The problem: Windows Terminal is good, but Alacritty offers better performance and cross-platform consistency.

The solution: Install Alacritty on Windows and configure it to launch WSL by default.

Installation

Visit the Alacritty releases page and choose your preferred installation method:

• Installer: Standard Windows installer
• Portable: Single standalone executable (my preference for simplicity)

Configuration Setup

Alacritty stores its configuration in %APPDATA%\alacritty\alacritty.toml on Windows.

To launch WSL by default, add this to your alacritty.toml:

[terminal.shell]
program = "wsl.exe"
args = ["~"]

• program = "wsl.exe": Launches WSL directly
• args = ["~"]: Starts in the home directory

Sharing Config Between Windows and WSL

To access the same config from both Windows and WSL, create a symlink in WSL:

# Create the config directory in WSL if it doesn't exist
mkdir -p ~/.config/alacritty

# Create a symlink to the Windows config
ln -s /mnt/c/Users/YourName/AppData/Roaming/alacritty/alacritty.toml ~/.config/alacritty/alacritty.toml

Now both Windows and WSL share the same configuration file.

Why Alacritty?

• Performance: GPU-accelerated rendering
• Cross-platform: Same config on Linux, macOS, and Windows
• Simplicity: No tabs, no splits—just a fast terminal
• Modern features: True color, OSC 52 clipboard support

Limitations

Alacritty is intentionally minimal:

• No tabs (use tmux or your window manager)
• No splits (use tmux)
• Configuration is file-based only (no GUI settings)

If you need these features, consider WezTerm or Windows Terminal instead.