Windows Powershell is Unreadable in High-Contrast Light Modes (And Any Other Modes)

[MarjaE2]

Windows Terminal version

1.22.12111.0

Windows build number

26100.6584

Other Software

No response

Steps to reproduce

1. Set Windows to a light high-contrast theme. (I can't read dark mode, or faint text in light mode; unfortunately Windows lacks really high-contrast themes.)
2. Open Powershell.
3. Set any of the light color themes.
4. Try to use Powershell.

Expected Behavior

In light mode, all colors should be dark, and when using high-contrast themes, black.

In dark mode, all colors should be light.

Actual Behavior

In light mode, most text is white or another light color indistinguishable from it.

[kesharwaniayush]

Windows Terminal Light/High-Contrast Text Visibility

Windows Terminal version: 1.22.12111.0
Windows build number: 26100.6584
Other Software: N/A

---

Problem

Using Windows Terminal with PowerShell in a light Windows theme or high-contrast mode can make text unreadable.
Most default color schemes are designed for dark backgrounds, so light text may blend with light backgrounds, making PowerShell difficult or impossible to read.

---

Steps to Reproduce

1. Set Windows to a light high-contrast theme.

   Note: Dark mode or faint text in light mode is unreadable; Windows lacks truly high-contrast themes.

2. Open PowerShell in Windows Terminal.
3. Set any of the light color themes.
4. Try to use PowerShell.

---

Expected Behavior

• In light mode, all text should be dark (e.g., black).
• In dark mode, all text should be light (e.g., white).
• High-contrast themes should respect visibility rules.

---

Actual Behavior

• In light mode, most text appears white or very light, making it indistinguishable from the background.
• This makes PowerShell unusable in light/high-contrast modes.

---

Suggested Solutions

1. Use a Light-Friendly Predefined Color Scheme

• Go to Settings → Color schemes.
• Select a light scheme such as:
  • Campbell
  • Tango Light
  • One Half Light
• Apply it to your PowerShell profile.

2. Create a Custom Light/High-Contrast Color Scheme

• Set background: #FFFFFF
• Set foreground: #000000
• Adjust ANSI colors to dark shades for readability.

Example JSON scheme:

{
    "name": "HighContrastLight",
    "background": "#FFFFFF",
    "foreground": "#000000",
    "black": "#000000",
    "red": "#800000",
    "green": "#008000",
    "yellow": "#808000",
    "blue": "#000080",
    "purple": "#800080",
    "cyan": "#008080",
    "white": "#C0C0C0",
    "brightBlack": "#808080",
    "brightRed": "#FF0000",
    "brightGreen": "#00FF00",
    "brightYellow": "#FFFF00",
    "brightBlue": "#0000FF",
    "brightPurple": "#FF00FF",
    "brightCyan": "#00FFFF",
    "brightWhite": "#FFFFFF"
}

---

3. Handle Windows High Contrast Mode

High-contrast themes may override terminal colors.

Options:

• Temporarily disable Windows High Contrast while using Terminal.
• Or match your terminal color scheme with high-contrast colors.

4. Enable Legacy Console Colors

• Open Settings → Profiles → PowerShell → Appearance.
• Enable “Use legacy console colors”.
• This can improve visibility in high-contrast setups.

---

Recommended Approach

• Use a custom light/high-contrast color scheme to ensure all text is clearly readable in any Windows theme.
• This guarantees full accessibility for users who rely on high-contrast settings or cannot read faint/dark text.

[lhecker]

Can you please post a screenshot of the issue?

[MarjaE2]

The 1st part is yellow and almost unreadable, the last white and completely unreadable.

[DHowett]

For what it is worth, these colors are chosen directly by PowerShell and we have limited control over them.

High contrast mode automatically enables¹ "adjust indistinguishable colors", which mitigates this effect completely by darkening the yellow and the white.

can you see whether you have that setting disabled in the Appearance section of your PowerShell profile settings?

Footnotes

1. unless you have disabled this feature. ↩

[MarjaE2]

It was disabled by default. I enabled it. I get:

It doesn't seem to affect white-on-white text.

[DHowett]

Interesting. Can you share your settings.json after that? Sorry!

[MarjaE2]

{
    "$help": "https://aka.ms/terminal-documentation",
    "$schema": "https://aka.ms/terminal-profiles-schema",
    "actions": [],
    "copyFormatting": "none",
    "copyOnSelect": false,
    "defaultProfile": "{574e775e-4f2a-5b96-ac1e-a2962a402336}",
    "disableAnimations": true,
    "keybindings": 
    [
        {
            "id": "Terminal.CopyToClipboard",
            "keys": "ctrl+c"
        },
        {
            "id": "Terminal.PasteFromClipboard",
            "keys": "ctrl+v"
        },
        {
            "id": "Terminal.DuplicatePaneAuto",
            "keys": "alt+shift+d"
        }
    ],
    "newTabMenu": 
    [
        {
            "type": "remainingProfiles"
        }
    ],
    "profiles": 
    {
        "defaults": 
        {
            "adjustIndistinguishableColors": "always",
            "colorScheme": "One Half Light"
        },
        "list": 
        [
            {
                "commandline": "%SystemRoot%\\System32\\WindowsPowerShell\\v1.0\\powershell.exe",
                "guid": "{61c54bbd-c2c6-5271-96e7-009a87ff44bf}",
                "hidden": false,
                "name": "Windows PowerShell"
            },
            {
                "commandline": "%SystemRoot%\\System32\\cmd.exe",
                "guid": "{0caa0dad-35be-5f56-a8ff-afceeeaa6101}",
                "hidden": false,
                "name": "Command Prompt"
            },
            {
                "guid": "{574e775e-4f2a-5b96-ac1e-a2962a402336}",
                "hidden": false,
                "name": "PowerShell",
                "source": "Windows.Terminal.PowershellCore"
            },
            {
                "guid": "{b453ae62-4e3d-5e58-b989-0a998ec441b8}",
                "hidden": false,
                "name": "Azure Cloud Shell",
                "source": "Windows.Terminal.Azure"
            },
            {
                "guid": "{51855cb2-8cce-5362-8f54-464b92b32386}",
                "hidden": false,
                "name": "Ubuntu",
                "source": "CanonicalGroupLimited.Ubuntu_79rhkp1fndgsc"
            },
            {
                "guid": "{e7ed9e10-6f40-54fe-8f56-127f7e23a1ac}",
                "hidden": false,
                "name": "Ubuntu",
                "source": "Microsoft.WSL"
            },
            {
                "guid": "{2c4de342-38b7-51cf-b940-2309a097f518}",
                "hidden": true,
                "name": "Ubuntu",
                "source": "Windows.Terminal.Wsl"
            }
        ]
    },
    "schemes": [],
    "theme": "system",
    "themes": []
}