How to add multiple terminals in VS Code?

Question

Can we add multiple different terminals in the VS Code? I am planning to add following three terminal and work with all of those :

1. Windows Command prompt
2. PowerShell
3. Git Bash

I know I need to add the following command in Preferences => Setting

 // // 64-bit cmd if available, otherwise 32-bit
 "terminal.integrated.shell.windows": "C:\\Windows\\sysnative\\cmd.exe",
// // 64-bit PowerShell if available, otherwise 32-bit
 "terminal.integrated.shell.windows": "C:\\Windows\\sysnative\\WindowsPowerShell\\v1.0\\powershell.exe",
// // Git Bash
 "terminal.integrated.shell.windows": "C:\\Program Files\\Git\\bin\\bash.exe",

I want to add all of the above three commands in setting.json

And when I click + different terminal should open and I want to work with those terminals without changing the preferences. Is it possible in VS Code or not?

Answer 1

There is a way to make this happens with these steps by installing an extension:

1. Find an extension called Shell launcher and install it or you can find it here. Reload VS Code if you want or after you finished all steps.

2. Go to Files --> Preferences --> Settings and this will open settings.json file and you then insert this (you can edit this to your heart's content):

Code:

"shellLauncher.shells.windows": [
    {
        "shell": "C:\\Windows\\<sysnative>\\cmd.exe",
        "label": "cmd"
    },
    {
        "shell": "C:\\Windows\\<sysnative>\\WindowsPowerShell\\v1.0\\powershell.exe",
        "label": "PowerShell"
    },
    {
        "shell": "C:\\Program Files\\Git\\bin\\bash.exe",
        "label": "Git bash"
    },
    {
        "shell": "C:\\Windows\\<sysnative>\\bash.exe",
        "label": "WSL Bash"
    }
]

PS: You can use shellLauncher.shells.linux for Linux or shellLauncher.shells.osx for macOS.

3. Go to Files --> Preferences --> Keyboard Shortcuts and then find on {} icon on the top right corner to open keybindings.json file. Insert this:

Code:

[
    { "key": "ctrl+alt+`", "command": "shellLauncher.launch" }
]

Update: Type shelllauncher into the search bar. You can then see Shell Launcher: Launch command. Highlight and use any keybinding you like. For example, I picked Ctrl + Alt + (backtick)` for myself.

You can reload your VS Code and click the key combination you have assigned and that will give you the option to choose which integrated terminal you want to use.

For more details, please check the official site: https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=Tyriar.shell-launcher

Enjoy!

Answer 2

Even the question is asked last year and the answer is accepted but still I feel to answer this question as I didn't found any simple, suitable and complete answer while as a development I need multiple terminal handy in a click like below:-

and I don't bother about their path, add another extension for what the VS Code is already capable of or reload VS Shell etc and go to insert and setup the settings files manually.

I found this question is asked many times and almost all landed up manually setup of write some settings etc. or sometimes only opted to get a single type of terminal. The answer of @Pawan is somewhat near but again that solution finally land up to a single terminal, going to command setup for switch terminal and this one will work for git or any other terminal.

If you have tools installed which worked on command line like power-shell and git along with default cmd prompt in windows then the follow the quick three steps to get all terminals at once and switch to anyone with a click.

1. Open terminal, it should be visible (use ctrl+` or from menu View-> Integrated Terminal )

2. Open commands search (use Ctrl+Shift+P or from menu View->Command Palette...)

3. In command box Type "Terminal: Select Default Shell" to select this option from drop down.

4. As you select this option, then all the available commands which are in path will be listed below like below

5. Just click any one which you like to add for quick access from command list.

6. Finally, in the terminal window, just click on + sign next to terminal list as shown below:-

The terminal selected in step 5 will now added after performing step6 to the list without removal of earlier terminal.

7. Repeat step 3-6 for adding any other terminal to command list.

To work with particular terminal just select the required one in the terminal list of the terminal window.

Answer 3

press ctrl + shift + ` shortcut, or press a cross sign to run new terminal, then type bash if your default mode is powershell or powershell if your default mode is bash. And here you are, your terminal is switched.

Answer 4

For now VS Code support defining only one of available terminals as default at a time and you can not add multiple shell terminals.

If you don't want to install "Shell Launcher" plugin as suggested by @ian0411 then here is a quick way to change/select default terminal.

Press "Ctrl + Shift + P" to open the Command Palette.

Type "Terminal: Select Default Shell" and hit enter. You will be prompted to select Git Bash, PowerShell or Cmd as shown below:

Note: This will change the default shell terminal but there is no harm changing it whenever you need to use another.

BTW, if you need to switch only between Cmd & Powershell then you can type cmd or powershell (in already opened terminal) to switch to desired terminal. But it would not work for Git Bash.

Answer 5

I don't see this in the above, but read all the answers. I think this is the best approach for what is supported right now. I believe, like myself, the OP simply wants to open VSCode, and down yonder on the terminal window, we just want a list of options to open from.

Yes, you can open the command, "Terminal: Select Default Shell" and loop through that to add various types of terminals...

Followed by:

I don't know when this option was added to the dropdown, but look! No need to start by looking up the command. I think this is a lot smoother than any other answer, but it still results in the annoying overwrite of your default term to whatever your last choice was before leaving session.

Here, we can more easily open the Select Default Shell - it should support "Select New Shell". Simple, you'd think. Hopefully someone adds that soon or I have time to contribute.

Answer 6

This can be done by adding a different key at the end. By just changing your example to:

// // 64-bit cmd if available, otherwise 32-bit
 "terminal.integrated.shell.windows": "C:\\Windows\\sysnative\\cmd.exe",
// // 64-bit PowerShell if available, otherwise 32-bit
 "terminal.integrated.shell.windows2": "C:\\Windows\\sysnative\\WindowsPowerShell\\v1.0\\powershell.exe",
// // Git Bash
 "terminal.integrated.shell.windows3": "C:\\Program Files\\Git\\bin\\bash.exe",

Note that the key ...shell.windows is changed to ...shell.windows2 and ...shell.windows3.

Follow-up finding: I've noticed that once restart of the IDE, only the first terminal gets displayed. I had to reopen the settings and save it once to get both the terminals again. Will post if any better solution available.

Answer 7

In the terminal tab, there's a Split Terminal button. Works like a charm

Answer 8

No. Perhaps in the future. See https://github.com/Microsoft/vscode/issues/7504

If you use bash, you can use tmux to achieve something similar, as discussed in the issue linked above.

Answer 9

To open the multiple terminal please check the screen shot for the same(on the right bottom of the visual studio code their will be a dropdown and just after it, their is +(plus) icon . On pressing it the new terminal will open.).

Answer 10

As of https://code.visualstudio.com/updates/v1_35 you can now:

1. select from the pulldown menu directly above the terminal "Select Default Shell"
2. select the one you like
3. click the +
4. done

(the same goes for opening split screen: before this do 1 + 2 and then click the split screen button)

(although overriding the default but does no longer matter if this is your flow)

Answer 11

The recommended way to automatically open multiple terminal windows is to use the Tasks feature. See Automating launching of terminals in the VS Code documentation.

Answer 12

For WSL Ubuntu on Windows terminal:

File -> preferences -> settings -> click code icon in top right

Enter the following:

{
    "terminal.integrated.shell.windows": "C:\\WINDOWS\\System32\\wsl.exe",
    "git.enableSmartCommit": true
}