Windows Terminal allows you to customize settings such as text size, color, default shell, etc. However, suppose you wish to return to the default settings to start again or are experiencing difficulties or other issues. In that case, this post will help you reset Windows Terminal settings to their default.
How to Reset Windows Terminal Settings to Its Default
Windows Terminal saves the configuration into the settings.json file when you use the Settings UI or JSON option to edit the Windows. Below are three methods to reset Windows Terminal settings to their default state:
- Clearing JSON File
- File Explorer
- Delete Settings File
You do not need admin permission for any of these.
1] Reset Windows Terminal Settings Clearing JSON File
Use the following steps to restore the Terminal app’s default settings:
- On your Windows 11 PC, right-click on the Windows logo and select Windows Terminal.
- Click on the down-arrow button at the top of the window and click on the Settings option from the context menu.
- On the Settings page, click the Open JSON settings option on the left pane.
- It will then prompt you to pick an app; you can choose notepad.
- Press Ctrl + A keys to select all the contents in the file and press the Delete button to erase the contents.
- Click on the Save button and close the Windows Terminal window.
2] Reset Windows Terminal Settings From File Explorer
Use the following steps to return the Windows Terminal application to its default settings via File Explorer:
- Open File Explorer.
- To access the folder containing the configuration file, copy and paste the following path in the File Explorer address bar and press Enter:
%LocalAppData%\Packages\Microsoft.WindowsTerminal_8wekyb3d8bbwe\LocalState
- Right-click on the settings.json file and click Delete from the context menu.
Once you have finished the above steps, the application will automatically recreate the settings.json file with the default settings.
3] Delete Settings File
Use the steps below to reset Windows Terminal to its default settings after erasing the current ones. This is how you go about it:
- Right-click the Windows logo on your Windows PC and select Windows Terminal from the context menu.
- Copy and paste the command given below into the Windows Terminal window and press Enter to delete the settings.json file:
del /q /s /a /f %LocalAppData%\Packages\Microsoft.WindowsTerminal_8wekyb3d8bbwe\LocalState\settings.json
When you are done, the configuration will be erased, and the next time you launch the application, a new one will be made automatically with all the default options.
Windows Terminal global settings or specific profiles (Command Prompt, PowerShell, and WSL) automatically make a backup each time you save changes. If you want to back up, you only need to make a copy of the file and save it somewhere.
Conclusion
So, these are the methods you can use to reset settings to their defaults on Windows Terminal. You can reset Windows Terminal settings by clearing JSON files through File Explorer and using a command through Windows Terminal. I hope the article was easy to follow and helped you solve recurring issues!
