Removing tabs
Yes ! We finally have tab solution! This is a much requested feature since the birth of Terminal. Starting with Windows Terminal Preview 1.18, you will now be able to unpin tabs in Windows Terminal.
Overview: https://devblogs.microsoft.com/comma…5/tear-tab.gif
You will also be able to move tabs from one terminal window to another.
Overview: https://devblogs.microsoft.com/comma…attach-tab.gif
Updating environment variables
Windows Terminal will now automatically reload environment variables when you open a new tab or pane! No more need to close the terminal completely after installing something and changing the path – just open a new tab (or restart the current tab) and get started.
You can now also add environment variables in your settings.json. It can be done in Default settings or in any profile.
In the example below, I have set two environment variables, both named MY_ENVIRONMENT_VARIABLEin Default settings and in my profile PowerShell :
JSON
1 | "profiles":
"defaults":
"environment":
"MY_ENVIRONMENT_VARIABLE": "Hi from defaults!"
,
,
"list":
[
"guid": "574e775e-4f2a-5b96-ac1e-a2962a402336",
"name": "PowerShell",
"source": "Windows.Terminal.PowershellCore",
"environment":
"MY_ENVIRONMENT_VARIABLE": "Hi from PowerShell!"
]
|
The environment variables you specify Default settings will be available to all your profiles. Environment variables that you set in a specific profile will only be available to that specific profile.
This means that if I print the value of MY_ENVIRONMENT_VARIABLE in my PowerShell profile I will see "Hello from PowerShell!".
If I print the value of MY_ENVIRONMENT_VARIABLE in another profile such as command prompt i will see "Hello from defaults!".
Right-click context menu (experimental)
This is an experimental feature that must be enabled manually. To enable it manually, add "experimental.rightClickContextMenu": "true" in the episode Default settings of your section profiles of yours settings.json :
JSON
1 | "profiles":
{
"defaults":
"experimental.rightClickContextMenu": true
,
... |
After enabling this feature, you will be able to see a context menu after right-clicking on the shell in your terminal.
By default, the following options are available: Insert, Split Tab, Duplicate Tab, and Close Tab.
If you highlight some text and open the right-click context menu, you'll also see the Copy option next to Paste. If another pane is open, the Close Pane option is also available.
If our experimental shell integration feature is enabled, the Select Command and Select Output options are also available.
Overview: https://devblogs.microsoft.com/comma...ntegration.gif
Shell integration enablers vary from shell to shell. To learn how to enable shell integration for your favorite shell, visit this shell integration tutorial to learn more!
Atlas engine upgrades
Our experimental text rendering engine, theAtlas Engine, received major improvements in Windows Terminal Preview 1.18. This text renderer has been almost completely rewritten to support overlapping text and as a result will no longer cut italic text, emojis or complex scripts. It will continue to cut box glyphs into their cells.
Below are a series of "before" and "after" pictures of the Atlas engine rewrites.
Here is a before picture of the Fira Code with the old one Atlas Engine
Here is an after image of the Fira Code with our new one Atlas Engine in 1.18 Preview.
We can see that the old AtlasEngine shrinks the glyphs. In our new AtlasEngine, we now rip these glyphs correctly.
We also have a sample of the Code New Roman font as an example.
Here is an afterimage for the Code New Roman font with Atlas Engine in 1.18 Preview.
In the screenshots above, you can see how our paraphrase ofAtlas Engine in version 1.18 Fixed rendering preview of power lines. We have no more weird spaces, no more clipped glyphs, and no more shrunken glyphs. There is also now correct overlapping glyphs in the APL game, ✔️ in various glyph range and correct reversal of complex Unicode (without making glyphs bigger than they are supposed to be).
We also made sure thatAtlas Engine continues to support anime shadows, Han association, and variant glyphs loc1 in Windows Terminal Preview 1.18. I'Atlas Engine will also be used to display the appearance in Windows Terminal settings UIs for profiles for which it is enabled.
Handheld mode
As of version 1.17 of the stable channel, Windows Terminal can be installed in "portable mode". Portable mode ensures that all data created and maintained by Windows Terminal is stored with the application so that it can be moved to different environments more easily.
Portable mode is supported by the "ZIP" distribution outside the package. This is an officially supported implementation where Windows Terminal stores its settings in a settings folder next to it WindowsTerminal.exe. Portable mode is not supported by Windows Terminal distributions as a package or preinstallation kit.
Unpackaged and portable distributions of Windows Terminal allow you to use Terminal without installing it globally, for example on systems where you are not allowed to install MSIX packages or download software from the Microsoft Store. Portable mode lets you carry or archive a preconfigured installation of Windows Terminal and run it from a network share, cloud drive, or USB flash drive. Such an installation is self-contained and does not interfere with other installed distributions of Windows Terminal.
Portable mode must be enabled manually. After extracting the Windows Terminal download, create a file named .portable side of WindowsTerminal.exe.
Windows Terminal will automatically create a folder with the name settings after the launch of WindowsTerminal.exe. This folder settings stores both parameters and runtime state, such as window layout.
Note that Windows Terminal does NOT automatically reload the settings or change your terminal to portable mode right after file creation. .portable.
This change will only apply after restarting Terminal. You can check if you are in portable mode by selecting "About" from the drop-down menu.
From there, you can customize Windows Terminal to your liking and then copy the entire Windows Terminal folder to a USB drive or network share to use on the go or share with others!
