How to Make Your Linux Terminal Look Cool & Modern

Introduction

Do you want to make your Linux terminal look modern, cool, professional, and beautiful? This guide will show how to customize your Linux terminal using:

• Fish shell
• oh-my-posh
• Nerd Fonts
• fastfetch

It's perfect for both beginners and advanced Linux users! 🐧

If you prefer watching instead of reading, watch the full video guide on YouTube:

• Linux Terminal Tutorial
• Linux Mint Terminal Tutorial (If you use Linux Mint or Ubuntu)
• Arch Linux Terminal Tutorial (If you use Arch Linux)

Step 1 - Installing the Fish Shell

Open the preferred terminal, then run:

sudo apt-get install fish

Enter your password and press Y when prompted.

After that, type fish to verify the shell works.

Step 2 - Installing Oh-my-posh

Oh-my-posh lets you customize your shell with beautiful prompt themes.

Method 1

1. Go to the Official GitHub repo of oh-my-posh: https://github.com/JanDeDobbeleer/oh-my-posh

2. Open the Releases section and download the correct executable:

   • posh-linux-amd64 - for x64 systems
   • posh-linux-arm - for ARM
   • posh-linux-arm64 - for ARM64

3. Download themes.zip as well.

Extracting themes

Once themes.zip has finished downloading, create the folder:

mkdir -p ~/.poshthemes # or mkdir -p /home/<username>/.poshthemes

Then run the following command:

unzip ~/Downloads/themes.zip -d ~/.poshthemes

This extracts all .omp.json theme files.

Installing the binary

After that, rename the executable to oh-my-posh and choose where to place it.

• Install to ~/.local/bin (Recommended)

  cp ~/Downloads/oh-my-posh ~/.local/bin
  chmod +x ~/.local/bin/oh-my-posh

• Install to /usr/bin (system-wide)

  sudo cp ~/Downloads/oh-my-posh /usr/bin
  sudo chmod +x /usr/bin/oh-my-posh

Make sure to type oh-my-posh and hit Enter to verify the installation.

Method 2

To install oh-my-posh quickly, run the following command¹:

curl -s https://ohmyposh.dev/install.sh | bash -s

And themes will be installed in the ~/.cache/oh-my-posh/themes folder.

Fixing the Command Not Found error

When you type oh-my-posh but it says Command Not Found, do one of these methods:

• Method 1: Give them an executable permission:

  sudo chmod +x ~/.local/bin/oh-my-posh
  # Alternative:
  sudo chmod 777 ~/.local/bin/oh-my-posh

• Method 2: Add them into the $PATH environment variable
  1. Open Nano Text Editor:

     sudo nano ~/.bashrc

  2. Add export PATH="$PATH:/home/<username>/local/bin" into the end of the file
  3. Save by using Ctrl+S, exit by using Ctrl+X
  4. Refresh the terminal:

     source ~/.bashrc

• Method 3 (Recommended): Add them into fish_user_paths

  fish_add_path ~/.local/bin/

Step 3 - Changing the Terminal Font

Go to the official Nerd Fonts download page: https://www.nerdfonts.com/font-downloads

Choose a font such as Fira Code Nerd Font, and download the chosen font.

Extract these fonts into the folder and update the font references by running the following command:

unzip ~/Downloads/<font-name>.zip -d ~/.local/share/fonts
sudo fc-cache -f -v

Changing font settings

• KDE Plasma → System Settings → Appearance → Fonts → Fixed Width
• Linux Mint → System Settings → Fonts → Monospace
• GNOME → GNOME Tweaks → Fonts → Monospace Text

Choose your installed nerd font.

Step 4 - Profile Configuration

Open the ~/.config/fish/config.fish file with the text editor, and add this above the if statement:

oh-my-posh init fish -c ~/.poshthemes/<theme>.omp.json | source

If you installed via the second method:

oh-my-posh init fish -c ~/.cache/oh-my-posh/themes/<theme>.omp.json | source

<theme> - Any oh-my-posh theme (example: atomic)

KDE Plasma

1. Open Terminal settings → Manage Profiles
2. Create a new profile
3. Set the command to /bin/fish (or /usr/bin/fish)
4. Check Default Profile → Apply → OK

Linux Mint and GNOME Terminal

1. Right-click on Terminal → Preferences
2. Create a profile
3. Go to the Command section
4. Enable the "Run a custom command instead of my shell" option
5. Enter fish as a custom command.
6. Open the dropdown menu and select "Set as default".
7. Close the Preferences Window

Arch Terminal

Use the following command to change the Arch Console shell:

chsh -s /usr/bin/fish
# Alternative:
chsh -s $(which fish)

Step 5 - Changing the color scheme

Color schemes improve your terminal appearance.

KDE Plasma

1. Terminal → Manage Profiles
2. Select your profile → Edit
3. Appearance → Choose a color scheme
4. Or click "Get New", search e.g., Dracula, install the color scheme, and choose it Apply → OK

Linux Mint and GNOME Terminal

Right-click on the terminal → Preferences → Colors → Select a scheme

Once finished, click on the Close button

Adding fastfetch

Run the following command to install fastfetch:

sudo apt-get install fastfetch

Then open the preferred file explorer, open the ~/.config/fish/config.fish file with the text editor, and add fastfetch above the oh-my-posh command.

Root Terminal Customization

While the user terminal customization is complete, we're customizing the root terminal now. Run the following command to enter the root terminal:

sudo su
# Requires entering the password if prompted

Extract themes.zip again into the newly created folder:

unzip /home/<username>/Downloads/themes.zip -d ~/.poshthemes

Edit the config.fish with nano:

nano ~/.config/fish/config.fish

Add the oh-my-posh command above the if statement:

oh-my-posh init fish -c ~/.poshthemes/<theme>.omp.json | source

If you installed via the second method:

oh-my-posh init fish -c /home/<username>/.cache/oh-my-posh/themes/<theme>.omp.json | source

After that, save the file by pressing

And close Nano by pressing

Change root shell:

chsh -s /bin/fish
# Alternative:
chsh -s $(which fish)

And restart the root terminal:

exit
sudo su

The root terminal is successfully customized!

fish_add_path /home/<username>/.local/bin

Bash Shell Customization

If you're still using the Bash terminal and you don't want to change the shell to fish, this section will help you apply Oh My Posh to the Bash shell.

Open the terminal, and run the following command:

sudo nano ~/.bashrc

This opens the .bashrc file with nano. Then scroll all the way down and add the following bash command:

fastfetch # If you want to add fastfetch
eval "$(oh-my-posh init bash -c ~/.poshthemes/<theme>.omp.json)"

If you installed via the second method:

fastfetch # If you want to add fastfetch
eval "$(oh-my-posh init bash -c ~/.cache/oh-my-posh/themes/<theme>.omp.json)"

Save the file by pressing

And close Nano by pressing

Use the following command to apply the changes:

source ~/.bashrc

Conclusion

And that's it! Your Linux terminal is now fully modern, clean, and stylish. From installing fish to using oh-my-posh and Nerd Fonts, you now have a powerful terminal setup that looks way better than the default design.

Whether you're a developer, a student, or someone exploring Linux for the first time, having a clean and beautiful terminal can make your daily tasks more enjoyable. You can always experiment with different color schemes, fonts, and themes until you find the perfect style for your system.

Thanks for reading the guide! If you want more tutorials like this, check out my YouTube channel!

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