starred/terminal
1
0
Fork 0
mirror of https://github.com/microsoft/terminal.git synced 2026-09-24 07:54:35 +00:00
Code Issues 19.0k Packages Projects Releases 20 Wiki Activity

Starting Directory being ignored for WSL #20366

New Issue
Closed
opened 2026-01-31 07:11:32 +00:00 by claunia · 6 comments
claunia commented 2026-01-31 07:11:32 +00:00
Owner
Copy Link

Originally created by @HiDannyZ on GitHub (Aug 12, 2023).

Windows Terminal version

1.18.1462.0

Windows build number

10.0.22621.2134

Other Software

WSL

Steps to reproduce

I am trying to set my starting directory to a folder on my Desktop.

These are the steps I am following and I have been trying for the last 40 mins following guides online.

  1. Open Ubuntu Profile on windows terminal via UI or settings.json file
  2. Set Starting Directory to /c/Users/Danny/Desktop/Projects or /mnt/c/Users/Danny/Desktop/Projects
            {
                "elevate": false,
                "guid": "{51855cb2-8cce-5362-8f54-464b92b32386}",
                "hidden": false,
                "name": "Ubuntu",
                "source": "CanonicalGroupLimited.Ubuntu_79rhkp1fndgsc",
                "startingDirectory": "/mnt/c/Users/Danny/Desktop/Projects"
            },

Expected Behavior

Windows terminal Ubuntu will now open in the projects folder on my desktop

Actual Behavior

Windows Terminal Ubuntu ignores all changes that I make to the starting directory.

No matter the change I always start at /home/hidanny.

Only when the starting directory is invalid, there is an effect via error on the ubuntu instance in windows terminal.

Originally created by @HiDannyZ on GitHub (Aug 12, 2023). ### Windows Terminal version 1.18.1462.0 ### Windows build number 10.0.22621.2134 ### Other Software WSL ### Steps to reproduce I am trying to set my starting directory to a folder on my Desktop. These are the steps I am following and I have been trying for the last 40 mins following guides online. 1. Open Ubuntu Profile on windows terminal via UI or settings.json file 2. Set Starting Directory to ```/c/Users/Danny/Desktop/Projects``` or ```/mnt/c/Users/Danny/Desktop/Projects``` ``` { "elevate": false, "guid": "{51855cb2-8cce-5362-8f54-464b92b32386}", "hidden": false, "name": "Ubuntu", "source": "CanonicalGroupLimited.Ubuntu_79rhkp1fndgsc", "startingDirectory": "/mnt/c/Users/Danny/Desktop/Projects" }, ``` ### Expected Behavior Windows terminal Ubuntu will now open in the projects folder on my desktop ### Actual Behavior Windows Terminal Ubuntu ignores all changes that I make to the starting directory. No matter the change I always start at ```/home/hidanny```. Only when the starting directory is invalid, there is an effect via error on the ubuntu instance in windows terminal.
claunia added the Issue-BugResolution-Duplicate labels 2026-01-31 07:11:32 +00:00
claunia commented 2026-01-31 07:11:33 +00:00
Author
Owner
Copy Link

@237dmitry commented on GitHub (Aug 13, 2023):

What if you set the traditional Windows path as the starting directory? WSL will resolve it or not?

@237dmitry commented on GitHub (Aug 13, 2023): What if you set the traditional Windows path as the starting directory? WSL will resolve it or not?
claunia commented 2026-01-31 07:11:33 +00:00
Author
Owner
Copy Link

@zadjii-msft commented on GitHub (Aug 14, 2023):

Ah, this is that ubuntu.exe bug. The CanonicalGroupLimited.Ubuntu* profiles don't ever respect the startingDirectory. You'll want to use one of the Microsoft.Terminal.Wsl ones, or replace the commandline with wsl -d Ubuntu.

/dup #12961

@zadjii-msft commented on GitHub (Aug 14, 2023): Ah, this is that `ubuntu.exe` bug. The `CanonicalGroupLimited.Ubuntu*` profiles don't ever respect the startingDirectory. You'll want to use one of the `Microsoft.Terminal.Wsl` ones, or replace the commandline with `wsl -d Ubuntu`. /dup #12961
claunia commented 2026-01-31 07:11:33 +00:00
Author
Owner
Copy Link

@microsoft-github-policy-service[bot] commented on GitHub (Aug 14, 2023):

Hi! We've identified this issue as a duplicate of another one that already exists on this Issue Tracker. This specific instance is being closed in favor of tracking the concern over on the referenced thread. Thanks for your report!

@microsoft-github-policy-service[bot] commented on GitHub (Aug 14, 2023): Hi! We've identified this issue as a duplicate of another one that already exists on this Issue Tracker. This specific instance is being closed in favor of tracking the concern over on the referenced thread. Thanks for your report!
claunia commented 2026-01-31 07:11:34 +00:00
Author
Owner
Copy Link

@aplotor commented on GitHub (Sep 22, 2025):

Ah, this is that ubuntu.exe bug. The CanonicalGroupLimited.Ubuntu* profiles don't ever respect the startingDirectory. You'll want to use one of the Microsoft.Terminal.Wsl ones, or replace the commandline with wsl -d Ubuntu.

/dup #12961

hi @zadjii-msft, just curious why this happens? i did wsl --install Ubuntu as usual on a new laptop and it installed a Ubuntu profile with "source": "Microsoft.WSL" (and a different guid) instead of the usual "source": "Windows.Terminal.Wsl"

and is there a way to switch the "source": "Microsoft.WSL" ubuntu to the "source": "Windows.Terminal.Wsl" one?

@aplotor commented on GitHub (Sep 22, 2025): > Ah, this is that `ubuntu.exe` bug. The `CanonicalGroupLimited.Ubuntu*` profiles don't ever respect the startingDirectory. You'll want to use one of the `Microsoft.Terminal.Wsl` ones, or replace the commandline with `wsl -d Ubuntu`. > > /dup [#12961](https://github.com/microsoft/terminal/issues/12961) hi @zadjii-msft, just curious why this happens? i did `wsl --install Ubuntu` as usual on a new laptop and it installed a Ubuntu profile with `"source": "Microsoft.WSL"` (and a different guid) instead of the usual `"source": "Windows.Terminal.Wsl"` and is there a way to switch the `"source": "Microsoft.WSL"` ubuntu to the `"source": "Windows.Terminal.Wsl"` one?
claunia commented 2026-01-31 07:11:34 +00:00
Author
Owner
Copy Link

@zadjii-msft commented on GitHub (Sep 22, 2025):

I've forgotten the exact details, but newer iterations of the Terminal and WSL intentionally changed that. Part of this is with the new Microsoft.WSL source - WSL in now in charge of managing the profiles, rather than Terminal. That should make things better for a variety of cases, though, I haven't been close enough to the project for the last year to know for sure.

@DHowett will know more than me here

@zadjii-msft commented on GitHub (Sep 22, 2025): I've forgotten the exact details, but newer iterations of the Terminal and WSL intentionally changed that. Part of this is with the new `Microsoft.WSL` source - WSL in now in charge of managing the profiles, rather than Terminal. That should make things better for a variety of cases, though, I haven't been close enough to the project for the last year to know for sure. @DHowett will know more than me here
claunia commented 2026-01-31 07:11:35 +00:00
Author
Owner
Copy Link

@DHowett commented on GitHub (Sep 22, 2025):

@aplotor The new WSL integration @zadjii-msft mentioned had a bug. which they fixed.

For now, you can edit your commandline property to remove --cd ~ from it.

WSL bug: https://github.com/microsoft/WSL/issues/13346
WSL fix: https://github.com/microsoft/WSL/pull/13350

I'm locking this issue because it is a two-year-old duplicate. If you continue to have issues, please file a new bug.

@DHowett commented on GitHub (Sep 22, 2025): @aplotor The new WSL integration @zadjii-msft mentioned had a bug. which they fixed. For now, you can edit your `commandline` property to remove `--cd ~` from it. WSL bug: https://github.com/microsoft/WSL/issues/13346 WSL fix: https://github.com/microsoft/WSL/pull/13350 I'm locking this issue because it is a two-year-old duplicate. If you continue to have issues, please file a new bug.
Sign in to join this conversation.
No Branch/Tag Specified
Branches Tags
Labels
Clear labels
⛺ Reserved
A11yCO
A11yMAS
A11ySev1
A11ySev2
A11ySev3
A11yTTValidated
A11yUsable
A11yVoiceAccess
A11yWCAG
Area-Accessibility
Area-AtlasEngine
Area-AzureShell
Area-Build
Area-Build
Area-Chat
Area-CmdPal
Area-CodeHealth
Area-Commandline
Area-CookedRead
Area-DefApp
Area-Extensibility
Area-Fonts
Area-GroupPolicy
Area-i18n
Area-Input
Area-Interaction
Area-Interop
Area-Localization
Area-Output
Area-Performance
Area-Portable
Area-Quality
Area-Remoting
Area-Rendering
Area-Schema
Area-Server
Area-Settings
Area-SettingsUI
Area-ShellExtension
Area-ShellExtension
Area-ShellExtension
Area-Suggestions
Area-Suggestions
Area-TerminalConnection
Area-TerminalControl
Area-Theming
Area-UserInterface
Area-VT
Area-Windowing
Area-WPFControl
AutoMerge
Blocking-Ingestion
Culprit-Centennial
Culprit-WinUI
Disability-All
Disability-Blind
Disability-LowVision
Disability-Mobility
External-Blocked-WinUI3
Fixed
Gathering-Data
good first issue
HCL-E+D
HCL-WindowsTerminal
Help Wanted
Impact-Compatibility
Impact-Compliance
Impact-Correctness
Impact-Visual
In-PR
InclusionBacklog
InclusionBacklog-Windows TerminalWin32
InclusionCommitted-202206
Issue-Bug
Issue-Docs
Issue-Feature
Issue-Feature
Issue-Question
Issue-Samples
Issue-Scenario
Issue-Task
Needs-Attention
Needs-Author-Feedback
Needs-Bisect
Needs-Discussion
Needs-Repro
Needs-Tag-Fix
Needs-Tag-Fix
Needs-Triage
No-Recent-Activity
Priority-0
Priority-1
Priority-2
Priority-3
Product-Cmd.exe
Product-Colortool
Product-Colortool
Product-Colortool
Product-Conhost
Product-Conpty
Product-Meta
Product-Powershell
Product-Terminal
Product-WSL
pull-request
Mirrored from GitHub Pull Request
 Resolution-Answered
Resolution-By-Design
Resolution-Duplicate
Resolution-External
Resolution-Fix-Available
Resolution-Fix-Committed
Resolution-No-Repro
Resolution-Won't-Fix
Severity-Blocking
Severity-Crash
Severity-DataLoss
spam
this-will-be-a-breaking-change
Tracking-External
WindowsTerminal_Win32
Work-Item
zAskModeBug
zInbox-Bug
No Label Issue-Bug Resolution-Duplicate
Milestone
No items
No Milestone
Projects
Clear projects
No project
Assignees
Clear assignees
claunia
No Assignees
1 Participants
Notifications
Due Date
No due date set.
Dependencies

No dependencies set.

Reference: starred/terminal#20366
Delete Branch "%!s()"

Deleting a branch is permanent. Although the deleted branch may continue to exist for a short time before it actually gets removed, it CANNOT be undone in most cases. Continue?