Windows Terminal keyboard shortcuts
Windows Terminal holds Command Prompt, PowerShell, and WSL shells in tabs and split panes. Its keys open and switch tabs, split and resize panes, copy and paste, change text size, search scrollback, and open the command palette.
Windows · 35 shortcutsTabs
Open, close, switch, rename, and move Windows Terminal tabs.
| Action | Shortcuts |
|---|---|
| New tab with the default profile | Ctrl + Shift + T |
| New tab with a profile from the dropdownDigits 1 through 9 open profiles 1 through 9. | Ctrl + Shift + 1 |
| Next tab | Ctrl + Tab |
| Previous tab | Ctrl + Shift + Tab |
| Duplicate the current tab's profile and directory | Ctrl + Shift + D |
| Close the active pane, or the tab if there are no splits | Ctrl + Shift + W |
| Close the current window and all its tabs | Alt + F4 |
| Open the new tab dropdown | Ctrl + Shift + Space |
| Switch to a specific tab by positionDefaults cover tabs 1 through 8 with Ctrl+Alt+1 through Ctrl+Alt+8. | Ctrl + Alt + 1 |
Panes
Split panes, move focus, resize the layout, and zoom the pane you are using.
| Action | Shortcuts |
|---|---|
| Split the pane automatically, duplicating the profileAuto picks the direction with the most surface area. | Alt + Shift + D |
| Duplicate the pane downward | Alt + Shift + - |
| Duplicate the pane to the right | Alt + Shift + + |
| Move focus between panesAlso Alt+Right, Alt+Up, and Alt+Down. Ctrl+Alt+Left moves to the previously used pane. | Alt + Left |
| Resize the active paneAlso Alt+Shift+Right, Alt+Shift+Up, and Alt+Shift+Down. | Alt + Shift + Left |
Copy and paste
Copy, paste, and select terminal text while preserving the command-line workflow.
| Action | Shortcuts |
|---|---|
| Copy selected terminal contentWith no selection the chord passes through to the shell. Ctrl+Shift+C and Ctrl+Insert also copy. | Ctrl + C |
| Paste from the clipboardCtrl+Shift+V and Shift+Insert also paste. | Ctrl + V |
| Select all content in the text buffer | Ctrl + Shift + A |
| Toggle mark mode for keyboard selections | Ctrl + Shift + M |
View and zoom
Change font size, toggle fullscreen, and move through the terminal viewport.
| Action | Shortcuts |
|---|---|
| Increase the text size | Ctrl + + |
| Decrease the text size | Ctrl + - |
| Reset the text size to the default | Ctrl + 0 |
| Toggle full screenF11 is bound to the same action. | Alt + Enter |
Search and scrollback
Search terminal history and move through scrollback without losing the current prompt.
| Action | Shortcuts |
|---|---|
| Search across the full scrollback bufferSupports case sensitivity and regex toggles. | Ctrl + Shift + F |
| Scroll the screen upCtrl+Shift+Down scrolls down. | Ctrl + Shift + Up |
| Scroll up by a whole pageThe official key name is pgup; PageUp is the readable equivalent. | Ctrl + Shift + PageUp |
| Scroll down by a whole pageThe official key name is pgdn; PageDown is the readable equivalent. | Ctrl + Shift + PageDown |
| Scroll to the earliest history | Ctrl + Shift + Home |
| Scroll to the latest history | Ctrl + Shift + End |
Command palette and settings
Open the command palette, settings, and help when a binding is easier to discover than memorize.
| Action | Shortcuts |
|---|---|
| Open the command paletteWindows Terminal actions appear in the command palette, but the official reference does not assign a default keyboard binding to open it. | Not documented |
| Open the Settings UI | Ctrl + , |
| Open the settings.json file | Ctrl + Shift + , |
| Open the defaults.json file | Ctrl + Alt + , |
| Open the window system menu | Alt + Space |
| Zoom the focused pane to fill the windowThe togglePaneZoom action is not currently bound by default; add a keybinding in settings if you use it. | Not documented |
| Summon the quake mode window snapped to the top of the monitorNo default key binding is documented; bind the quakeMode action yourself or launch wt -w _quake. | Not documented |
Source
official Windows Terminal actions · Checked
Current Windows Terminal documentation as of August 2026; most bindings listed are defaults from the official Actions reference and can be changed in settings.