Replacing Windows console font with a more suitable one

The limited console settings in Windows annoy many users. In particular, the font selection is limited to Consolas, Lucida Console, and vague “Raster Fonts.” This post explains how to add support for additional fonts.

Many fonts are more suitable for programming and administration tasks. You can find a good list in this article or here. I prefer Inconsolata.

You can connect your favorite font to the console, though it requires some registry work. Thanks to Scott Hanselman for the tips.

• Open HKLM/Software/Microsoft/Windows NT/CurrentVersion/Console/TrueTypeFont. You’ll see several values for Lucida and Consolas.
• Create a new String Value. The name should consist of zeros and be one character longer than the previous similar name. In my case, the key name is “000”.
• Set the value to the font name. Some restrictions apply to fonts; you can read more in the MS Knowledge Base.
• Reboot. The fonts won’t work without this.

After rebooting, you can configure the new font as the default.

A good alternative to registry editing is Console2, an open-source project. As the authors write:

Console is a Windows console window enhancement. Console features include:multiple tabs, text editor-like text selection, different background types, alpha and color-keytransparency,configurable font, different window styles.

Console2 recently reached version 2 and successfully replaces the standard tools.