Configuring Oh My Zsh through Git Bash on Windows

Jun 01. 2024

Oh My Zsh enhances terminal usability in Unix environments. Here’s a guide to configure it on Windows with Git Bash.

graph TD
    A[Install Git Bash] --> B[Download zsh]
    B --> C[Extract zsh]
    C --> D[Set zsh as default shell]
    D --> E[Download install.sh for Oh-My-Zsh]
    E --> F[Modify installation source in install.sh]
    F --> G[Execute install.sh]
    G --> H[Configure Oh-My-Zsh]
    H --> I[Set theme in .zshrc]
    H --> J[Download syntax highlighting plugin]
    H --> K[Download autosuggestions plugin]
    I --> L[Configure plugins in .zshrc]
    L --> M[Apply configuration with source ~/.zshrc]
    H --> N[Install Windows Terminal]
    N --> O[Set Git Bash as default terminal in Windows Terminal]
    H --> P[Configure IDE to use Git Bash]

Step 1: Install Git Bash #

Download and install from the Git website.

Step 2: Install zsh #

1. Download zsh #

• Download zsh-5.9-2-x86_64.zip
• Download from official source
• Download extraction tool

2. Install zsh #

Extract zsh and copy etc and usr directories to the Git installation directory (e.g., C:\Program Files\Git).

3. Set zsh as the Default Shell #

Run chsh -s $(which zsh) or add the following to ~/.bashrc:

if [ -t 1 ]; then
  exec zsh
fi

Step 3: Install Oh-My-Zsh #

1. Download install.sh #

Run:

curl -# -O https://mirror.ghproxy.com/https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ohmyzsh/ohmyzsh/master/tools/install.sh

2. Modify Installation Source #

Edit install.sh:

REPO=${REPO:-ohmyzsh/ohmyzsh}
REMOTE=${REMOTE:-https://mirror.ghproxy.com/https://github.com/${REPO}.git}
BRANCH=${BRANCH:-master}

3. Execute the Script #

Run:

sh install.sh

Step 4: Configure Oh-My-Zsh #

1. Set Theme #

Edit ~/.zshrc to change ZSH_THEME="robbyrussell" to ZSH_THEME="ys".

2. Install Plugins #

Run:

git clone https://github.com/zsh-users/zsh-syntax-highlighting.git ${ZSH_CUSTOM:-~/.oh-my-zsh/custom}/plugins/zsh-syntax-highlighting
git clone https://github.com/zsh-users/zsh-autosuggestions ${ZSH_CUSTOM:-~/.oh-my-zsh/custom}/plugins/zsh-autosuggestions

3. Configure Plugins #

Edit ~/.zshrc:

plugins=(git zsh-syntax-highlighting zsh-autosuggestions)

4. Apply Configuration #

Run:

source ~/.zshrc

Step 5: Configure Windows Terminal #

Installation #

Install from the Microsoft Store or official documentation.

Configuration #

Set Windows Terminal to default to Git Bash.

Step 6: Configure IDEs (e.g., IDEA, VSCode) #

Set the default terminal to Git Bash in the IDE settings.