32

What is the name of the exe file for windows terminal preview, its path and command to open it?

Like for windows terminal it is wt.exe

Pragya
  • 356
  • 1
  • 3
  • 6

6 Answers6

36

A more generic path is:

%LocalAppData%\Microsoft\WindowsApps\wt.exe

Álister Lopes Ferreira
  • 566
  • 5
  • 4
33

Check in AppData\Local\Microsoft\WindowsApps

Look for wt.exe or the "WindowsTerminalPreview" directory for the preview edition.

Rob Lauer
  • 3,075
  • 1
  • 32
  • 44
  • When I searched for this, my propose was to make a key shortcut, but I was not able to do so. One alternative is adding it to the taskbar and use win+ – guilfer Nov 10 '21 at 15:47
12
  1. Open start menu and open Windows Terminal.
  2. Click ctrl + alt + delete to open tasks manager.
  3. Look for Windows Terminal task and unfold it.
  4. Find Windows Terminal, click your right mouse button, click open file location. It will navigate WindowsTerminal.exe automatically.
  5. That's it.

On my computer WindowsTerminal is installed at C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\Microsoft.WindowsTerminal_1.9.1942.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe. Note that WindowsApps may be hidden and restricted, you should make sure it is visible and accessable.

yancaico
  • 1,145
  • 11
  • 21
  • In my case, when unfolding `Windows Terminal` I then had to show the file location for the item named `~`. Then It is in that same folder under the name of `wt.exe`. – Luke Floden Aug 31 '21 at 20:51
  • Thanks for this answer! Helped me understand how to locate other exe files through taskmanager, and gave me the correct location for adding a Desktop shortcut – Ari Seyhun May 06 '22 at 11:48
  • Why is even that local for the exe file so cumbersome? Does it mean that after ever app update I'll have to search for the exe file in a different location? – carloswm85 Mar 11 '23 at 00:56
9

Try using where command in cmd. Like this where wt.exe, you should get full path (mine C:\Users\{user-name}\AppData\Local\Microsoft\WindowsApps\wt.exe

tnemele12
  • 903
  • 7
  • 16
7

Usually I'd recommend that this question be moved to Super User, since it isn't programming related. However, it's too old for that at this point.

wt.exe is what's known as an "Execution Alias", a "fake exe" method to open a Windows Store app (a.k.a. Metro, a.k.a. Universal, a.k.a. Modern, or whatever it's called today).

Both "Windows Terminal" and "Windows Terminal Preview" use the same wt.exe execution alias, since Preview is just a pre-release of the final version.

If you have both versions installed, you'll need to choose which one runs with wt.exe by going to "Manage App Execution Aliases" in the settings (just search for it in the Start menu). Switch off the one you don't want to be using; switch on the one you do.

NotTheDr01ds
  • 15,620
  • 5
  • 44
  • 70
  • 3
    Switching **Off-and-On** _App Execution Alias_ helped me to restore the alias `wt.exe` (size 0 byte) to work (which is stored at `%LocalAppData%\Microsoft\WindowsApps\wt.exe`) – escalator Jun 29 '21 at 06:40
  • (Re)installing Windows Terminal places the `wt.exe` alias in a subfolder of `%LocalAppData%\Microsoft\WindowsApps\` which is not in my path. As escalator says, follow instructions in this answer and turn it off, turn it on recreates the `wt.exe` alias directly in the `%LocalAppData%\Microsoft\WindowsApps\` folder which is in the path – Dave Pile Jul 12 '21 at 22:42
0

I was able to execute wt.exe previously.

Now "%LocalAppData%\Microsoft\WindowsApps\wt.exe" returns the following. The system cannot find the file XXXX\Microsoft\WindowsApps\wt.exe.

The wt.exe is in this directory as expected.

However, when I search for "Windows Terminal" and open it from the start menu it opens.

I believe this behavior is due to a change in my companies security GPO governing the execution of scripts. I am not certain of this yet.

I do not yet have more details but I am digging to find out more.

TheL0grus
  • 99
  • 4
  • I have the same problem. I had some pretty elaborate split pane setup using a custom shortcut now it is not working saying wt.exe can't be found. – Vignesh Jul 27 '21 at 09:07
  • 2
    It was changed after the update. Here is the path in my case: "C:/Users/User/AppData/Local/Microsoft/WindowsApps/Microsoft.WindowsTerminal_8wekyb3d8bbwe/wt.exe" – Raymoff Aug 12 '21 at 21:39