{"id":48523,"date":"2025-03-28T15:12:48","date_gmt":"2025-03-28T15:12:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ubuntuhandbook.org\/?p=48523"},"modified":"2026-01-27T12:33:21","modified_gmt":"2026-01-27T12:33:21","slug":"change-default-terminal-ubuntu-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ubuntuhandbook.org\/index.php\/2025\/03\/change-default-terminal-ubuntu-2\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Change Default Terminal App in Ubuntu 26.04 | 25.10"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/ubuntuhandbook.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/terminal-logo.webp\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-37909\" src=\"https:\/\/ubuntuhandbook.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/terminal-logo-250x250.webp\" alt=\"\" width=\"250\" height=\"250\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ubuntuhandbook.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/terminal-logo-250x250.webp 250w, https:\/\/ubuntuhandbook.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/terminal-logo-300x300.webp 300w, https:\/\/ubuntuhandbook.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/terminal-logo-600x600.webp 600w, https:\/\/ubuntuhandbook.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/terminal-logo-768x768.webp 768w, https:\/\/ubuntuhandbook.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/terminal-logo.webp 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 250px) 100vw, 250px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>This is a step by step beginners guide shows how to change the default terminal app in Ubuntu 26.04 Resolute Raccoon and Ubuntu 25.10 Questing Quokka.<\/p>\n<p>To configure which terminal app opens, when you right-clicking on a folder and select &#8220;Open in Terminal&#8221;\/&#8221;Open Terminal Here&#8221;, here&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/ubuntuhandbook.org\/index.php\/2023\/05\/open-terminal-other-emulator-ubuntu\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">an extension<\/a> to do the job.<\/p>\n<p>While, this tutorial shows how to configure which terminal to open when you press <b>Ctrl+Alt+T<\/b> keyboard shortcut on keyboard with the new policy since 25.04.<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p><b>NOTE: This tutorial so far only works in Ubuntu 26.04, 25.10 with default GNOME Desktop environment.<\/b><\/p>\n<h3>Step 1: Choose a configuration file to edit<\/h3>\n<p>Ubuntu 25.04 introduced new <code>xdg-terminal-exec<\/code> command line tool making it easy to switch user&#8217;s default terminal. While, there&#8217;s also <a href=\"https:\/\/gitlab.gnome.org\/GNOME\/gnome-control-center\/-\/issues\/3374\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">a request<\/a> to add graphical option to do the job.<\/p>\n<p>The tool reads the rules from following configuration files to choose which terminal to use as default:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>.config\/<code>${desktop}<\/code>-xdg-terminals.list<\/li>\n<li>.config\/xdg-terminals.list<\/li>\n<li>\/etc\/xdg\/<code>${desktop}<\/code>-xdg-terminals.list<\/li>\n<li>\/etc\/xdg\/xdg-terminals.list<\/li>\n<li>\/usr\/share\/xdg-terminal-exec\/<code>${desktop}<\/code>-xdg-terminals.list<\/li>\n<li>\/usr\/share\/xdg-terminal-exec\/xdg-terminals.list<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Here <code>${desktop}<\/code> so far can be <code>ubuntu<\/code>, <code>gnome<\/code>. <b>Meaning for Ubuntu with default GNOME desktop, the configuration files include:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>.config\/ubuntu-xdg-terminals.list<\/li>\n<li>.config\/gnome-xdg-terminals.list<\/li>\n<li>.config\/xdg-terminals.list<\/li>\n<li>\/etc\/xdg\/ubuntu-xdg-terminals.list<\/li>\n<li>\/etc\/xdg\/gnome-xdg-terminals.list<\/li>\n<li>\/etc\/xdg\/xdg-terminals.list<\/li>\n<li>\/usr\/share\/xdg-terminal-exec\/ubuntu-xdg-terminals.list<\/li>\n<li>\/usr\/share\/xdg-terminal-exec\/gnome-xdg-terminals.list<\/li>\n<li>\/usr\/share\/xdg-terminal-exec\/xdg-terminals.list<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>And, the <b>.config<\/b> folder in user&#8217;s home has higher priority than <b>\/etc<\/b>, while files under <code>\/usr\/share<\/code> are not recommended to edit, as they&#8217;ll be overridden after package updates.<\/p>\n<h4>Option 1: For current user only<\/h4>\n<p>For current user, simply open &#8220;<b>Files<\/b>&#8221; (aka Nautilus file manager), press <b>Ctrl+H<\/b> to show hidden files\/folders, then navigate to <b>.conf<\/b> folder under user Home.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/ubuntuhandbook.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/xdg-terminal-config.webp\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-48524\" src=\"https:\/\/ubuntuhandbook.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/xdg-terminal-config-700x465.webp\" alt=\"\" width=\"610\" height=\"405\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ubuntuhandbook.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/xdg-terminal-config-700x465.webp 700w, https:\/\/ubuntuhandbook.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/xdg-terminal-config-300x199.webp 300w, https:\/\/ubuntuhandbook.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/xdg-terminal-config-768x510.webp 768w, https:\/\/ubuntuhandbook.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/xdg-terminal-config.webp 1012w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 610px) 100vw, 610px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>There you&#8217;ll see the 3 configuration files (<strong>create if not exist<\/strong>):<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><code>ubuntu-xdg-terminals.list<\/code> &#8211; it will try this configuration file first. If valid terminal entry found, ignore all others.<\/li>\n<li><code>gnome-xdg-terminals.list<\/code> &#8211; If no valid terminal entry found in last, try this one.<\/li>\n<li><code>xdg-terminals.list<\/code> &#8211; Only use this configuration file when none of above works.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Just click edit the &#8220;<strong>ubuntu-xdg-terminals.list<\/strong>&#8221; file usually works!<\/p>\n<h4>Option 2: system-wide configuration works for all users<\/h4>\n<p>For choice, you may edit one of the files above under <code>\/etc\/xdg<\/code> directory, though it will be overridden by anyone of them from user&#8217;s <code>.conf<\/code> folder.<\/p>\n<p>As the files are not belong to you, run the command below to edit with <code>sudo<\/code> permission:<\/p>\n<pre>sudo nano \/etc\/xdg\/ubuntu-xdg-terminals.list<\/pre>\n<h3>Step 2: Add the terminal entry ID into the configuration file<\/h3>\n<p>When the configuration file opens, just add the desktop entry ID of the terminal app into first line, then it will be set as default at next launch.<\/p>\n<p><b>1. Find the desktop entry ID of your terminal<\/b><\/p>\n<p>The Desktop Entries are the <code>.desktop<\/code> files under one of the following directories:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\/usr\/share\/applications<\/li>\n<li>\/usr\/local\/share\/applications<\/li>\n<li>.local\/share\/applications<\/li>\n<li>\/var\/lib\/flatpak\/exports\/share\/applications<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>You may browse the locations above to find out the ID (full file-name of the .desktop file) of your terminal. Or, run the commands below one by one to make things simple:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>First, run command to install plocate tool:\n<pre>sudo apt install plocate &amp;&amp; sudo updatedb<\/pre>\n<\/li>\n<li>Then, run similar command below find all files include &#8216;.desktop&#8217; and &#8216;console&#8217; in filenames:\n<pre>locate --basename --ignore-case .desktop console<\/pre>\n<p>Here I use <code>console<\/code> for GNOME Console, replace it according to your terminal app name.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/ubuntuhandbook.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/locate-terminalid.webp\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-48525\" src=\"https:\/\/ubuntuhandbook.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/locate-terminalid-700x361.webp\" alt=\"\" width=\"610\" height=\"315\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ubuntuhandbook.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/locate-terminalid-700x361.webp 700w, https:\/\/ubuntuhandbook.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/locate-terminalid-300x155.webp 300w, https:\/\/ubuntuhandbook.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/locate-terminalid-768x396.webp 768w, https:\/\/ubuntuhandbook.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/locate-terminalid.webp 866w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 610px) 100vw, 610px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><b>2.<\/b> Once you found the terminal desktop entry ID, add it as the first line of the configuration file mentioned above, and save.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/ubuntuhandbook.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/edit-ubuntuxdgterminals.webp\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-48526\" src=\"https:\/\/ubuntuhandbook.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/edit-ubuntuxdgterminals-700x492.webp\" alt=\"\" width=\"610\" height=\"429\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ubuntuhandbook.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/edit-ubuntuxdgterminals-700x492.webp 700w, https:\/\/ubuntuhandbook.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/edit-ubuntuxdgterminals-300x211.webp 300w, https:\/\/ubuntuhandbook.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/edit-ubuntuxdgterminals-768x540.webp 768w, https:\/\/ubuntuhandbook.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/edit-ubuntuxdgterminals.webp 926w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 610px) 100vw, 610px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Some terminals support actions to e.g., open in new tab, open preference, etc. You may add the rule below instead as first line:<\/p>\n<pre>xxx.desktop:action<\/pre>\n<p>So press <code>Ctrl+Alt+T<\/code> will open that terminal app with specified action.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/ubuntuhandbook.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/gnome-console-actions.webp\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-48527\" src=\"https:\/\/ubuntuhandbook.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/gnome-console-actions-700x340.webp\" alt=\"\" width=\"610\" height=\"296\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ubuntuhandbook.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/gnome-console-actions-700x340.webp 700w, https:\/\/ubuntuhandbook.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/gnome-console-actions-300x146.webp 300w, https:\/\/ubuntuhandbook.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/gnome-console-actions-768x373.webp 768w, https:\/\/ubuntuhandbook.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/gnome-console-actions.webp 852w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 610px) 100vw, 610px\" \/><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This is a step by step beginners guide shows how to change the default terminal app in Ubuntu 26.04 Resolute Raccoon and Ubuntu 25.10 Questing Quokka. To configure which terminal app opens, when you right-clicking on a folder and select &#8220;Open in Terminal&#8221;\/&#8221;Open Terminal Here&#8221;, here&#8217;s an extension to do the job. While, this tutorial [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":37909,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[243],"class_list":["post-48523","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-howtos","tag-terminal"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ubuntuhandbook.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48523","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ubuntuhandbook.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ubuntuhandbook.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ubuntuhandbook.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ubuntuhandbook.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48523"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ubuntuhandbook.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48523\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ubuntuhandbook.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37909"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ubuntuhandbook.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48523"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ubuntuhandbook.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48523"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ubuntuhandbook.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48523"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}