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 current way to set your default terminal on Ubuntu 25.04 and later. If you’re using an earlier Ubuntu release, such as 24.04 LTS, switch the version of this guide to 24.04.

  • Your terminal might enable you to set it as default in the terminal settings. Look for a button similar to Set as default terminal in the application preferences. The button might be located in the Behavior or General section.

  • If your terminal doesn’t have such settings, enter its XDG Desktop identifier in the ~/.config/ubuntu-xdg-terminals.list file. For example:

    Terminal

    Identifier

    Ptyxis

    org.gnome.Ptyxis.desktop:new-window

    GNOME Terminal

    org.gnome.Terminal.desktop

    GNOME Console

    org.gnome.Console.desktop

    Alacritty

    Alacritty.desktop

    Kitty

    kitty.desktop

    If the file lists multiple terminals, the first line takes precedence.

    Note

    If you’re not using the standard Ubuntu GNOME desktop, the name of the configuration file is different. For details, see the xdg-terminal-exec man page.