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Feature Request: Icon buttons to start relevant shell types #4102

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opened 2026-01-30 23:38:02 +00:00 by claunia · 2 comments
claunia commented 2026-01-30 23:38:02 +00:00
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Originally created by @gdevacc12 on GitHub (Sep 27, 2019).

Feature request: Add icon buttons to the Windows Terminal title bar for the installed shell types (instead of the current drop down menu). Each button would start the relevant shell type. The buttons could have tool tip/mouse over for the shell type label/description.

The feature would enable one click start of the desired shell type. Currently, other than the default shell type, there's one click for the drop down, one more for the desired shell type from the list.

Then consider deprecating:

  • the + button (start default shell).
  • the drop down menu of the shell types
Originally created by @gdevacc12 on GitHub (Sep 27, 2019). Feature request: Add icon buttons to the Windows Terminal title bar for the installed shell types (instead of the current drop down menu). Each button would start the relevant shell type. The buttons could have tool tip/mouse over for the shell type label/description. The feature would enable one click start of the desired shell type. Currently, other than the default shell type, there's one click for the drop down, one more for the desired shell type from the list. Then consider deprecating: - the + button (start default shell). - the drop down menu of the shell types
claunia commented 2026-01-30 23:38:03 +00:00
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@zadjii-msft commented on GitHub (Sep 27, 2019):

Just to be clear, we should do this with every profile the user has?

  • Should we also add buttons for "settings", "about", "feedback"?
  • What happens when the user has 50 profiles? That's certainly a lot of buttons taking up a lot of horizontal space.
  • How would this be reconcilable with requests like #1571, where the user wants to have nested menus?
  • how do we clearly differentiate these "new tab" buttons from tabs themselves?

I could see this as something we could hypothetically support as an extension scenario, though I dunno about doing it right in the titlebar. Might have to be a "toolbar" like browsers have for bookmarks.

Also note that you can always just use a keyboard shortcut to open a new tab with a specific profile. ctrl+shift+3 is zero clicks 😜

@zadjii-msft commented on GitHub (Sep 27, 2019): Just to be clear, we should do this with every profile the user has? * Should we also add buttons for "settings", "about", "feedback"? * What happens when the user has 50 profiles? That's certainly a lot of buttons taking up a lot of horizontal space. * How would this be reconcilable with requests like #1571, where the user wants to have nested menus? * how do we clearly differentiate these "new tab" buttons from tabs themselves? I could see this as something we could hypothetically support as an extension scenario, though I dunno about doing it right in the titlebar. Might have to be a "toolbar" like browsers have for bookmarks. Also note that you can always just use a keyboard shortcut to open a new tab with a specific profile. <kbd>ctrl+shift+3</kbd> is _zero_ clicks 😜
claunia commented 2026-01-30 23:38:03 +00:00
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@gdevacc12 commented on GitHub (Sep 28, 2019):

In regard to "every profile", I suggest adding a setting for each profile to show/hide the button. The default is to show the button but this can be set to hidden. This would help with 3 cases:

  1. Still allow "one click" access to the users desired "profiles"/shell types
  2. For the case of many profiles: if the user chooses they can reduce the clutter by filtering out the buttons only to their desired "frequently used" set.

Implementing the above implies the profiles in the drop down menu should NOT be deprecated, as the drop down menu list should be the full set.

Leaving the profiles in the drop down menu leaves scope to implement #1571

The menu is fine for "settings", "about", "feedback".

Considering the case of many profiles (e.g. 50):

  • Is it likely there would be so many profiles? But is so, the case is similar current state. The drop down menu would have over 50 profiles listed. I checked the current behaviour, which is the menu becomes scrollable vertically.
  • For the feature request, the buttons could similarly be in section that becomes horizontally scrollable if there are too many to display.

To differentiate to the tabs:

  • tabs are left aligned with their respective name
  • some graphical feature to separate to the buttons (e.g. minimal amount of white space)
  • buttons (to start the profile) are right aligned and without their respective name
  • to emphasise the buttons an overlayed "+" icon top right of the profile icon

The keyboard shortcuts are great for very frequent use but one must remember which profile is associated with the keyboard shortcut. An icon button has a visual prompt so not so reliant on memory.

Further considering the case for "many profiles" what keyboard shortcuts can be used for each profile?

@gdevacc12 commented on GitHub (Sep 28, 2019): In regard to "every profile", I suggest adding a setting for each profile to show/hide the button. The default is to show the button but this can be set to hidden. This would help with 3 cases: 1. Still allow "one click" access to the users desired "profiles"/shell types 2. For the case of many profiles: if the user chooses they can reduce the clutter by filtering out the buttons only to their desired "frequently used" set. Implementing the above implies the profiles in the drop down menu should NOT be deprecated, as the drop down menu list should be the full set. Leaving the profiles in the drop down menu leaves scope to implement [#1571](https://github.com/microsoft/terminal/issues/1571) The menu is fine for "settings", "about", "feedback". Considering the case of many profiles (e.g. 50): - Is it likely there would be so many profiles? But is so, the case is similar current state. The drop down menu would have over 50 profiles listed. I checked the current behaviour, which is the menu becomes scrollable vertically. - For the feature request, the buttons could similarly be in section that becomes horizontally scrollable if there are too many to display. To differentiate to the tabs: - tabs are left aligned with their respective name - some graphical feature to separate to the buttons (e.g. minimal amount of white space) - buttons (to start the profile) are right aligned and without their respective name - to emphasise the buttons an overlayed "+" icon top right of the profile icon The keyboard shortcuts are great for very frequent use but one must remember which profile is associated with the keyboard shortcut. An icon button has a visual prompt so not so reliant on memory. Further considering the case for "many profiles" what keyboard shortcuts can be used for each profile?
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Reference: starred/terminal#4102
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