How to change the location of settings.json file in Windows Terminal

I have a need to change the the default folder where Windows terminal is looking for settings.json file. From C:\Users%USER%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows Terminal to my personal c:\tools\windowsterminal. The reason is because c:\tools is under version control and I'd like to keep it up to date to share between my several workstations.

How can I achieve this? As a workaround, maybe there is an option to start WindowsTerminal from cmd with specific parameter?

Please note, I know how to set starting directory for particular terminal, this is not what I want.


You can use the mklink command in the Command Prompt.

You should use /H to make a so-called "hard link". Move the file first.

Something like this:

mklink /H "C:\Users\Sloven\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows Terminal\settings.json" "C:\tools\windowsterminal\settings.json"

Replace "Sloven" with the username you are using on your pc.

For more info see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symbolic_link#Microsoft_Windows or google "Symlink windows"

The command line arguments for Windows Terminal can be found here: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/terminal/command-line-arguments?tabs=windows


Leaving it here to spare someone googling for Powershell solution

New-Item -ItemType HardLink -Path "C:\Users\Sloven\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows Terminal\settings.json" -Target "C:\tools\windowsterminal\settings.json"