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Asked: 2024-09-24T19:06:12+05:30 In: ,

How can I modify the default terminal in Visual Studio Code to use a different shell?

I’ve been diving into using Visual Studio Code for a while now, and while I love its features, I keep running into this issue that’s been bugging me. My default terminal is set to PowerShell, but I really prefer using WSL (Windows Subsystem for Linux) for most of my projects. It just feels more natural for the kind of development I do.

I tried changing it a couple of times, but honestly, it felt a bit overwhelming. I couldn’t find a straightforward way to modify the default terminal settings. I even Googled it and followed some steps, but I didn’t want to mess things up and end up stuck in a command-line nightmare. I thought about just running WSL manually each time, but that seems super inefficient when I could have it all set up at the start.

Has anyone figured out a simple way to change the default terminal in VS Code to WSL? I know there are settings in the JSON file, and I tried poking around in there, but I didn’t want to accidentally mess up other configurations. Plus, I’m not totally comfortable with the technical jargon sometimes, so I want to make sure I’m doing it right.

If you’ve successfully switched your default terminal and have some tips or a step-by-step guide, that would be epic. Or maybe there are some hidden gems in the VS Code extensions that could help with terminal management? I’m all ears for any tricks or insights you might have! I just want to streamline my workflow and avoid using PowerShell unless I really need to.

Thanks a ton in advance for any help you can give!

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    2 Answers

    1. To change your default terminal in Visual Studio Code to WSL, it’s actually quite simple! Here’s a step-by-step guide to help you out:

      1. Open Visual Studio Code.
      2. Go to the settings by clicking on the gear icon in the lower left corner and selecting Settings, or you can just press Ctrl + ,.
      3. In the search bar on the settings page, type terminal integrated shell.
      4. Look for the option that says Terminal > Integrated: Shell: Windows. This is where you’ll set your default terminal.
      5. You will see a Edit in settings.json link; click that to open the settings file.

      In the settings.json file, you’ll want to add or modify the following line:

      "terminal.integrated.shell.windows": "C:\\WINDOWS\\System32\\wsl.exe"

      Just make sure you have the surrounding double quotes. Once you’ve done that, save the file and close it.

      Now, whenever you open a new terminal in VS Code, it should default to WSL. Easy peasy!

      If you want to spice things up with some extensions, you can check out extensions like WSL or Remote – WSL which can make working with WSL even smoother.

      And don’t worry too much about messing things up! If you tweak a setting and it doesn’t work how you expected, you can always go back and change it or comment it out in the settings.json file.

      Hope this helps you streamline your workflow! Happy coding!


    2. To change the default terminal in Visual Studio Code to WSL, you can modify the settings through the GUI or directly in the settings JSON. If you prefer the GUI, open VS Code and navigate to the settings by clicking on the gear icon in the lower left corner. From there, choose ‘Settings’, and in the search bar at the top, type “terminal integrated shell”. You’ll find options for different platforms, such as Windows, macOS, and Linux. Click on the dropdown for the Windows option, and change it to the path of your WSL executable, which is typically `C:\\Windows\\System32\\wsl.exe`. This method avoids the complexity of working directly with JSON and makes it more intuitive.

      If you want to edit the settings through JSON, you can access the settings file by clicking on the gear icon and selecting “Settings (JSON)” at the top right corner of the settings tab. In the JSON file, add or modify the following line: "terminal.integrated.shell.windows": "C:\\Windows\\System32\\wsl.exe". Make sure to save the changes. To enhance your experience further, consider installing the WSL extension for VS Code, which provides additional features tailored for WSL development, such as improved integration and support for Linux tools. With these changes, you should have WSL set as your default terminal, streamlining your workflow and focusing on your preferred environment.


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