Quick Shell

Get started

Let’s create your first Quick Shell workspace and learn the basics.

Don't have Quick Shell yet? Install from the Microsoft Store (Store ID: 9PC8S6LNRT3R) or see the full install guide for WinGet and GitHub downloads.

Launch Quick Shell

Press Win + Alt + Space to open PowerToys Command Palette, search for Quick Shell, and press Enter.

Create your first workspace

  1. In Quick Shell, select Create workspace (or press Ctrl+N)
  2. Pick a folder — use Browse folder or Paste path. The name fills in from the folder name (e.g., MyApp from C:\Projects\MyApp); change it if you want something else
  3. (Optional) Set:
    • One or more commands and terminal profiles (add extra launches for API + frontend, shell + dev server, and so on)
    • A dev server URL or companion app to open when the workspace runs
    • Run as administrator (if needed)
  4. Save workspace

That’s it! Next time you open Command Palette, search for the workspace name and press Enter to jump there.

Discover git repos

On the Quick Shell home list, choose Discover git repos to scan folders on your PC and add repositories as workspaces without typing paths manually.

Your home list

When you open Quick Shell, the top rows are:

  1. Create workspace (Ctrl+N)
  2. Discover git repos
  3. Quick Shell settings

Below that, workspaces appear under Favorites, Recent, and Workspaces (favorites and recents are not repeated in the main list).

Keyboard shortcuts

Use these shortcuts inside Quick Shell to work faster:

Action Keyboard
Create new workspace Ctrl+N
Edit selected workspace Ctrl+E
Favorite/unfavorite Ctrl+F
Duplicate workspace Ctrl+Shift+D
Delete workspace Ctrl+Delete
Move favorite up/down Ctrl+Alt+Up / Ctrl+Alt+Down
Open context menu Ctrl+K or click ⋯
Run as administrator Ctrl+Enter
Undo / Redo Ctrl+Z / Ctrl+Y
Open settings Select the Quick Shell settings list row, or use ⋯ menu

Quick Shell settings

Select Quick Shell settings on the home list to:

  • Set your default terminal and terminal profile
  • Choose how many recent workspaces appear on the home page
  • Choose whether multiple commands open in one Windows Terminal window as tabs (when supported) or as separate windows
  • Export workspaces (backup to a file)
  • Import workspaces (restore from a backup or another PC)
    • Choose Merge to add new ones to your existing list
    • Choose Replace all to overwrite everything
  • Reset all workspaces (a .bak backup from your last save is kept)
  • Refresh terminal list after installing a new terminal app

Multiple commands: tabs vs separate windows

When a workspace has more than one enabled command, Quick Shell can open them in one Windows Terminal window as tabs (default) or in separate windows.

Situation What happens
Windows Terminal is the default terminal app and commands share the same elevation One wt.exe process with ; new-tab between commands
Windows Console Host is selected Each command opens its own console window (tabs are not available)
One command is Run as administrator and another is not Two windows — Windows Terminal elevates the whole window
Separate windows setting is enabled One process per command, even when tabs would work

Change this under Quick Shell settings → Open multiple commands in one Windows Terminal window. Raycast uses the same setting in its extension preferences.

Home keywords

Make your most-used workspaces even faster by setting a home keyword:

  1. Edit a workspace
  2. Set a home keyword (e.g., api, web, docs)
  3. Now press Win + Alt + Space, then type your keyword on the home screen to jump there directly — no searching needed

Where your data is stored

Quick Shell saves everything locally on your PC (no cloud sync):

  • Workspaces: %LOCALAPPDATA%\QuickShell\shortcuts.json
  • Settings: %LOCALAPPDATA%\QuickShell\settings.json

You can back these up or move them to another PC using Export workspaces / Import workspaces.

Tips and tricks

  • Multiple launches: Add more than one terminal or command to a single workspace instead of duplicating the folder
  • Dev server URL: Save a local URL (e.g. http://localhost:5173) and open it in your browser when the workspace runs
  • Companion app: Launch VS Code, Obsidian, or another app with the workspace folder when you open a project
  • WSL support: Save WSL project paths and open them in Windows Terminal’s WSL profile
  • Admin mode: Use Ctrl+Enter or check Launch elevated for elevated commands

Need help?