WezTerm is a scriptable terminal emulator and multiplexer for Windows and other platforms.

WezTerm has no settings window: changing its appearance and behavior means editing a Lua configuration file. Its last stable release is from February 2024, while newer fixes are available in nightly builds, so users who want frequent stable releases may find its release cadence a drawback.

Despite that tradeoff, it handles everyday terminal work alongside session organization. Its GPU-accelerated rendering supports true color, font ligatures, color emoji, hyperlinks, and inline images, while tabs, split panes, and workspaces let you arrange multiple command-line sessions in one application.

For keyboard-focused workflows, WezTerm includes Quick Select and copy mode for finding and selecting items such as URLs, hashes, and paths. It can also connect directly to SSH hosts and serial ports, bringing remote access into the same terminal environment.

Configuration and daily use

Settings are controlled through a Lua file rather than a graphical preferences panel. A basic setup can begin with a file named .wezterm.lua in the user profile folder; it can define fonts, colors, key bindings, and the tab bar. WezTerm reloads the configuration when the file is saved, making it possible to adjust settings without restarting the application.

This approach suits people who prefer to keep terminal behavior in a script, especially when they want to reuse configuration across supported operating systems. The same configuration can be used on Windows, macOS, and Linux, although the program also supports FreeBSD and NetBSD.

Multiplexing and remote sessions

The built-in multiplexer manages tabs, split panes, and workspaces without requiring a separate multiplexer for those tasks. For remote work, SSH or TLS domains can connect to sessions on other machines and allow those sessions to persist through a disconnection. This can help keep a remote command-line environment organized when a network interruption or closed connection would otherwise break the workflow.

WezTerm is written in Rust by Wez Furlong and WezTerm contributors and is released under the open-source MIT License. Its GPU rendering is intended to make terminal output responsive while supporting richer text and image display, but the configuration model remains a central consideration: users who prefer changing options through a settings window will need to adapt to editing Lua.

Windows setup and platform requirements

On Windows, WezTerm uses the ConPTY pseudo console and requires Windows 10 (build 17763) or later on a 64-bit system. The setup.exe installer requires administrator rights, while the ZIP version can run from any folder without them. Since the application starts with sensible defaults, users can open a terminal without first creating a configuration file.

WezTerm is also available for macOS, Linux, FreeBSD, and NetBSD. Development continues, but the stable release remains dated February 2024; users who need a fix that has not reached that release may choose to test a nightly build, keeping in mind that nightly builds are intended for testing newer changes.