How to Set Your Default Terminal in Omarchy Linux

If you want to change your default terminal in Omarchy, and it falls in the current list (Ghostty (default), Alacritty, Kitty), then simple go to Install > Terminal and choose one of the three. Doing so will also set the default.

But what if you want to use something else, like WezTerm? You can install it on Omarchy, but that won’t set it as the default terminal.

Well, here’s the fix.

The Problem

Omarchy uses xdg-terminal-exec to launch your terminal. When you have multiple terminal emulators installed, it picks from a priority list in ~/.config/xdg-terminals.list. If that file doesn’t exist or your preferred terminal isn’t at the top, you’ll get a different terminal than expected.

By default, that is Ghostty.

The Solution

Edit your terminal preference file:

nano ~/.config/xdg-terminals.list

Add your preferred terminal’s desktop file name at the top. For WezTerm it would be:

org.wezfurlong.wezterm.desktop

The first entry gets priority. You can list multiple terminals as fallbacks:

org.wezfurlong.wezterm.desktop
com.mitchellh.ghostty.desktop

Save the file and press SUPER + RETURN. Your chosen terminal should now launch.

Finding Your Terminal’s Desktop File Name

Not sure what to put in the config? Look in your applications to find the right wording:

ls /usr/share/applications/

The filename you see (like org.wezfurlong.wezterm.desktop) is what goes in your config file.

That’s it. One config file, one line, and you’re good to go..