Windows Terminal is a window for running command-line shells, not a shell language of its own. It can host PowerShell, Command Prompt, Linux distributions under WSL, and another command-line program in separate profiles. Tabs and split panes keep several sessions in one window, while each session still follows the commands, permissions, environment, and startup files of the shell running inside it.
Profiles choose the shell
Each profile points to a command line and can set its own name, icon, starting directory, colours, font, and tab behavior. Windows Terminal automatically creates profiles for detected WSL distributions and PowerShell installations. Changing the default profile changes what opens in a new tab; it does not convert existing PowerShell commands into Linux commands or the reverse.
Profile order controls the numeric launch shortcuts. Moving a profile higher in the list can change which shell opens with a familiar shortcut. A profile with no starting directory begins in the user profile folder, while a directory that no longer exists can cause a fallback or startup error.
Tabs share a window
A tab holds one profile session, and panes divide a tab between several sessions. Windows Terminal can place PowerShell beside a WSL shell or duplicate the focused profile. Closing the parent window ends the visible sessions unless their programs handle detachment independently, so a long-running foreground command should not be treated as a background service merely because it occupies another tab.
Administrator state applies to the window boundary. Administrator and non-administrator tabs cannot coexist in the same window. Opening an administrator profile may therefore create another window rather than adding one privileged tab beside ordinary work. Commands that need administrator rights still depend on Windows permissions; selecting a profile name does not bypass them.
Settings have locations
Windows Terminal has a graphical Settings page and a settings file for direct editing. The stable, Preview, and unpackaged builds store that file in different folders. Editing a copy found through an old guide can appear to do nothing when another installation is the one currently running.
Default values belong to an automatically generated defaults file. Changes made there are ignored, so lasting changes must go into the user settings. A malformed manual edit can prevent part of the configuration from loading. The graphical interface is safer for ordinary changes, while direct editing remains useful for copying profiles, actions, and colour schemes between machines.
Launch layouts need quoting
The wt command can create a planned layout with named profiles, tabs, panes, titles, and starting directories. The calling shell parses the command first. Characters used to separate Windows Terminal actions can also have meaning in PowerShell or Command Prompt, so the same copied line may need different quoting in each shell.
A custom tab title can also change after launch because the running shell or program sets its own title. Windows Terminal has a setting that suppresses the application title when a fixed label must remain. Without it, a launch title is only the starting value.
Rendering is not execution
Windows Terminal handles text rendering, selection, keyboard actions, tabs, panes, and the window. PowerShell decides how a script runs. WSL decides which Linux environment and files a Linux command can reach. Command Prompt keeps its own syntax. A display problem belongs to the terminal layer; a command error usually belongs to the selected profile or program.
Setting Windows Terminal as the default terminal application redirects compatible console programs into this window on supported Windows installations. It does not install missing shells. A WSL profile still requires a WSL distribution, and a PowerShell profile still requires the executable named by that profile.
