Tech Tutorials

Master Windows 11 with Windows Terminal and PowerShell Tips

Md Fakharuddin

Md Fakharuddin

— 4 min read
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When I first opened Windows Terminal on Windows 11, the black screen felt like a wall rather than a gateway. I worried I’d have to memorize endless commands or wrestle with tricky config files just to do simple tasks. If you’ve felt that hesitation too, you’re not alone. But there’s an easier way: start small, tweak what you see, and use straightforward commands that give immediate feedback.

Why Use Windows Terminal and PowerShell Instead of Clicking Around?

If you prefer clicking through menus, that’s fine for everyday stuff. But once you want to dig deeper, like finding which programs are hogging your CPU, automating cleanups, or installing software quickly, the command line shines. It cuts through layers of GUI menus and gets straight to what matters.

Windows Terminal itself isn’t just an old console window. It’s a modern app that hosts PowerShell, Command Prompt, and other shells all in one place with tabs and custom themes. PowerShell goes beyond a basic shell; it’s designed to manage nearly every part of Windows, from services to files, using commands that look simple but are powerful.

The trick is not to jump into complex scripting right away or dive into JSON config files before you’re ready. Instead, start by customizing what you actually use and understand.

How to Customize Windows Terminal Without Breaking It

Malformed JSON can prevent custom Terminal settings from loading. Prefer the Settings UI for common changes and keep a backup before editing configuration files.

Use the built-in Settings UI inside Windows Terminal by pressing Ctrl + , (comma). This interface lets you safely adjust options without risking syntax errors.

Start here:

  1. Choose a Theme That Makes Your Eyes Happy
    Choose a readable color scheme and font size for your lighting and preferences. One Half Dark is a color scheme, distinct from the Terminal window theme. Dark colors do not universally reduce eye strain.

  2. Add New Profiles Only When You Need Them
    Resist adding every shell on day one. For example, add PowerShell 7+ if you want a separate environment from the default PowerShell. This keeps things tidy and lets you test features without breaking your main setup.

  3. Pick Your Default Shell Based on What You Use Most
    If your work involves newer features or cross-platform scripts, switch your default profile to PowerShell 7+. Otherwise, stick with what works until you’re comfortable changing.

  4. Tweak Background and Font Settings for Comfort
    Use enough opacity and contrast to keep text readable. Transparency can expose distracting wallpaper rather than remove it; adjust it to your environment.

Back up configuration before resetting it. Microsoft’s troubleshooting guide describes resetting settings.json and, in Terminal 1.10 or later, state.json for a full reset. Paths depend on stable, preview, or unpackaged installation. Prefer restoring a working backup or renaming files so customizations are recoverable; do not assume every UI has a Reset to Defaults button.

Basic Commands That Show What’s Happening Inside Your PC

Before writing scripts, just watching your system through commands builds confidence:

  • Get-Process lists running processes. For cumulative CPU time:
Get-Process | Where-Object { $_.CPU -gt 100 }

This filters processes with over 100 accumulated CPU seconds across processors. It is not current CPU percentage: a long-running idle process can rank highly. Use Task Manager or interval-based measurements to investigate current load.

  • Get-Service shows service status. A stopped trigger-start service is not automatically faulty; check its configuration and actual symptoms before changing it.

  • winget can find and install packages. First search and confirm the exact package ID and source; an install is not inherently silent and may show agreements, elevation, or installer prompts:

winget search --id Microsoft.VisualStudioCode --exact
winget install --id Microsoft.VisualStudioCode --exact

Review the selected package and prompts before installing. The --silent option requests unattended installer behavior when supported; it is not a promise that no prompts can ever appear.

These commands provide clear windows into your system without overwhelming complexity.

Preview Temporary-File Cleanup Before Deleting

A blanket recursive deletion can remove files still needed by apps, skip locked files, or fail. Prefer Windows Storage cleanup for routine maintenance. If learning PowerShell, preview a targeted deletion first:

Get-ChildItem -LiteralPath $env:TEMP -Force |
    Remove-Item -Recurse -Force -WhatIf

WhatIf reports proposed actions without deleting the files. Review the target and output; this example intentionally does not execute a cleanup or promise space savings.

Do not schedule an unreviewed recursive deletion. A successful message printed after Remove-Item would not by itself prove every item was deleted, because errors can be non-terminating.

Understand a script’s scope and error handling before automating it.

Quick Fixes When Things Don’t Work Right

If you’ve ever been stopped dead by cryptic error messages or felt stuck when something didn’t run as expected, these common fixes help:

  • Scripts blocked by execution policy? Inspect the effective policies first:
Get-ExecutionPolicy -List

Read and verify the script and follow organizational policy rather than changing settings automatically. RemoteSigned generally requires a trusted signature for scripts marked as downloaded, but download marking is not universal. Execution policy is not a security boundary or proof a script is safe; Group Policy can override lower scopes.

  • PowerShell 7 missing from profiles? Confirm it is installed; adding a profile does not install the shell. For the usual MSI location, a Terminal profile command line can use:
"C:\Program Files\PowerShell\7\pwsh.exe"
  • No winget command available? Update the “App Installer” app via Microsoft Store, it usually unlocks winget functionality.

If JSON changes fail, restore your known-good configuration backup and consult the Terminal troubleshooting guide. Stable, Preview, and unpackaged installations use different locations. Preserve customizations before any reset.

Build Confidence by Taking Small Steps

Don’t feel pressured to master everything at once. Start by opening Terminal from Start or Win + X (the menu label varies with Windows version) and typing familiar commands like Get-Process. Try these read-only examples. Sorting CPU ranks accumulated CPU seconds, not instantaneous CPU utilization:

Get-Process | Sort-Object CPU -Descending | Select-Object -First 5
Get-Service | Where-Object Status -eq 'Running'
winget search notepadplusplus

Try switching themes with Ctrl + ,, add PowerShell 7+ profile if curious, and see how those tweaks affect your experience session after session.

Bonus Tip: Rename Tabs for Easier Switching

When working with multiple tabs (like PowerShell and Command Prompt), right-click the tab header and select “Rename Tab.” Giving tabs meaningful names helps keep track when juggling several tasks at once.

Windows Terminal isn’t just for experts, it’s a workspace anyone can customize patiently and safely with practical tools that reveal what’s happening inside their PC instead of hiding it behind clicks.

With each small success, that intimidating black screen becomes less a wall and more the control room where your Windows powers come alive step by step.

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