How to Open the Windows Terminal: A Quick Guide

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Learn how to launch the Terminal app in Windows 10 or 11

Co-authored by Ken Colburn

Last Updated: October 2, 2025 Fact Checked

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Downloading Terminal (Windows 10)

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Using the Start Menu

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Using the Power User Menu

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Using the Run Dialog

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Terminal vs. PowerShell vs. CMD

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Video

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If you need to run a command in Terminal on Windows, you might be wondering how exactly to open it—and why you also see something called PowerShell and Command Prompt. In this article, we go over three ways to open Terminal on your Windows computer, as well as how to download Terminal if you don't have it, and what the differences are between Terminal, PowerShell, and Command Prompt. Read on to learn more.

Opening Terminal in Windows

To open Terminal from the Start menu, search for "terminal" in the taskbar search bar and click Terminal in the menu.
To open Terminal from the Power User menu, right-click the Windows button on your taskbar and click Terminal or Terminal (admin).
To open Terminal via Run, press Win+R and run the command "wt."

Section 1 of 5:

Downloading Terminal (Windows 10)

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Download Terminal from the Microsoft Store or Microsoft's GitHub. If you're on Windows 10, you won't natively have access to Terminal unless you download it. You can get Terminal from the Microsoft Store or Microsoft's GitHub. Once you download the app, install it if necessary.
- If you're on Windows 11, you can skip this section.
- Alternatively, you can use Windows PowerShell instead of downloading Terminal directly. Depending on what task you need to complete, you may be able to run it in Command Prompt as well.

Section 2 of 5:

Using the Start Menu

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Open your computer's Start menu and type Terminal. Terminal will show up as the top result.
- If you're on Windows 10 and you haven't installed Terminal, or you're on an older version of Windows, you'll need to search for Command Prompt or Windows PowerShell instead.
- Learn more about the differences between these three programs below.^{[1]
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Click the Terminal app on the menu. This will open Terminal in a new window.
- If you need to open Terminal with admin privileges, right-click it in the Start menu and choose Run as administrator.

Section 3 of 5:

Using the Power User Menu

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Right-click on the Start menu
icon. You can find this button in the lower-left corner of your desktop or near the middle of your taskbar on Windows 11. It will open your Power User Menu options in a pop-up.
- You can also just press ⊞ Win+X on your keyboard to open this menu.
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Find Terminal in the menu. It's near the middle of the menu, under Computer Management.
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Click Terminal. If you need to open a Terminal with elevated (admin) privileges, choose Terminal (admin) instead. If you don't choose this option, some commands may not work, or you may have to type in your password or provide some other credentials to do certain tasks.
- If you're on a Windows 10 computer, you won't be able to open Terminal in this way. You can, however, open Command Prompt or Windows PowerShell if you'd rather use those programs.
- Learn more about the differences between these three programs below.^{[2]
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Section 4 of 5:

Using the Run Dialog

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Press ⊞ Win+R on your keyboard. Hold down the Windows key on your keyboard, and press the "R" button. This will open the "Run" tool in a new pop-up window.
- Alternatively, you can find and click Run in the Start menu.
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Type wt in the Run window. This shortcut will open Terminal.
- If you'd like to open Command Prompt instead, type cmd.
- If you'd like to open Windows PowerShell, type powershell.
  - Learn more about the differences between these three programs below.^{[3]
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    Research source}
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Click OK in the Run window. This will run your shortcut command and open Terminal in a new window.

Section 5 of 5:

Terminal vs. PowerShell vs. Command Prompt

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Command Prompt is an older command-line interface. While Command Prompt (CMD) is considered legacy, it's not deprecated, and can still be used for certain tasks. However, Command Prompt is not a terminal, and is instead something called a shell. While shells and terminals can sometimes be used interchangeably, they are different—shells run inside of terminals and interpret your commands.^{[4]
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PowerShell is a newer and more powerful shell. While PowerShell isn't a complete replacement for Command Prompt, it's more advanced and allows you to do more things within it. However, it's still a shell and not a terminal. But unlike most shells, which can only return text, PowerShell can return .NET objects.^{[5]
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Windows Terminal is, well, a terminal. However, the only way to use Windows Terminal is through a shell (which interprets commands) such as Command Prompt or Windows PowerShell. Windows Terminal can host both Command Prompt and Windows PowerShell.^{[6]
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- When you first open Terminal, you'll notice that it says "Windows PowerShell" at the top. This is due to the fact that Terminal needs a shell to interpret your commands. Since Terminal can run three different shells, you can change which one you'd prefer to use.
- To open different shells within Terminal, click the arrow at the top of the screen (next to the plus button) and choose which shell you'd like. You can choose between Windows PowerShell, Command Prompt, and Azure Cloud Shell.
- If you're using Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL), you'll also be able to access a bash shell in the Terminal app.

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How do I open terminal on Mac?

Ken Colburn
Tech Expert
Ken Colburn is a Tech Expert and the Founder & CEO of Data Doctors Computer Services. With more than 34 years of experience, he specializes in computer checkups and repairs, data recovery, and teaching others about technology. Ken also provides one-minute tech tips through his broadcast, Data Doctors Tech Tips.

Ken Colburn

Tech Expert

Expert Answer

There's actually a terminal application in the Utilities folder that you can click out. Or, you can use the command space shortcut and type in the word "terminal," which essentially gets you to the command line. From there, type the word "terminal" to access the terminal application that way.

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