unfocusedAppearance in "defaults" overwrites unfocused background in all profiles #18827

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opened 2026-01-31 06:25:33 +00:00 by claunia · 2 comments
Owner

Originally created by @thgross on GitHub (Nov 4, 2022).

Windows Terminal version

1.15.2874.0

Windows build number

10.0.19044.0

Other Software

No response

Steps to reproduce

use this in the "defaults" profile:

"unfocusedAppearance": {
    "foreground": "#a0a0a0"
}

and something like this in a profile:

{
    "background": "#101050",
    "guid": "{574e775e-4f2a-5b96-ac1e-a2962a402336}",
    "hidden": false,
    "name": "PowerShell",
    "source": "Windows.Terminal.PowershellCore",
    "tabColor": "#202080"
}

Expected Behavior

when the pane is out of focus, only the foreground-color should change to #a0a0a0.

Actual Behavior

when the pane is out of focus, not only the foreground-color changes, but also the background-color goes black.

Originally created by @thgross on GitHub (Nov 4, 2022). ### Windows Terminal version 1.15.2874.0 ### Windows build number 10.0.19044.0 ### Other Software _No response_ ### Steps to reproduce use this in the "defaults" profile: ```JSON "unfocusedAppearance": { "foreground": "#a0a0a0" } ``` and something like this in a profile: ```JSON { "background": "#101050", "guid": "{574e775e-4f2a-5b96-ac1e-a2962a402336}", "hidden": false, "name": "PowerShell", "source": "Windows.Terminal.PowershellCore", "tabColor": "#202080" } ``` ### Expected Behavior when the pane is out of focus, only the foreground-color should change to #a0a0a0. ### Actual Behavior when the pane is out of focus, not only the foreground-color changes, but also the background-color goes black.
claunia added the Resolution-By-DesignNeeds-TriageIssue-Bug labels 2026-01-31 06:25:34 +00:00
Author
Owner

@carlos-zamora commented on GitHub (Nov 7, 2022):

This is actually confusing, but by design. The unfocused appearance in defaults inherits from the regular appearance in defaults. So when background isn't found in defaults.unfocusedAppearance, we go ahead and use the one in defaults instead. Assuming you have a background defined in defaults, this is probably what's going on.

If you're curious, here's the spec: https://github.com/microsoft/terminal/blob/main/doc/specs/%233062%20-%20Appearance%20configuration%20object%20for%20profiles.md

That said, we probably should mention this weird behavior over in the docs site.

@carlos-zamora commented on GitHub (Nov 7, 2022): This is actually confusing, but by design. The unfocused appearance in defaults inherits from the regular appearance in defaults. So when `background` isn't found in `defaults.unfocusedAppearance`, we go ahead and use the one in `defaults` instead. Assuming you have a `background` defined in `defaults`, this is probably what's going on. If you're curious, here's the spec: https://github.com/microsoft/terminal/blob/main/doc/specs/%233062%20-%20Appearance%20configuration%20object%20for%20profiles.md That said, we probably should mention this weird behavior over in the docs site.
Author
Owner

@zadjii-msft commented on GitHub (Nov 7, 2022):

Docs issue is https://github.com/MicrosoftDocs/terminal/issues/610

@zadjii-msft commented on GitHub (Nov 7, 2022): Docs issue is https://github.com/MicrosoftDocs/terminal/issues/610
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Reference: starred/terminal#18827