Install Windows Terminal from PowerShell

Install Windows Terminal, dependencies, and required fonts, entirely from PowerShell.

Script Functionality

1. Installs winget using winget-install
2. Installs Windows Terminal
3. Downloads & installs the Cascadia Mono font from Cascadia Code

Requirements

• Requires PowerShell running with Administrator rights
• Compatible with:
  • Windows 10 (Version 1809 or higher)
  • Windows 11
  • Server 2022
  • Windows Sandbox
• Not compatible with:
  • Server 2019 (winget not supported)

Setup

Method 1 - PowerShell Gallery

Tip

If you want to trust PSGallery so you aren't prompted each time you run this command, or if you're scripting this and want to ensure the script isn't interrupted the first time it runs...

Install-PackageProvider -Name "NuGet" -Force
Set-PSRepository -Name "PSGallery" -InstallationPolicy Trusted

This is the recommended method, because it always gets the public release that has been tested, it's easy to remember, and supports all parameters.

Open PowerShell as Administrator and type

Install-Script Install-WindowsTerminal -Force

Follow the prompts to complete the installation (you can tap A to accept all prompts or Y to select them individually.

Note: -Force is optional but recommended, as it will force the script to update if it is outdated. If you do not use -Force, it will not overwrite the script if outdated.

Usage

Install-WindowsTerminal

If Windows Terminal is already installed, you can use the -Force parameter to force the script to run anyway.

The script is published on PowerShell Gallery under Install-WindowsTerminal.

Method 2 - One Line Command (Runs Immediately)

The URL asheroto.com/terminal always redirects to the latest code-signed release of the script.

If you just need to run the basic script without any parameters, you can use the following one-line command:

Option A:

irm asheroto.com/terminal | iex

Due to the nature of how PowerShell works, you won't be able to use any parameters like -Force with this command line. Use this instead:

&([ScriptBlock]::Create((irm asheroto.com/terminal))) -Force

Option B:

Alternatively, you can of course use the latest code-signed release URL directly:

irm https://github.com/asheroto/Install-WindowsTerminal/releases/latest/download/Install-WindowsTerminal.ps1 | iex

Method 3 - Download Locally and Run

As a more conventional approach, download the latest Install-WindowsTerminal.ps1 from Releases, then run the script as follows:

.\Install-WindowsTerminal.ps1

Tip

If for some reason your PowerShell window closes at the end of the script and you don't want it to, or don't want your other scripts to be interrupted, you can wrap the command in a powershell "COMMAND HERE". For example, powershell "irm asheroto.com/terminal | iex".

Parameters

No parameters are required to run the script, but there are some optional parameters to use if needed.

Parameter	Description
-Force	Ensures installation of Windows Terminal and its dependencies, even if already present.
-CheckForUpdate	Checks if there is an update available for the script.
-UpdateSelf	Updates the script to the latest version.
-Version	Displays the version of the script.
-Help	Displays the full help information for the script.

Example Parameters Usage

Install-WindowsTerminal -Force

Troubleshooting

• I'm seeing a bunch of characters like ΓûêΓûêΓûêΓûêΓûê on step 2.
  • This is a known issue of winget and has to due with the inability to turn off winget output, despite using --silent and --disable-interactivity.
  • To help avoid this, the Strip-Progress function has been implemented, and although it works for step 1, it doesn't work as well as hoped in step 2.

TODO

• Consider hiding output by default, and having Verbose param show output instead.