• Microsoft makes available Windows Terminal version 1.9.
  • The update includes the option to make the Windows Terminal the default terminal app on Windows 10.
  • Introduces Quake mode, Cascadia Code Italic font, and Settings UI improvements.

Microsoft has released version 1.9 for its Windows Terminal application as a preview, and this rollout comes with some interesting new features and improvements.

According to the company announcement, Windows Terminal version 1.9 lets you set the app the default for opening Command Prompt, PowerShell, WSL, etc. Introduces Quake mode to open new terminal instances using a keyboard shortcut quickly. The app comes with an italic version of the Cascadia Code font. Also, this version introduces more changes to the Settings UI, including a new editable actions page, a new page to add new profiles, and more.

What’s new on Windows Terminal 1.9

These are everything new you will find after installing version 1.9 of the terminal app:

Default terminal experience

Starting with version 1.9 (and Windows 10 build 21390), the Windows Terminal includes an option that allows you to make the application the default experience for all terminals, including PowerShell and Command Prompt. This means that opening any command-line interpreter will open directly into the Windows Terminal instead of the legacy Windows Console Host.

Quake mode

Quake mode is a new feature to quickly open new instances of the terminal using the Windows key + ` keyboard shortcut. Once you invoke the shortcut, the quake window will appear in the top half of the screen, and you use the same shortcut again to dismiss it.

Cascadia Code font

Microsoft is updating the Cascadia Code font to include the italic variant with cursive letterforms in this release.  The font versions without “Italic” in their name will have a standard italic without the cursive letters.

Settings UI improvements

Windows Terminal version 1.9 also comes with various changes for the Settings UI.

For example, you can now modify existing keyboard shortcuts from within the “Actions” pages instead of editing the JSON file.

The Settings UI also introduces a new page to create profiles. Using the new experience, you can duplicate or create an empty profile. Furthermore, the profile’s Appearance tab now includes a preview that shows how the changes will look in the console.

Alongside the improvements, you can now disable URL detection with the experimental.detectURLs global setting.

Windows Terminal 1.9 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 1.8, which includes all these improvements.