Disable Windows Terminal Profile Customization with Regedit

This article explains how system administrators can prevent users from modifying default profiles in Windows Terminal using the Windows Registry Editor (Regedit). By creating specific administrative policy keys, you can lock profile settings, enforce uniform terminal environments across managed devices, and prevent unauthorized changes to terminal configurations.

Step 1: Open Registry Editor with Administrative Privileges

  1. Press Windows Key + R to open the Run dialog.
  2. Type regedit and press Ctrl + Shift + Enter to run the Registry Editor as an administrator.
  3. Click Yes when prompted by User Account Control (UAC).

Step 2: Navigate to the Windows Terminal Policy Key

Navigate to the following path in the left-hand registry tree:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft

If the Windows Terminal key does not exist under Microsoft: 1. Right-click on the Microsoft key. 2. Select New > Key. 3. Name the new key Windows Terminal.

Step 3: Configure Registry Policies to Restrict Customization

Administrators can control profile generation and enforce mandatory default profiles so users cannot override them:

1. Enforce a Fixed Default Profile

To force a specific default profile across all users and prevent local preference overrides: 1. Inside the Windows Terminal key, right-click an empty area in the right pane. 2. Select New > String Value. 3. Name the value DefaultProfile. 4. Double-click DefaultProfile and set its Value data to the GUID of the mandatory profile (e.g., {61c54bbd-c2c6-5271-96e7-009a87ff44bf} for Windows PowerShell).

2. Disable Automatic/Dynamic Profile Generation

To prevent Windows Terminal from dynamically detecting and generating third-party or custom profiles (such as WSL, Command Prompt, or Azure Cloud Shell): 1. Inside the Windows Terminal key, right-click and select New > String Value (or Multi-String Value). 2. Name the value DisabledProfileSources. 3. Set the Value data to Windows.Terminal.Wsl, Windows.Terminal.Azure, or other provider identifiers you wish to disable. To disable all dynamic profile generation, specify the desired generator namespaces.

Step 4: Verify the Policy

  1. Close the Registry Editor.
  2. Launch Windows Terminal.
  3. Open Settings (Ctrl + ,).
  4. Settings managed by registry policies will display a lock icon and show the message: “Some of these settings are hidden or managed by your organization.”