Windows Terminal with Bash (or ZSH) and Starship

Jealous of Linux users?

Want an awesome-looking CLI on Windows?

Follow this guide to get a final result like this.

Install Windows Terminal

First of all you need a terminal capable of rendering fonts properly.

Install Windows Terminal from the Microsoft Store or from their GitHub repository.

Install Git Bash

Next you need bash. I personally use Git Bash as it comes with Git preinstalled.

Install Git and make sure to include the Git Bash in the installation process.

Install a Suitable Font (Required)

Go to Starship's installation guide and follow the steps for installing a font. I recommend FiraCode Nerd Font Mono.

This step is not optional.

Configure Windows Terminal

In your Windows Terminal, open up the settings.json.

Set defaultProfile to the following.

"defaultProfile": "{00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000012345}",

Add the following profile to profiles.list.

Set fontFace to the name of the font you installed.

{
	"acrylicOpacity": 0.75,
	"background": "#000000",
	"closeOnExit": true,
	"colorScheme": "GitBash",
	"commandline": "\"%PROGRAMFILES%\\git\\bin\\bash.exe\" --login -i -l",
	"cursorColor": "#FFFFFF",
	"cursorShape": "bar",
	"fontFace": "FiraCode Nerd Font Mono",
	"fontSize": 10,
	"guid": "{00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000012345}",
	"historySize": 9001,
	"icon": "%userprofile%\\.config\\terminal.ico",
	"name": "Git Bash",
	"padding": "0, 0, 0, 0",
	"snapOnInput": true,
	"useAcrylic": true
},

Set schemes to the following.

"schemes": [
	{
		"name": "GitBash",
		"background": "#000000",
		"black": "#0C0C0C",
		"blue": "#6060ff",
		"brightBlack": "#767676",
		"brightBlue": "#3B78FF",
		"brightCyan": "#61D6D6",
		"brightGreen": "#16C60C",
		"brightPurple": "#B4009E",
		"brightRed": "#E74856",
		"brightWhite": "#F2F2F2",
		"brightYellow": "#F9F1A5",
		"cyan": "#3A96DD",
		"foreground": "#bfbfbf",
		"green": "#00a400",
		"purple": "#bf00bf",
		"red": "#bf0000",
		"white": "#ffffff",
		"yellow": "#bfbf00",
		"grey": "#bfbfbf"
	}
]

Save the file. If you get a warning or error it's alright. Just make sure the data entered doesn't get changed.

Download the Windows Terminal icon and place it in C:/Users/Username/.config named terminal.ico.

Install Starship

Reopen Starship's installation guide if you closed it.

Reopen your Windows Terminal. It should open straight to Git Bash.

Run the shell command the guide gives you to install Starship, but add -- --bin-dir ~/.config/starship to the end of the command to install it in C:/Users/Username/.config/starship.

Installing ZSH (Optional)

Installing ZSH requires downloading ZSH from here and extracting the contents into C:/Program Files/Git.

The easiest way to extract the archive is by using PeaZip.

You can use vanilla ZSH or almost any framework you choose, but I recommend Zsh IMproved FrameWork.

Adding Starship (and ZSH)

Bash

In C:/Users/Username/.bashrc, add the following to the end.

eval "$(starship init bash)"

ZSH

In C:/Users/Username/.bashrc, add the following to the end.

if [ -t 1 ]; then
exec zsh
fi

In C:/Users/Username/.zshrc, add the following to the end.

eval "$(starship init zsh)"

Personal Final Touches

Configure your VSCode to run Git Bash by default instead of Powershell, use the font you installed, and use UTF-8 encoding.