How to reset the looks of the Command Prompt window, in Windows?

Question

I have made several customizations to how the Command Prompt window looks in Windows and now I want to reset it to its original state.

How can I do that? I just want it to look that way it does after you install Windows.

score 63 · Accepted Answer · answered Jun 20 '13 at 17:00

63

Try deleting the entire HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Console key (export it first just in case) from the registry. It's re-created when you customise any cmd window again, and seems to have done the trick for me in Win7.

answered Jun 20 '13 at 17:00

Karan

57,289

score 5 · Answer 2 · edited Aug 16 '17 at 18:40

To reset windows console (CMD):

Create restore point of your system (Important).
In start menu type RegEdit right click it and run as admin.
Now if you modified your console before, you should find a key like this: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Console\%SystemRoot%_system32_cmd.exe
Only delete that key i.e %SystemRoot%_system32_cmd.exe
Restart your system and check your console (cmd) now should be back to defaults.

score 2 · Answer 3 · answered Jun 19 '13 at 10:58

2

Is this what you are looking for?

cmd defaults

You can also check HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Command Processor registry key and delete all the values (upon reopening cmd the default values should be set).

answered Jun 19 '13 at 10:58

Mache

167

score 0 · Answer 4 · answered Jun 26 '13 at 12:42

The only solution that works OK is the one proposed by @Karan. However, while experimenting, I did learn a couple of important things:

The reset is on a per user basis. If you want to reset the looks of the Command Prompt window for all user accounts, you have to manually use the same procedure individually, for all accounts.
The reset is performed for both the Command Prompt and PowerShell. Apparently, they use the same registry key to store their visual settings.
The way the windows of these tools look, differ from computer to computer. It seems that the resolution you are using is an important factor in how their windows are drawn on the screen.

In order to help others, I summarized all my learning in a complete step by step tutorial. Also, I created a registry file that can be run in order to reset all visual settings as quickly as possible. Everything can be found here: How to Reset the Looks of the Command Prompt or PowerShell Window.

Thank you all for helping me out. This problem was really bugging me.

How to reset the looks of the Command Prompt window, in Windows?

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