Topics: Customization

Change the default terminal

The default terminal, or terminal emulator, is the application that opens when you press Ctrl+Alt+T. If multiple terminal emulators are installed, you can configure which one is the default.

Note

This is the legacy way to set your default terminal on Ubuntu 24.10 an earlier. If you’re using a later Ubuntu release, such as 26.04 LTS, switch the version of this guide to latest.

1. Enter the following command in a terminal:

   $

   sudo update-alternatives --config x-terminal-emulator

   There are 2 choices for the alternative x-terminal-emulator (providing /usr/bin/x-terminal-emulator).
   
     Selection    Path                             Priority   Status
   ------------------------------------------------------------
     0            /usr/bin/gnome-terminal.wrapper   40        auto mode
   * 1            /usr/bin/gnome-terminal.wrapper   40        manual mode
     2            /usr/bin/kgx                      40        manual mode
   
   Press <enter> to keep the current choice[*], or type selection number:
   

   It lists the terminal emulators that are available on your system. The current default is marked with an asterisk (*).

2. Type the number of your selected terminal and confirm with Enter.

   If you choose auto mode (0), you let your system pick the default terminal. The default might change with future system updates.