To start, we will need an official Ubuntu font. Head to this Ubuntu website to download the official Ubuntu fonts for free.

The Ubuntu Mono font is the font used by default in the Ubuntu terminal application.

Once you’ve saved the .zip file, extract the contents and open the folder that was previously inside the .zip download. Inside that folder, you will find four .ttf font files with names starting with “UbuntuMono”:

UbuntuMono-B.ttf — the Ubuntu Mono font’s bold variant

— the Ubuntu Mono font’s bold variant UbuntuMono-BI.ttf — the Ubuntu Mono font’s bold and italicized variant

— the Ubuntu Mono font’s bold and italicized variant UbuntuMono-R.ttf — the Ubuntu Mono font’s regular variant

— the Ubuntu Mono font’s regular variant UbuntuMono-RI.ttf — the Ubuntu Mono font’s italicized variant

Install these four fonts by clicking the “Install” button in the Windows Font Viewer windows when you open each of these fonts.

Next, we will change the bash window to use the Ubuntu Mono font.

A demonstration of where to find the “Properties” options pane using Command Prompt

Open up Bash on Ubuntu on Windows 10.* Right-click the little icon in the upper left hand corner of the window and select “Properties.” You can also do this with the “Defaults” option, but that will change the appearance of Command Prompt windows as well as Bash windows. Some people may prefer this, but I recommend starting with “Properties” in Bash if you’re not sure if you will like the new look.

*If this is your first time launching Bash on Ubuntu on Windows 10, you will have to complete the first time setup. Do this first if you haven’t already.

Scroll down to the bottom of the font list and select “Ubuntu Mono.”

From the new window that should have popped up, select the “Font” tab. You will see a section appropriately named “Font” with a list of fonts. Select the recently installed “Ubuntu Mono” font.

Next, move on to the “Colors” tab.

The default colors panel should look something like this:

The default Windows Command Prompt color scheme.

Our goal is to make it look like this:

The default Ubuntu Terminal color scheme.

This part of the process is the most tedious, but also the most rewarding.

In the corresponding color slots, change the RGB values to the following:

Slot 1: Red: 78, Green: 154, Blue: 6

Slot 2: Red: 52, Green: 101, Blue: 164

Slot 3: Red: 48, Green: 10, Blue: 36

Slot 4: Red: 6, Green: 152, Blue: 154

Slot 5: Red: 204, Green: 0, Blue: 0

Slot 6: Red: 117, Green: 80, Blue: 123

Slot 7: Red: 196, Green: 160, Blue: 0

Slot 8: Red: 211, Green: 215, Blue: 207

Slot 9: Red: 85, Green: 87, Blue: 83

Slot 10: Red: 114, Green: 159, Blue: 207

Slot 11: Red: 138, Green: 226, Blue: 52

Slot 12: Red: 52, Green: 226, Blue: 226

Slot 13: Red: 239, Green: 41, Blue: 41

Slot 14: Red: 173, Green: 127, Blue: 168

Slot 15: Red: 252, Green: 233, Blue: 79

Slot 16: Red: 238, Green: 238, Blue: 238

As Piotr Bartnicki notes, many people may prefer a lighter blue for directories. If you fall into this camp, put the value for slot 10 in slot 2.

Now, make sure the “Screen Text” and “Popup Background” are set to the near-white color of slot 16 and the “Screen Background” and “Popup Text” are set to deep purple color of slot 3. Click the “OK” button.