Using WezTerm with Git Bash on Windows | Shane | Frontend & Fullstack Developer

If you are developing on Windows, you’ve probably used Git Bash at some point. While it works fine, the default Git Bash window feels outdated compared to modern terminals.

This is where WezTerm comes in.

WezTerm is a modern, GPU-accelerated terminal emulator that works beautifully on Windows. In this post, I’ll show how I set up WezTerm to run Git Bash by default, giving me a much better terminal experience on Windows.

Why WezTerm?

WezTerm is a cross-platform terminal emulator written in Rust, and it offers a lot of features that make it stand out:

GPU-accelerated rendering for smooth performance
Tabs and split panes out of the box
Highly customizable via Lua configuration
Excellent font and color scheme support
Works consistently across Windows, macOS, and Linux

If you enjoy tools like iTerm2 or Alacritty, WezTerm feels right at home—especially on Windows.

Prerequisites

Before starting, make sure you have the following installed:

1. Git for Windows

Git Bash comes with Git for Windows. The Bash executable is usually located at:

C:\Program Files\Git\bin\bash.exe

If Git is already installed, you’re good to go.

2. WezTerm

You can install WezTerm in several ways:

Using winget
Downloading the installer from the official website

Installation guide: https://wezterm.org/install/windows.html

Creating the WezTerm Configuration

WezTerm is configured using a Lua file called .wezterm.lua.

Create the file here:

%USERPROFILE%\.wezterm.lua

Then add the following configuration:

local wezterm = require("wezterm")

local config = wezterm.config_builder()

-- Initial window size
config.initial_cols = 128
config.initial_rows = 28

-- Appearance
config.font_size = 11
config.color_scheme = "Material Darker (base16)"

-- Use Git Bash as the default shell
config.default_prog = {
  "C:\\Program Files\\Git\\bin\\bash.exe",
  "--login",
  "-i"
}

return config

This tells WezTerm to launch Git Bash instead of cmd.exe or PowerShell when it starts.

If Git is installed in a different directory on your machine, make sure to update the path accordingly.

Launching WezTerm

Once the configuration file is saved:

If WezTerm is already running, it will reload the config automatically
Otherwise, just start WezTerm normally

You should now see Git Bash running inside WezTerm, with all the benefits of a modern terminal.

Customizing the Experience

One of the best parts of WezTerm is how easy it is to customize.

Changing Color Schemes

WezTerm ships with many built-in color schemes. You can browse them here: https://wezterm.org/colorschemes/index.html

To switch themes, simply update:

config.color_scheme = "Gruvbox Dark"

Fonts

You can also customize the font:

config.font = wezterm.font("JetBrains Mono")

This makes a huge difference for readability, especially during long coding sessions.

Tips and Ideas

Use tabs and split panes to manage multiple projects at once
Combine WezTerm with WSL for Linux-based workflows
Take advantage of Lua to create dynamic or context-aware configs
Customize key bindings to match your habits

WezTerm can be as simple or as powerful as you want it to be.

Conclusion

By combining WezTerm with Git Bash, you get:

✅ A modern terminal experience on Windows

✅ Better performance and visuals

✅ A highly customizable setup that grows with you

If you spend a lot of time in the terminal, this setup is absolutely worth it. Once you get used to WezTerm, it’s hard to go back.

Happy hacking 🚀