Installation

Install WezTerm on Linux, macOS, Windows, or FreeBSD using your preferred package manager or installer

Installing WezTerm

WezTerm is available pre-built for all major platforms. Choose your operating system below to get started.

Linux

Linux Installation

WezTerm supports multiple Linux distributions and installation methods. Choose the one that best fits your workflow.

Recommended: Package Managers

Flatpak (Universal)

Flatpak provides a sandboxed installation that works across all Linux distributions.

Flatpaks run in an isolated sandbox which may limit some functionality for power users. Consider using a native package if you need full system integration.

1. Setup Flatpak

   First, setup flatpak on your system if you haven’t already.

2. Install WezTerm

   flatpak install flathub org.wezfurlong.wezterm
   
3. Run WezTerm

   flatpak run org.wezfurlong.wezterm
   

   Optionally, create an alias for convenience:

   alias wezterm='flatpak run org.wezfurlong.wezterm'
   

Flatpak Limitations:

• Process inspection (e.g., determining current directory) may not work
• First run may block until GUI is launched
• Only stable releases available (no nightly builds)

Ubuntu/Debian (APT)

Install via the official APT repository for automatic updates.

1. Add APT Repository

   curl -fsSL https://apt.fury.io/wez/gpg.key | sudo gpg --yes --dearmor -o /usr/share/keyrings/wezterm-fury.gpg
   echo 'deb [signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/wezterm-fury.gpg] https://apt.fury.io/wez/ * *' | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/wezterm.list
   sudo chmod 644 /usr/share/keyrings/wezterm-fury.gpg
   
2. Update and Install

   Stable

   sudo apt update
   sudo apt install wezterm
   

   The nightly build conflicts with the stable build. You can install one or the other, but not both simultaneously.

Fedora/RHEL (Copr)

Install nightly builds via Copr for Fedora, RHEL, CentOS Stream, and openSUSE.

Fedora/RHEL/CentOS

sudo dnf copr enable wezfurlong/wezterm-nightly
sudo dnf install wezterm

To update:

sudo dnf update wezterm

Fedora Atomic (Silverblue/Kinoite)

sudo wget https://copr.fedorainfracloud.org/coprs/wezfurlong/wezterm-nightly/repo/fedora-$(rpm -E %fedora)/wezfurlong-wezterm-nightly-fedora-$(rpm -E %fedora).repo -O /etc/yum.repos.d/_copr:copr.fedorainfracloud.org:wezfurlong:wezterm-nightly.repo
sudo rpm-ostree install wezterm

openSUSE

sudo zypper in dnf
sudo dnf copr enable wezfurlong/wezterm-nightly opensuse-tumbleweed-x86_64
sudo dnf install wezterm

Replace opensuse-tumbleweed-x86_64 with your platform:

• opensuse-tumbleweed-x86_64 or opensuse-tumbleweed-aarch64
• opensuse-leap-15.5-x86_64 or opensuse-leap-15.5-aarch64

Supported Distributions:

• Fedora 38, 39, 40, rawhide
• CentOS Stream 8, 9
• RHEL 8, 9
• openSUSE Leap 15.5, Tumbleweed
• Available for x86_64 and aarch64

Arch Linux

WezTerm is available in the official Extra repository.

sudo pacman -S wezterm ttf-nerd-fonts-symbols-mono

Be sure to install ttf-nerd-fonts-symbols-mono for proper symbol rendering!

For the latest development version, use the AUR:

# Using yay
yay -S wezterm-git

NixOS/Nix

WezTerm is available in nixpkgs.

NixOS Configuration

# configuration.nix
{
  environment.systemPackages = [
    pkgs.wezterm
  ];
}

Flake (Latest)

For newer versions, use the flake:

# flake.nix
{
  inputs.wezterm.url = "github:wezterm/wezterm?dir=nix";

  outputs = inputs @ {nixpkgs, ...}: {
    nixosConfigurations.HOSTNAME = nixpkgs.lib.nixosSystem {
      specialArgs = { inherit inputs; };
      modules = [ /* ... */ ];
    };
  };
}

Enable the cachix binary cache to avoid building from source:

# nixosConfiguration module
{
  nix.settings = {
    substituters = ["https://wezterm.cachix.org"];
    trusted-public-keys = ["wezterm.cachix.org-1:kAbhjYUC9qvblTE+s7S+kl5XM1zVa4skO+E/1IDWdH0="];
  };
}

home-manager

# home.nix
{inputs, pkgs, ...}: {
  programs.wezterm = {
    enable = true;
    package = inputs.wezterm.packages.${pkgs.system}.default;
  };
}

Git must be available in $PATH during evaluation phase when using the wezterm flake, as it uses builtins.fetchGit.

Linuxbrew

For Linuxbrew users:

Stable

brew tap wezterm/wezterm-linuxbrew
brew install wezterm

To upgrade nightly builds:

brew rm wezterm
brew install --HEAD wezterm

Standalone Packages

AppImage (Portable)

AppImage provides a self-contained executable that works across distributions.

# Download stable release
curl -LO https://github.com/wez/wezterm/releases/download/latest/WezTerm-latest-Ubuntu20.04.AppImage
chmod +x WezTerm-latest-Ubuntu20.04.AppImage

# Run directly
./WezTerm-latest-Ubuntu20.04.AppImage

# Or move to your bin directory
mkdir -p ~/bin
mv ./WezTerm-latest-Ubuntu20.04.AppImage ~/bin/wezterm
~/bin/wezterm

AppImages are perfect for portable installations or trying WezTerm without installing system packages.

DEB Packages (Ubuntu/Debian)

Download pre-built .deb packages for specific Ubuntu/Debian versions:

# Ubuntu 22.04 example
curl -LO https://github.com/wez/wezterm/releases/download/latest/wezterm-latest.Ubuntu22.04.deb
sudo apt install -y ./wezterm-latest.Ubuntu22.04.deb

Available distributions: Ubuntu 20, 22, 24 | Debian 11, 12 (amd64 and arm64)

RPM Packages (Fedora/CentOS)

Download pre-built .rpm packages:

# Fedora 39 example
sudo dnf install -y https://github.com/wez/wezterm/releases/download/latest/wezterm-latest.Fedora39.rpm

Available distributions: CentOS 9 | Fedora 37, 38, 39, 40

After installation, WezTerm is available as /usr/bin/wezterm. Configuration instructions are in the quick start guide.

macOS

macOS Installation

WezTerm requires macOS Mojave (10.14) or later and is available as a Universal binary supporting both Apple Silicon and Intel processors.

Direct Download (Recommended)

1. Download WezTerm

   Download the latest release:

   • Stable Release
   • Nightly Build
2. Install the App

   1. Extract the ZIP file
   2. Drag WezTerm.app to your Applications folder
   3. Right-click and select “Open” on first launch (security requirement)
3. Add CLI to PATH (Optional)

   To use wezterm commands from the terminal, add to your shell profile:

   ~/.zshrc

   PATH="$PATH:/Applications/WezTerm.app/Contents/MacOS"
   export PATH
   

Homebrew

Stable

brew install --cask wezterm

To upgrade nightly builds:

brew upgrade --cask wezterm@nightly --no-quarantine --greedy-latest

The --greedy-latest flag forces installation of the absolute latest version, even if an older version satisfies requirements.

MacPorts

sudo port selfupdate
sudo port install wezterm

Universal Binary Support: All installation methods provide a Universal binary that runs natively on both Apple Silicon (M1/M2/M3) and Intel Macs.

Windows

Windows Installation

WezTerm requires Windows 10.0.17763 (October 2018 Update) or later for Pseudo Console (ConPTY) support.

Setup Installer (Recommended)

The setup.exe installer provides the easiest installation experience:

1. Download Installer

   • Stable Release (setup.exe)
   • Nightly Build (setup.exe)
2. Run Installer

   1. Run the downloaded .exe file
   2. Follow the installation wizard (requires admin privileges)
   3. WezTerm will be installed to Program Files and added to your PATH
3. Launch WezTerm

   • Use the Start Menu shortcut
   • Or run wezterm from any command prompt

The installer can be scripted using standard Inno Setup command line options for automated deployments.

Package Managers

winget (Windows Package Manager)

winget is included with the App Installer from the Microsoft Store.

Install

winget install wez.wezterm

Scoop

WezTerm is available in the “Extras” bucket:

scoop bucket add extras
scoop install wezterm

Chocolatey

Install from the Chocolatey Community Repository:

choco install wezterm -y

Portable ZIP

For a portable installation that doesn’t require admin privileges:

1. Download ZIP

   • Stable Release (zip)
   • Nightly Build (zip)
2. Extract and Run

   1. Extract the ZIP to any location (e.g., flash drive, user folder)
   2. Double-click wezterm.exe to launch
   3. No installation or admin rights required

The portable ZIP is perfect for:

• Running WezTerm from a USB drive
• Testing without installation
• Environments where you can’t install software

FreeBSD

FreeBSD Installation

WezTerm is available via the FreeBSD ports system:

pkg install wezterm

The version in ports is maintained by the FreeBSD community and may lag behind the latest WezTerm release.

Building from Source

For the latest version, you can build from source. See the source build documentation for detailed instructions.

Verify Installation

After installation, verify WezTerm is working:

# Check version
wezterm --version

# List available fonts
wezterm ls-fonts

# Show default key bindings
wezterm show-keys

Next Steps

Quick Start Guide

Create your first configuration and customize WezTerm

Configuration Files

Learn about configuration file locations and structure

Key Bindings

Explore default keyboard shortcuts

Troubleshooting

Get help if you encounter issues

Need help? Visit GitHub Discussions or join the Matrix chat.