching built-in Windows apps. And as you might guess, you can use it to launch Windows Terminal in Microsoft’s new desktop platform.

Here’s how to open the Windows Terminal with Run:

1. Press Win + R to open Run.
2. Type wt.exe within the Open box.
   

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3. Click OK to bring up Windows Terminal.

5. Open Windows Terminal With a Desktop Shortcut

Desktop shortcuts are one of the most direct ways to open software and apps. So, adding a Windows Terminal shortcut to the desktop will give you a very quick way to open that app. Here is how you can set up a Windows Terminal desktop shortcut within Windows 11:

1. Right-click an area of your desktop wallpaper to select the New and Shortcut context menu options.
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Then input %LocalAppData%\Microsoft\WindowsApps\wt.exe within the item location text box.

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Click Next to bring up the name box.

Type Windows Terminal within the text box.

Select Finish to add the shortcut to the desktop.

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Now click the desktop shortcut to bring up Windows Terminal.

You can configure the shortcut to always run Windows Terminal as an administrator, which might be necessary for certain commands. To do that, right-click the desktop shortcut and select Properties. Select the Run this program as an administrator checkbox on the Compatibility tab shown directly below. Then click Apply, and select OK to close the properties window.

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6. Open Windows Terminal With a Keyboard Shortcut

Pressing a hotkey is an even more direct way to open Windows Terminal than clicking a desktop shortcut. If you set up a desktop shortcut, you can then add a hotkey to it. Just follow these steps to set up a Terminal keyboard shortcut.

1. First, add a Windows Terminal shortcut to the desktop as outlined for the fifth method.
2. Right-click the Terminal desktop shortcut and select Properties.
3. Click inside the Shortcut key box. Then press the W keyboard key to establish a Ctrl + Alt + W hotkey.
   

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4. Select the Apply option.
5. Press the Ctrl + Alt + W hotkey to open Windows Terminal.

Remember that your Windows Terminal hotkey is for the desktop shortcut. Deleting the shortcut on the desktop will also erase the hotkey. Thus, the desktop shortcut needs to remain intact for its key combination to work.

7. Open Windows Terminal From the Taskbar

Instead of having a desktop shortcut, you can add a Windows Terminal icon to the taskbar. Then you can open Terminal from the taskbar without needing to minimize software windows. Here is how you can Windows Terminal to your taskbar.

1. Open the search box from the taskbar.
2. Enter the keyword Windows Terminal within the search text box.
3. Right-click Windows Terminal to select its Pin to taskbar option.
   

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4. Then click the new Terminal taskbar button.

You can also pin Windows Terminal to the Start menu. To do so, select the Pin to Start context menu option instead when you right-click the app’s search result. Then Terminal will be among the pinned apps at the front of the Start menu.

8. Configure Windows Terminal to Run at Startup

Like other apps, you can configure Terminal to automatically open when Windows starts. Windows Terminal includes a Launch on machine startup option you can turn on to open the app automatically. To do this:

1. First, open Windows Terminal with any of the methods above.
2. Click the Open a new tab button (with the down arrow icon) in Windows Terminal.
   

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3. Select Settings to bring up the options shown directly below.
4. Click Launch machine on startup to turn on that option.
   

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5. Press the Save button.

Now Windows Terminal will be an enabled startup app. It will open automatically just after you sign in to Windows 11. If you ever want to remove it from the startup, turn off the same Launch machine on startup setting you enabled.

There are also a few other startup options worth noting on Windows Terminal’s Settings tab. Change what command-line utility Terminal starts with (PowerShell or Command Prompt) by clicking the Default profile drop-down menu there. You can also select different Launch mode options there, such as Maximized or Full screen, to change how the Terminal window opens.

Discover Windows Terminal in Windows 11

You can discover Windows Terminal by opening it with any of the methods above. Opening Terminal from the WinX menu might be fine, but you can set up an even more accessible desktop, taskbar, or keyboard shortcut for that app.

However you open it, Terminal is one of the most useful apps in Windows 11 for those users who know how to make good use of it. It is the more customizable and tabbed command-line app many regular PowerShell and Command Prompt users have been crying out for.