The Command Prompt, the interface where you can launch commands made of text (the command line interpreter) is a powerful tool that every computer expert uses almost daily to perform various types of operations, but something has always remained dark for the less experienced and those who are forced to use it only occasionally. With Windows 10, Microsoft has tried to make the command prompt a little less intimidating for those who do not know it, giving the possibility to customize its appearance (thus changing the colors compared to the ugly black background) and also some features to make it easier to use .
In this tutorial, we see all the different options that you can modify to make the Command Prompt appear the way you prefer and to activate some features that make it less difficult.
READ ALSO: Guide to the Dos command prompt on Windows
To open the command prompt in Windows 10, go to the Start menu and look for it or press the right mouse button on the Start button to launch it. If, in this menu, Powershell appears at the command prompt post, you need to open Windows 10 Settings, go to Personalization> Taskbar and disable the option that replaces the Command Prompt with Powershell.
READ ALSO: Difference between Powershell and Windows Command Prompt
Once the app has started, click its icon in the upper left corner of the window or press the right mouse button on the title bar to see the options menu, where you can choose Properties .
The Properties window shows five tabs that can be used to configure each feature of the Command Prompt: Options, Font, Layout, Colors and Terminal .
Note that in the Terminal tab you can also change the cursor shape by choosing a different one from the default one called lagacy style . You can then choose the typical vertical bar of the notebook or the empty or full box if you want something more visible. Note that changing this option returns to the default setting each time you open the Properties.
Still in the Terminal tab, you can change the color of the cursor. The Reverse color option is the default, which sets a complementary color to the chosen background color, so that it is clearly visible.
At the bottom you can instead change the width and height of the window in pixels, and this change has a permanent effect, so the next time you open the Command Prompt it will be high and wide in the configured way.
The " Text output when scaling " box disables the Width parameter and is rightly enabled by default, to ensure that the command prompt text is always visible in its entirety.
The Window Position is used to precisely adjust the screen area in which the command prompt window appears when opened. Numbers are the pixels of the window's distance from the left and top edges of the screen. The "automatic positioning" box must not be checked, otherwise the fields in this section are disabled.
For each modification, you can see the preview at the top right.
To change the color of a text and background, you can press one of the preset colors or use the Selected color values section to choose a custom color. Any changes can be previewed below. The Opacity option is used to make the command prompt window more or less transparent.
In the Terminal tab, there are other options related to the color of the cursor, as seen above and you can also customize the text and background colors by selecting the Use separate foreground and Use separate background options . The options on the Terminal tab override those on the Color tab.
The Insert mode option, if activated, allows you to add characters and text without deleting any characters on its right. If it is disabled, when writing a character, the one to its right is deleted.
Windows 10 also introduced keyboard shortcuts at the command prompt, and to use them, you need to enable the Enable combinations of CTRL states and Extended text selection keys options. The Use Ctrl + Shift + C / V option for Copy / Paste allows you to copy and paste text on the command prompt using the shortcuts CTRL-C and CTRL-V.
If you enable the " Filter clipboard content by paste " option, each time you paste on the Command Prompt, special characters are automatically removed.
The option that allows automatic word wrap selection, when enabled, improves the way the command prompt handles text selection. Previous versions of the Command Prompt only allowed you to copy the text in bulk and it was very inaccurate; this behavior has therefore been corrected in Windows 10.
The Use legacy console option at the bottom, returns the command prompt to the previous version of the console, disabling all new Windows 10 options.
On the Terminal tab, there is another option that influences the use of the command prompt, namely the one that " Turns forward scrolling off ", so that you can no longer scroll down past the last command input.
When finished editing the Command Prompt Properties, you can press OK to apply them. If the changes are not applied immediately, you must restart the command prompt.
READ ALSO: Command Prompt Cheats (CMD)
In this tutorial, we see all the different options that you can modify to make the Command Prompt appear the way you prefer and to activate some features that make it less difficult.
READ ALSO: Guide to the Dos command prompt on Windows
To open the command prompt in Windows 10, go to the Start menu and look for it or press the right mouse button on the Start button to launch it. If, in this menu, Powershell appears at the command prompt post, you need to open Windows 10 Settings, go to Personalization> Taskbar and disable the option that replaces the Command Prompt with Powershell.
READ ALSO: Difference between Powershell and Windows Command Prompt
Once the app has started, click its icon in the upper left corner of the window or press the right mouse button on the title bar to see the options menu, where you can choose Properties .
The Properties window shows five tabs that can be used to configure each feature of the Command Prompt: Options, Font, Layout, Colors and Terminal .
Command Prompt properties
Appearance of the cursor
The first section of the Options tab allows you to change the size of the flashing cursor while typing commands. This can then be enlarged from Small to Medium or Large.Note that in the Terminal tab you can also change the cursor shape by choosing a different one from the default one called lagacy style . You can then choose the typical vertical bar of the notebook or the empty or full box if you want something more visible. Note that changing this option returns to the default setting each time you open the Properties.
Still in the Terminal tab, you can change the color of the cursor. The Reverse color option is the default, which sets a complementary color to the chosen background color, so that it is clearly visible.
Size and font in the Command Prompt
The font with which the text is displayed in the command prompt window can be easily customized from the Font tab. You can therefore change the size of the font used and also the font of the Command Prompt. The list in this section shows several fonts to choose from: Consolas (default), Courier New, Lucida Console, MS Gothic, NSimSun, Source Code Fonts and SimSun-ExtB . For some characters it is possible to choose a display in bold or not. From the box below you can see the preview of the changes, simplifying the choice. The font size chosen also changes the size of the font prompt window, as shown by the preview (which in turn can then be changed)Customize layout, size and position of the command prompt window
The Layout tab controls the position and size of the command prompt window, also allowing you to decide how to display its contents. In the first section, " Screen buffer size " you can adjust, in terms of width, how many characters can fit on one line before going to the next line. The Height box adjusts the maximum number of rows stored and displayed.At the bottom you can instead change the width and height of the window in pixels, and this change has a permanent effect, so the next time you open the Command Prompt it will be high and wide in the configured way.
The " Text output when scaling " box disables the Width parameter and is rightly enabled by default, to ensure that the command prompt text is always visible in its entirety.
The Window Position is used to precisely adjust the screen area in which the command prompt window appears when opened. Numbers are the pixels of the window's distance from the left and top edges of the screen. The "automatic positioning" box must not be checked, otherwise the fields in this section are disabled.
For each modification, you can see the preview at the top right.
Customize the colors of the Command Prompt
The default color scheme, with a black background and white text, can be changed to brighter and less dark colors. The Colors tab is the most fun to customize, where you can choose the colors of Displayed Text, Background, Popup Text and Popup Background (the latter two do not need to be changed because the popups never appear unless we work as developers).To change the color of a text and background, you can press one of the preset colors or use the Selected color values section to choose a custom color. Any changes can be previewed below. The Opacity option is used to make the command prompt window more or less transparent.
In the Terminal tab, there are other options related to the color of the cursor, as seen above and you can also customize the text and background colors by selecting the Use separate foreground and Use separate background options . The options on the Terminal tab override those on the Color tab.
Customize the Command History
To see the history of the commands typed in the prompt, you can press the F7 key or use the down arrow keys. You can then choose, in the Options tab, Buffer size (it would be the number of commands to be saved in the history) and Number of buffers (number of windows in which the history is used). The " Delete old duplicates " option allows Windows 10 to remove duplicate and repeated command entries from the historyWrite and copy and paste options
On the Options tab, under Options Edit and Text Selection you can choose how to interact with the command prompt window. If enabled, the Quick Edit Mode option allows you to select and copy text from the command prompt window. To copy and paste, you have to select the text using the mouse and then press the right button (there is no feedback). You can then paste that text onto a Notepad document or sheet.The Insert mode option, if activated, allows you to add characters and text without deleting any characters on its right. If it is disabled, when writing a character, the one to its right is deleted.
Windows 10 also introduced keyboard shortcuts at the command prompt, and to use them, you need to enable the Enable combinations of CTRL states and Extended text selection keys options. The Use Ctrl + Shift + C / V option for Copy / Paste allows you to copy and paste text on the command prompt using the shortcuts CTRL-C and CTRL-V.
If you enable the " Filter clipboard content by paste " option, each time you paste on the Command Prompt, special characters are automatically removed.
The option that allows automatic word wrap selection, when enabled, improves the way the command prompt handles text selection. Previous versions of the Command Prompt only allowed you to copy the text in bulk and it was very inaccurate; this behavior has therefore been corrected in Windows 10.
The Use legacy console option at the bottom, returns the command prompt to the previous version of the console, disabling all new Windows 10 options.
On the Terminal tab, there is another option that influences the use of the command prompt, namely the one that " Turns forward scrolling off ", so that you can no longer scroll down past the last command input.
When finished editing the Command Prompt Properties, you can press OK to apply them. If the changes are not applied immediately, you must restart the command prompt.
READ ALSO: Command Prompt Cheats (CMD)
