Using ZSH on a Windows Computer

• Install WSL https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wsl/install
• Install Ubuntu from Windows Store. https://www.microsoft.com/store/productId/9PDXGNCFSCZV
• Run Ubuntu and configure for the first time. On Ubuntu:
  • sudo apt install zsh
  • Install oh-my-zsh. Details: https://github.com/ohmyzsh/ohmyzsh

    sh -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ohmyzsh/ohmyzsh/master/tools/install.sh)"
    

  • Clone my oh-my-zsh-config from https://github.com/bilalbozkurt/oh-my-zsh-config
  • Type nano .zshrc and edit this line with your username: export ZSH="/home/bilal/.oh-my-zsh"
  • Copy .oh-my-zsh and .zshrc to ~/
  • Clone powerlevel10k. Details: https://github.com/romkatv/powerlevel10k

    git clone --depth=1 https://github.com/romkatv/powerlevel10k.git ~/powerlevel10k
    echo 'source ~/powerlevel10k/powerlevel10k.zsh-theme' >>~/.zshrc
    

  • To make ZSH default shell, type nano ~/.bashrc and add following lines to the beginning:

    #Launch ZSH
    if [ -t 1 ]; then
    exec zsh
    fi
    

• On Windows, install Windows Terminal https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/p/windows-terminal/9n0dx20hk701
• Open Terminal -> Settings -> Profiles -> Add a new profile -> Select Ubuntu or WSL -> Duplicate
• Change name and tab title to ZSH
• Run a ZSH shell.
• Type ls
• Let's remove unreadable bright highlights.

  LS_COLORS='ow=01;36;'
  export LS_COLORS
  

• Type ls again.
• But it is not permanent. Let's make it permanent.
• Type nano ~/.zshrc and add following lines after export ZSH="..."

  #Remove LS directory highlights
  LS_COLORS='ow=01;36;'
  export LS_COLORS
  

• Make the shell default

Remarks

• Your installed apps on Windows will work but you need to specify its extension.
  • eg. dotnet command will return an error but dotnet.exe command won't.
  • With this trick you can combine Windows commands and Linux commands together. Try ipconfig.exe | grep IPv4 Further reading: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wsl/release-notes#build-14951
• It uses Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) and its shell.