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Customizing the Terminal in VS Code

Introduction

The integrated terminal in Visual Studio Code (VS Code) allows you to run command-line tools directly within the editor. Customizing the terminal can enhance your workflow and improve your productivity. In this tutorial, we will explore various ways to customize your terminal in VS Code, including changing the appearance, setting up profiles, and configuring keyboard shortcuts.

Changing Terminal Appearance

You can change the appearance of the terminal to suit your preferences. This includes modifying font size, font family, and colors. To do this, follow these steps:

  1. Open VS Code and navigate to the settings by clicking on the gear icon in the lower left corner and selecting Settings.
  2. In the search bar, type terminal.integrated to filter terminal settings.
  3. Look for the Terminal › Integrated: Font Family and Terminal › Integrated: Font Size settings. You can change these values to customize the font family and size.
  4. To change the color scheme, look for Terminal › Integrated: Colors settings.

Example of changing font size in settings:

{ "terminal.integrated.fontSize": 14 }

Creating Terminal Profiles

Terminal profiles allow you to configure different terminal instances with specific settings. For example, you might want a profile for PowerShell, another for Git Bash, and one for the Command Prompt. Here’s how to set up terminal profiles:

  1. Open the command palette by pressing Ctrl + Shift + P (or Cmd + Shift + P on Mac).
  2. Type Preferences: Open Settings (JSON) and select it.
  3. Add your terminal profiles in the JSON file like this:

Example of adding terminal profiles:

{ "terminal.integrated.profiles.windows": { "PowerShell": { "source": "PowerShell", "icon": "terminal-powershell" }, "Git Bash": { "path": "C:\\Program Files\\Git\\bin\\bash.exe", "args": ["--login", "-i"], "icon": "terminal-bash" } } }

After adding, you can select the terminal profile by clicking the dropdown arrow in the terminal panel.

Customizing Keyboard Shortcuts

Custom keyboard shortcuts can streamline your terminal usage. To set up or change keyboard shortcuts in VS Code, follow these steps:

  1. Open the command palette again by pressing Ctrl + Shift + P.
  2. Type Preferences: Open Keyboard Shortcuts and select it.
  3. In the search bar, type terminal to find terminal-related commands.
  4. Click on the pencil icon next to any command to edit its shortcut.

Example of changing the shortcut for opening a new terminal:

{ "key": "ctrl+alt+t", "command": "workbench.action.terminal.new" }

Conclusion

Customizing the terminal in VS Code can greatly enhance your development experience. By adjusting the appearance, setting profiles, and altering keyboard shortcuts, you can create a terminal environment that fits your workflow perfectly. Experiment with these settings and find what works best for you!