# mintty

> Terminal emulator for Cygwin, MSYS2 and WSL on Windows, derived from PuTTY, with xterm-compatible emulation, Sixel and image support.

Stars: 1.8k · Language: C · License: GPL-3.0 · Platforms: Windows · Config: conf

Features: ligatures, inline images, configurable

- Repository: https://github.com/mintty/mintty
- Page: https://www.trmn.sh/terminals/mintty

## Overview

mintty is the terminal emulator for Cygwin and MSYS2 on Windows, and it can also host WSL sessions. It began as a fork of PuTTY 0.60's terminal code by Andy Koppe and is now maintained by Thomas Wolff. It suits Windows users who run a Unix-like shell through Cygwin, MSYS2 or WSL and want a native Windows terminal with close xterm compatibility.

Settings are stored as `NAME=VALUE` lines in a text file, with no registry entries. mintty reads `/etc/minttyrc`, `$APPDATA/mintty/config`, `~/.config/mintty/config` and `~/.minttyrc` in that order, then any files given with `-c`/`--config`, and single settings can be passed with `-o`. An options dialog writes changes back to the config file. The full reference is the `mintty(1)` manual page, with further notes in the project wiki. Theme files set the colour scheme, with an optional separate theme for Windows dark mode.

Terminal emulation covers xterm sequences and DEC screen control up to VT420 rectangular areas, along with true colour, extended underline styles, bidirectional text, emoji sequences and reflow on resize. Graphics include Sixel, image display through iTerm2's image controls (PNG, JPEG, GIF and other formats), ReGIS and Tektronix 4014 emulation. Font ligatures are rendered through the Windows Uniscribe API and can be redrawn during input with `LigaturesSupport`. Other features are screen and scrollback search, Ctrl+click to open files and URLs, HTML and image screenshot export, user-defined shortcuts and menu functions, and interface localisation.

mintty runs only on Windows and only under a Cygwin-type runtime (Cygwin, MSYS2 or derived projects), so it is not a general Windows console host for `cmd` or PowerShell. Rendering uses Windows text output APIs rather than the GPU. Tabs are virtual: each session is its own mintty window, and the `--tabbar` option (`TabBar` with `SessionGeomSync`) overlays those windows behind a shared tab bar to give a tabbed window. There are no splits. The project does not accept unsolicited pull requests and asks that proposals be discussed in an issue first.

## Alternatives

- [Windows Terminal](https://www.trmn.sh/terminals/windows-terminal.md): Microsoft's terminal for Windows that hosts PowerShell, cmd and WSL shells in tabs and panes, with GPU text rendering and JSON settings. (Windows, 105.3k stars)
- [Tabby](https://www.trmn.sh/terminals/tabby.md): Cross-platform Electron terminal with a built-in SSH, Telnet and serial client, saved connection profiles and a plugin system. (Linux/macOS/Windows, 75.2k stars)
- [Alacritty](https://www.trmn.sh/terminals/alacritty.md): Cross-platform OpenGL terminal emulator written in Rust, configured with a TOML file and leaving tabs and splits to a multiplexer like tmux. (Linux/macOS/Windows/BSD, 66.1k stars)
- [Warp](https://www.trmn.sh/terminals/warp.md): Terminal written in Rust with an IDE-style command editor, command output grouped into blocks, and built-in AI agents. (macOS/Linux/Windows, 65.7k stars)
- [Termux](https://www.trmn.sh/terminals/termux.md): Android terminal emulator and Linux environment that installs packages through its own apt repository, no root required. (Android, 63.6k stars)
- [Ghostty](https://www.trmn.sh/terminals/ghostty.md): Terminal emulator written in Zig with GPU rendering and a native UI on each platform: Swift/AppKit on macOS, GTK on Linux. (Linux/macOS, 62.8k stars)
- [Hyper](https://www.trmn.sh/terminals/hyper.md): Electron terminal built on HTML, CSS and JavaScript, themed and extended through npm plugins. (Linux/macOS/Windows, 44.8k stars)
- [Kitty](https://www.trmn.sh/terminals/kitty.md): GPU-rendered terminal written in C and Python, with its own graphics protocol, built-in tabs and splits, and scriptable 'kittens'. (Linux/macOS/BSD, 35.5k stars)

## Guides

- [Best Terminals with Inline Image Support](https://www.trmn.sh/best/terminals-with-image-support): Terminals that show images inline: kitty, WezTerm and Rio compared by protocol support (kitty graphics, Sixel, iTerm2) and platform.

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Canonical: https://www.trmn.sh/terminals/mintty