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This guide helps you migrate to Ghostty from other popular terminal emulators. Ghostty is designed to be a drop-in replacement for your existing terminal while providing competitive performance, modern features, and native platform experiences.

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Why Ghostty?

Ghostty differentiates itself by providing all three of:
  • Fast performance - Competitive with the fastest terminal emulators
  • Feature-rich - Modern terminal features and UI capabilities
  • Native - True platform-native UIs (SwiftUI on macOS, GTK on Linux)
Most terminal emulators force you to choose between these categories. Ghostty provides all three without compromise.

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Quick Start for Migration

1

Install Ghostty

See the installation guide for your platform.
2

Convert your config

Use the sections below for your current terminal emulator to convert your configuration.
3

Set up shell integration

# Bash
echo 'eval "$(ghostty +shell-integration bash)"' >> ~/.bashrc

# Zsh  
echo 'eval "$(ghostty +shell-integration zsh)"' >> ~/.zshrc

# Fish
echo 'ghostty +shell-integration fish | source' >> ~/.config/fish/config.fish
4

Set as default terminal

Make Ghostty your default terminal in your system settings.

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Migration from iTerm2

iTerm2

Feature-rich macOS terminal with extensive customization

Ghostty

Native SwiftUI app with Metal renderer and modern features

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Feature Comparison

FeatureiTerm2Ghostty
Tabs✅✅
Splits✅✅
Profiles✅✅ (via config files)
Metal Rendering⚠️ (except with ligatures)✅
Ligatures✅ (CPU renderer)✅ (GPU accelerated)
Shell Integration✅✅
Triggers✅⚠️ (limited)
Themes✅✅
True Color✅✅
tmux Integration✅➖

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Configuration Migration

iTerm2 uses a GUI preferences panel while Ghostty uses a text configuration file. Config file location:
  • iTerm2: ~/Library/Preferences/com.googlecode.iterm2.plist
  • Ghostty: ~/.config/ghostty/config
Common settings: 
# Font
font-family = "SF Mono"
font-size = 14

# Colors (example)
background = 000000
foreground = ffffff

# Window
window-padding-x = 2
window-padding-y = 2

# Cursor
cursor-style = block
cursor-style-blink = true

# Scrollback
scrollback-limit = 10000

# Shell
shell-integration = true

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Keyboard Shortcuts

iTerm2 and Ghostty have different default keybindings. Here are common mappings: 
# Tabs
keybind = cmd+t=new_tab
keybind = cmd+w=close_tab
keybind = cmd+shift+left_bracket=goto_tab:previous
keybind = cmd+shift+right_bracket=goto_tab:next

# Splits
keybind = cmd+d=new_split:right
keybind = cmd+shift+d=new_split:down

# Copy/Paste
keybind = cmd+c=copy_to_clipboard
keybind = cmd+v=paste_from_clipboard

# Clear
keybind = cmd+k=clear_screen

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Migration from Alacritty

Alacritty

GPU-accelerated, minimal, cross-platform terminal

Ghostty

GPU-accelerated with additional features and native UI

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Feature Comparison

FeatureAlacrittyGhostty
GPU Acceleration✅✅
Performance⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Config FileYAML/TOMLCustom format
Tabs➖✅
Splits➖✅
Ligatures✅✅
Shell Integration➖✅
True Color✅✅
Cross-platform✅✅ (macOS, Linux)

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Configuration Migration

Alacritty uses YAML/TOML while Ghostty uses a simpler key-value format. Alacritty config location:
  • ~/.config/alacritty/alacritty.yml or .toml
Ghostty config location:
  • ~/.config/ghostty/config
Example conversion: 
font:
  normal:
    family: JetBrains Mono
  size: 12.0

colors:
  primary:
    background: '#1e1e1e'
    foreground: '#d4d4d4'

window:
  padding:
    x: 8
    y: 8
  decorations: full

cursor:
  style:
    shape: Block
    blinking: On

scrollback:
  limit: 10000

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Key Differences

  • Tabs/Splits: Ghostty has built-in tabs and splits, whereas Alacritty requires tmux or similar
  • Shell Integration: Ghostty includes shell integration features
  • Native UI: Ghostty has native window management vs Alacritty’s custom rendering

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Migration from Kitty

Kitty

GPU-accelerated with advanced features and scripting

Ghostty

Native UI with competitive features and performance

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Feature Comparison

FeatureKittyGhostty
GPU Acceleration✅✅
Tabs✅✅
Splits/Layouts✅✅
Ligatures✅✅
Images✅ (Kitty graphics protocol)⚠️ (Limited)
Extensions✅ (Kittens)➖
Remote Control✅⚠️ (Limited)
Native UI➖✅
True Color✅✅

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Configuration Migration

Kitty and Ghostty both use key-value configuration formats, making migration straightforward. Config locations:
  • Kitty: ~/.config/kitty/kitty.conf
  • Ghostty: ~/.config/ghostty/config
Example conversion: 
font_family      JetBrains Mono
font_size        12.0

background       #1e1e1e
foreground       #d4d4d4

window_padding_width  8

cursor_shape     block
cursor_blink_interval  0.5

scrollback_lines 10000

tab_bar_style    powerline

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Key Differences

  • Syntax: Kitty uses underscores (font_family), Ghostty uses hyphens (font-family)
  • Kittens: Ghostty doesn’t have an equivalent extension system
  • Layouts: Both support splits, but with different management approaches
  • Graphics: Kitty’s graphics protocol is more extensive

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Migration from Terminal.app

Terminal.app

macOS default terminal with basic features

Ghostty

Modern native macOS terminal with advanced features

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Feature Comparison

FeatureTerminal.appGhostty
Native macOS✅✅
Tabs✅✅
Splits➖✅
GPU Acceleration⚠️✅ (Metal)
Ligatures✅✅
Profiles✅✅ (via config)
Shell IntegrationBasicAdvanced
Performance⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
True Color✅✅

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Configuration Migration

Terminal.app uses GUI preferences while Ghostty uses a text config file. Basic Ghostty config: 
# Font (Terminal.app default)
font-family = "SF Mono"
font-size = 11

# Colors (Terminal.app "Basic" theme)
background = ffffff
foreground = 000000

# Cursor
cursor-style = block
cursor-style-blink = true

# Window
window-padding-x = 2
window-padding-y = 2

# Shell integration
shell-integration = true

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General Configuration Tips

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Theme/Color Schemes

Many terminal color schemes are available online. To use them with Ghostty:
  1. Create a theme file: ~/.config/ghostty/themes/my-theme
  2. Add colors in the format: 
    background = 282c34
foreground = abb2bf
# ... more colors
  3. Reference in config: 
    theme = my-theme
Popular theme collections:

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Font Configuration

# Basic font setup
font-family = "JetBrains Mono"
font-size = 13

# Enable ligatures
font-feature = +calt
font-feature = +liga

# Font variations
font-style = Regular
font-style-bold = Bold
font-style-italic = Italic

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Performance Tuning

If migrating from a slower terminal: 
# Ensure GPU rendering is enabled (default)
renderer = auto

# Adjust scrollback for performance
scrollback-limit = 10000

# Disable expensive features if needed
background-opacity = 1.0
background-blur-radius = 0

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Tmux Users

If you use tmux heavily:
  • Ghostty has built-in tabs and splits that may reduce your need for tmux
  • Ghostty works great with tmux if you still need it
  • Shell integration works inside tmux sessions
Example config for tmux users: 
# Ensure true color support
shell-integration = true

# Good defaults for tmux
scrollback-limit = 50000

# Copy mode compatibility
keybind = ctrl+shift+c=copy_to_clipboard
keybind = ctrl+shift+v=paste_from_clipboard

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Next Steps

After migrating:
  1. Explore the config reference: Configuration Documentation
  2. Set up shell integration: Enhanced prompt features and navigation
  3. Customize keybindings: Make Ghostty feel like home
  4. Try advanced features:
    • Custom inspector for debugging
    • Shell integration features
    • Native platform features
Ghostty is actively developed. Check the GitHub repository for the latest features and updates.

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Getting Help

If you need help during migration: