ConEmu

ConEmu

ConEmu (also called ConEmu-Maximus5) wraps your terminals and apps in tabs and panes. You run two types of tools inside it. First - console apps like cmd.exe, powershell.exe, bash, Far Manager. Second - GUI apps like PuTTY, Notepad, mintty, GVim etc.

It runs as a console host for command-line tools. And as a tabbed holder for graphical ones. Originally built to pair with Far Manager, but it works with anything that runs on Windows. CMD, PowerShell, bash, KiTTY - even plain Notepad.

1. You launch ConEmu.
2. You run your stuff.
3. Done.

It’s open source, BSD licensed, works on all Windows versios. This isn’t a shell itself, but it can run any shell you throw at it.

Overview of Features

Some Features	Description
Tabbed Interface	Multiple console sessions ALL in one window
Split Panes	Divide workspace - vertically or horizontally
Quake Mode	Drop-down terminal with hotkey toggle
Deep Customisation	Fonts, colours, transparency, hotkeys etc.
ANSI Support	256-colour and 24-bit colour terminal output
GUI Integration	Run PuTTY, Notepad and other apps in tabs
Far Manager Companion	Enhanced thumbnails, drag-drop, true colour
Default Terminal	Replace Windows console system-wide
Progress Indicators	Taskbar integration for long-running commands
Text Selection	Rectangular and block selection modes

And plenty more. You can dig through the full feature list on the official page.

A Closer Look

If you’ve never touched CMD or Far Manager, skip this. It’s not built for completely new users. It’s built for those who likes to work in/with terminals and want Windows to behave better. You already know what’s broken in the default console. ConEmu fixes most of it.

Tabs? Done. Splits? Done. Copy and paste that doesn’t suck? Done.

You can dock, snap, and resize until the layout fits your style.

Do you want a dropdown terminal like Quake? Press a hotkey. Do you want a floating PuTTY tab next to bash? It handles that too.

You set it up once, then forget it. It stays out of your way. It remembers what you run and how you like it. And yeah, the settings panel is big. You won’t change everything. You don’t need to.

ConEmu Alternatives

Alternative	Price	Platform	Strong points
Cmder	Free	Windows	Built on ConEmu with Unix tools
Windows Terminal	Free	Windows 10/11	Official Microsoft modern terminal
Tabby	Free	Cross-platform	Sleek interface, SSH built-in
MobaXterm	Freemium	Windows	Complete Unix toolkit for Windows
Hyper	Free	Cross-platform	Web-based, highly extensible

Note: The most popular alternative is Cmder, which builds directly on ConEmu (a colleague of mine uses Cmder daily), adding Unix-like commands and bash completion.

Final Thoughts

If you use terminals on a daily basis, stop wasting time. Install ConEmu - set it up once - run what you need. That’s it. If you appreciate the amount of work for creating this amazing terminal - please consider a donation towards this project!

No release notes available