How To Customize Terminal Name in VS Code: A Quick Guide

How to Rename Terminals in Visual Studio Code

Okay, so here’s where I got stuck—trying to keep a bunch of terminals organized in VS Code. Default names like “bash” or “PowerShell” aren’t really helpful when you’ve got multiple tabs open for different tasks—like one for running your build, another for watching files, and maybe a third for SSH into a server. It’s easy to lose track, so I looked around and found out you can actually rename each terminal right inside VS Code. Honestly, it’s not super obvious at first, but once you get the hang of it, it’s a game-changer for staying organized.

Finding the Terminals

To start, you need to bring up the terminal panel if it’s not visible. Usually, there’s a terminal icon—kind of like a little rectangle with a >_ prompt—somewhere at the top of the panel or in the bottom toolbar. Click that, and the terminal should pop open. If you’re working with multiple terminals, you’ll see tabs at the top of the panel. That’s where the magic begins.
*Pro tip:* If your terminal’s hidden, you can quickly summon it with View > Terminal or the shortcut Ctrl + `. Sometimes, the terminal gets minimized or collapsed, especially if you’ve been jumping around, so don’t be surprised if it’s not staging right in front of you.

Renaming Specific Terminals

Once you see your terminal, click on its tab so it’s focused. Then, right-click directly on that tab. Sometimes, on my older ASUS, the menu options are tucked away or a little hidden behind a gear icon inside the tab, but right-clicking should bring up a context menu. Look for an option that says ‘Rename’. If that’s not immediately there, try hovering around or clicking the gear icon—sometimes the menu is full and ‘Rename’ gets shifted into the overflow menu. Click ‘Rename’, and then a small input box should appear. Type in whatever you want—like ‘build’, ‘watch’, ‘server’—whatever makes it easier to tell them apart. Hit Enter, and just like that, the tab updates with your custom label.
*Extra tip:* If right-click doesn’t do the trick, you can also trigger this from the Command Palette: View > Command Palette or Ctrl + Shift + P, then type Terminal: Rename, select it, and enter your custom name there. Nice and quick.

Renaming Multiple Terminals in One Go

This part is pretty straightforward—any terminal you want to rename, just right-click the tab, pick ‘Rename’, and type your label. You can do this for every single terminal independently, which helps a lot if you’re juggling a few different workflows. For example, I labeled one Build, another Dev Server, and a third DB SSH. Makes it way easier to remember what’s what when switching back and forth.
*Note:* For those who prefer, the Terminal: Rename command from the Command Palette works just as well if right-clicking is weird or unresponsive.

Organizational Tips You Might Appreciate

Besides just renaming, it’s worth noting that you can split terminals horizontally or vertically using the toolbar buttons in the terminal panel. So, if you want your build processes on one side and your logs on the other, totally doable. And for the ultimate tidy workspace, you might want to tweak your settings.json—like setting default profiles or positioning defaults. I found that giving each terminal a clear, descriptive name makes your workflow way smoother, especially when debugging or managing multiple projects.

One More Bit of Advice

Honestly, I was surprised to find how hidden this feature was—I mean, right-clicking on the terminal tab is simple, but it’s not obvious that it’s the way to rename. So don’t overlook it! Just right-click, choose ‘Rename’, give it a memorable label, and you’ll save yourself a lot of confusion down the line. Also, keep in mind that if you switch default shells or profiles, you might need to restart VS Code to see the changes take effect. And if your terminal options seem limited, check the Settings > Terminal > Integrated section. You can even set a default profile (PowerShell, Bash, WSL, etc.) here, which can be helpful if your setup is a bit customized.

Hope this helped—honestly, it took me way too long to figure out how simple this is. Once you get it set up, jumping between tasks is way less stressful. Anyway, hope this saves someone else a weekend of guessing. Good luck coding!