How to Customize the Command Window

Most folks just use the command prompt window "as is." Did you know that you can customize its appearance and properties? It's not obvious, since there are no menus at the top of the window, but if you right click in the title bar, you'll see several selections.

A reader recently wrote to say he'd been playing around with these settings and now when he opens the command prompt, a huge black box fills the entire screen. He wanted to know how to get back to the previous small box.

To change the size of the command window for just the current window, do this:

  1. Right click the title bar and select Properties.
  2. Click the layout tab.
  3. In the Window Size section, set the desired width and height (in pixels). The default size is 80(W)x25(H).

To change the size for all windows, right click the title bar, select Defaults, and follow steps 2 and 3.

You can also change the colors of the screen text, background and popups. Tired of thinking of the command window as the "dark place?" Want red text on a nice green background when the holiday season draws near? Just change your colors by clicking the Colors tab. I always change the text color from gray to white so it will show up better in screenshots.