Split Panes in Windows Terminal on Startup

Split Panes in Windows Terminal on Startup

If you are a Windows user and frequently work with multiple command line interfaces, you might find it useful to have split panes in your Windows Terminal. Split panes allow you to view and work with multiple command prompts simultaneously, making it easier to multitask and increase productivity. In this article, we will guide you on how to set up split panes in Windows Terminal on startup.

Step 1: Install Windows Terminal

Before we can start using split panes, we need to have Windows Terminal installed on our system. Windows Terminal is a modern, feature-rich terminal application that provides a unified experience for command line interfaces such as Command Prompt, PowerShell, and Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL).

If you don't have Windows Terminal installed, you can download it from the Microsoft Store or from the official GitHub repository.

Step 2: Customize Windows Terminal Settings

Once Windows Terminal is installed, we can customize its settings to enable split panes on startup. Follow these steps:

1. Open Windows Terminal.
2. Click on the down arrow icon located at the top-right corner of the window to open the drop-down menu.
3. Select "Settings" from the drop-down menu. This will open the settings.json file in your default text editor.

Within the settings.json file, you can define the behavior of Windows Terminal, including the split panes configuration.

Step 3: Configure Split Panes

To enable split panes on startup, you need to add a new profile with the desired split configuration. Here's an example of how you can configure split panes:

{
  "profiles": {
    "defaults": {
      "splitMode": "vertical",
      "splitDirection": "auto",
      "startingDirectory": "%USERPROFILE%"
    },
    "list": [
      {
        "guid": "{YOUR-GUID-HERE}",
        "name": "Command Prompt",
        "commandline": "cmd.exe",
        "startingDirectory": "%USERPROFILE%",
        "split": "auto",
        "splitMode": "vertical",
        "tabTitle": "Command Prompt"
      },
      {
        "guid": "{YOUR-GUID-HERE}",
        "name": "PowerShell",
        "commandline": "powershell.exe",
        "startingDirectory": "%USERPROFILE%",
        "split": "auto",
        "splitMode": "vertical",
        "tabTitle": "PowerShell"
      }
    ]
  },
  "keybindings": []
}

In the above example, we have added two profiles: one for Command Prompt and another for PowerShell. Both profiles have the same split configuration, which is vertical split. This means that the panes will be split vertically, allowing you to see two command prompts side by side.

Make sure to replace "{YOUR-GUID-HERE}" with the actual GUIDs of your profiles. You can generate GUIDs using online tools or any GUID generator.

Step 4: Save and Restart Windows Terminal

After making the necessary changes to the settings.json file, save the file and restart Windows Terminal for the changes to take effect.

Step 5: Verify Split Panes

Once Windows Terminal restarts, you should see the split panes as configured in the settings.json file. Open Command Prompt and PowerShell in separate panes, side by side.

You can further customize the split panes by changing the splitMode and splitDirection properties in the settings.json file. For example, you can set splitMode to "horizontal" to split panes horizontally instead of vertically.

With split panes enabled, you can now work with multiple command line interfaces simultaneously, improving your workflow and productivity.

Conclusion

Setting up split panes in Windows Terminal allows you to work with multiple command line interfaces side by side, improving multitasking and productivity. By following the steps outlined in this article, you can easily configure split panes in Windows Terminal on startup. Experiment with different split configurations to find the setup that works best for your needs.

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