Warp Terminal on Windows - Shell Startup Failure

[ggfevans]

Pre-submit Checks

• I have searched Warp bugs and there are no duplicates
• I have searched Warp known issues page and my issue is not there

Describe the bug

When launching Warp terminal on Windows, the application fails to start properly and never reaches an interactive state.

The following sequence occurs:

1. Initial launch shows a brief series of PowerShell errors
2. Multiple "starting pwsh..." prompts appear in rapid succession, creating a flood of failed startup attempts
3. Eventually, Warp displays a message stating "Seems like your shell is taking a while to start..."
4. The terminal never becomes interactive or usable

To reproduce

Steps to Reproduce

1. Install Warp terminal (v0.2025.02.24.20.50.stable 04) on Windows 11 23H2
2. Launch the Warp application
3. Observe the endless cycle of shell startup attempts

Expected behavior

Warp terminal should successfully launch PowerShell and provide an interactive terminal session without repeated startup attempts or error messages.

Screenshots

screenshots:

video:
https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/482bc067-ac48-459a-993f-85794d57c693

Operating system

Windows

Operating system and version

Windows 11 23H2

Shell Version

PowerShell 7.5.0

Current Warp version

Warp version: v0.2025.02.24.20.50.stable 04

Regression

No, this bug or issue has existed throughout my experience using Warp

Recent working Warp date

No response

Additional context

Additional thoughts to consider:

• I have the Windows default terminal set to Windows terminal. I set it back to the default (Windows console host, or Let Windows decide) with no change in behavior.
• I have Warp installed to a non default path, D:/Program files - though I do not think this is the cause of the problem (from what I can tell, it starts up atleast)

Warp logs from

$env:RUST_LOG="wgpu_core=info,wgpu_hal=info"; & "D:\Program Files\Warp\warp.exe"

below:

warp-logs.zip

Does this block you from using Warp daily?

Yes, this issue prevents me from using Warp daily.

Is this an issue only in Warp?

Yes, I confirmed that this only happens in Warp, not other terminals.

Warp Internal (ignore): linear-label:b9d78064-c89e-4973-b153-5178a31ee54e

None

[acarl005]

Hi @ggfevans thanks for reporting the issue. Warp depends on PSReadLine. Does the issue go away if you run:

Install-Module -Scope CurrentUser PSReadline

[ggfevans]

Hi @acarl005 thanks for the super quick response.

I've identified that my problem is related to having both PowerShell 5.1 and 7.5 installed, with Warp defaulting to 5.1 which lacks the PowerShellGet module.

If I try, in a default PowerShell prompt, that command it fails. Though, I can run a Pwsh 7.5 terminal and install it successfully in Pwsh 7.5 though I still see the same initial issue likely because Warp is starting up and trying to use my Pwsh 5.1 environment.

Windows PowerShell
Copyright (C) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

Install the latest PowerShell for new features and improvements! https://aka.ms/PSWindows

PS C:\Users\gevans> Install-Module -Scope CurrentUser PSReadline
Install-Module : The term 'Install-Module' is not recognized as the name of a cmdlet, function, script file, or
operable program. Check the spelling of the name, or if a path was included, verify that the path is correct and try
again.
At line:1 char:1
+ Install-Module -Scope CurrentUser PSReadline
+ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    + CategoryInfo          : ObjectNotFound: (Install-Module:String) [], CommandNotFoundException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : CommandNotFoundException

PS C:\Users\gevans> pwsh
PowerShell 7.5.0
PS C:\Users\gevans> Install-Module -Scope CurrentUser PSReadline

Untrusted repository
You are installing the modules from an untrusted repository. If you trust this repository, change its
InstallationPolicy value by running the Set-PSRepository cmdlet. Are you sure you want to install the modules from
'PSGallery'?
[Y] Yes  [A] Yes to All  [N] No  [L] No to All  [S] Suspend  [?] Help (default is "N"): A
PS C:\Users\gevans>

From what I understand, this is a typical scenario: PowerShell 5.1 remains on the system because Windows management tools need it, while PowerShell 7 provides better features and cross-platform compatibility for everyday scripting needs.

I can see here explicitly that I have both:

Windows PowerShell
Copyright (C) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

Install the latest PowerShell for new features and improvements! https://aka.ms/PSWindows

PS C:\Users\gevans> $PSVersionTable

Name                           Value
----                           -----
PSVersion                      5.1.22621.4391
PSEdition                      Desktop
PSCompatibleVersions           {1.0, 2.0, 3.0, 4.0...}
BuildVersion                   10.0.22621.4391
CLRVersion                     4.0.30319.42000
WSManStackVersion              3.0
PSRemotingProtocolVersion      2.3
SerializationVersion           1.1.0.1


PS C:\Users\gevans> Get-Module -Name PowerShellGet -ListAvailable
PS C:\Users\gevans> pwsh
PowerShell 7.5.0
PS C:\Users\gevans> $PSVersionTable

Name                           Value
----                           -----
PSVersion                      7.5.0
PSEdition                      Core
GitCommitId                    7.5.0
OS                             Microsoft Windows 10.0.22631
Platform                       Win32NT
PSCompatibleVersions           {1.0, 2.0, 3.0, 4.0…}
PSRemotingProtocolVersion      2.3
SerializationVersion           1.1.0.1
WSManStackVersion              3.0

PS C:\Users\gevans> Get-Module -Name PowerShellGet -ListAvailable

    Directory: D:\program files\powershell\7\Modules

ModuleType Version    PreRelease Name                                PSEdition ExportedCommands
---------- -------    ---------- ----                                --------- ----------------
Script     2.2.5                 PowerShellGet                       Desk      {Find-Command, Find-DSCResource, Find-M…

PS C:\Users\gevans>

How can I configure Warp to explicitly launch PowerShell 7 instead of 5.1? Is there a setting or command-line parameter I should use?

I am also wondering if this is an atypical environment and I have created a problem for myself, though from what I can tell I have a relatively "stock" Windows PowerShell environment.

[acarl005]

Warp does try to load pwsh v7 first by default. Maybe it's failing to find it. Can you run this command and post the output?

get-command pwsh

[ggfevans]

Good to know, output below:

Windows PowerShell
Copyright (C) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

Install the latest PowerShell for new features and improvements! https://aka.ms/PSWindows

PS C:\Users\gevans> get-command pwsh

CommandType     Name                                               Version    Source
-----------     ----                                               -------    ------
Application     pwsh.exe                                           7.5.0.0    D:\Program Files\PowerShell\7\pwsh.exe


PS C:\Users\gevans>

[acarl005]

Ah it's because it's installed to the D drive

[ggfevans]

Ahh, so if I reinstall pwsh 7 to the default path it should work?

[acarl005]

That should workaround the issue. Out of curiosity, did you add D:\Program Files\PowerShell to your %PATH%?

[ggfevans]

Good question. I noted that even after changing my "new apps will save to:..." setting, the pwsh 7 installer still deployed to D:\Program Files\PowerShell\7 - so there is some config somewhere that is still targetting D: rather than the C: default.

The pwsh installer does not prompt for a path, so I assume it is targeting based on my $PATH

My $env:PATH does include that D:\Program Files\PowerShell, see console output below:

PS C:\Users\gevans> $env:PATH
D:\Program Files\PowerShell\7;C:\Program Files\Python312\Scripts\;C:\Program Files\Python312\;C:\Windows\system32;C:\Windows;C:\Windows\System32\Wbem;C:\Windows\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\;C:\Windows\System32\OpenSSH\;C:\Program Files\Microsoft VS Code\bin;C:\Program Files (x86)\NVIDIA Corporation\PhysX\Common;D:\Program Files\dotnet\;D:\Program Files\Halloy\;C:\ProgramData\chocolatey\bin;D:\Program Files\Tailscale\;D:\Program Files\Git\cmd;D:\Program Files\Docker\Docker\resources\bin;D:\Program Files\nodejs\;D:\Program Files\PowerShell\7\;C:\Users\gevans\.cargo\bin;C:\Users\gevans\AppData\Local\Microsoft\WindowsApps;C:\Users\gevans\.dotnet\tools;C:\Users\gevans\AppData\Local\Microsoft\WinGet\Links;C:\Users\gevans\AppData\Roaming\npm

[ggfevans]

Fixed! Or worked around, atleast. Thanks for your quick insight, @acarl005. With PowerShell 7.5 at the default path (C:\Program Files\PowerShell\7) I can start Warp normally and get a working terminal prompt as expected.

I also noted that when I uninstalled PowerShell my $env:Path automatically lost D:\Program Files\PowerShell\7 and when I reinstalled using the C: path it now has C:\Program Files\PowerShell\7

PS C:\Users\gevans> $env:ProgramFiles
D:\Program Files
PS C:\Users\gevans> $env:Path
C:\Program Files\PowerShell\7;C:\Program Files\Python312\Scripts\;C:\Program Files\Python312\;C:\Windows\system32;C:\Windows;C:\Windows\System32\Wbem;C:\Windows\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\;C:\Windows\System32\OpenSSH\;C:\Program Files\Microsoft VS Code\bin;C:\Program Files (x86)\NVIDIA Corporation\PhysX\Common;D:\Program Files\dotnet\;D:\Program Files\Halloy\;C:\ProgramData\chocolatey\bin;D:\Program Files\Tailscale\;D:\Program Files\Git\cmd;D:\Program Files\Docker\Docker\resources\bin;D:\Program Files\nodejs\;C:\Program Files\PowerShell\7\;C:\Users\gevans\.cargo\bin;C:\Users\gevans\AppData\Local\Microsoft\WindowsApps;C:\Users\gevans\.dotnet\tools;C:\Users\gevans\AppData\Local\Microsoft\WinGet\Links;C:\Users\gevans\AppData\Roaming\npm
PS C:\Users\gevans> get-command pwsh

CommandType     Name                                               Version    Source
-----------     ----                                               -------    ------
Application     pwsh.exe                                           7.5.0.0    C:\Program Files\PowerShell\7\pwsh.exe

PS C:\Users\gevans>

So does this mean Warp expects PowerShell 7 to be at the Default install path?

[jasonhouston]

I have the same issue, my PowerShell installation is in the correct Program Files location, however I am using Powershell preview so the folder is slightly different as "7-preview." Is it possible to configure Warp to use the Preview version?

[ggfevans]

Good question, @jasonhouston . What is your $env:PATH out of curiosity? I wonder if it contains "C:\Program Files\PowerShell\7-preview" rather than "C:\Program Files\PowerShell\7"

[jasonhouston]

Once I installed PowerShell 7.5 alongside the preview, Warp launches with PowerShell 7.5. Both PowerShell\7 and PowerShell\7-preview are in my path, but it seems Warp will only launch with PowerShell 7 or at least needs additional configuration to be able to launch with the preview version.

[acarl005]

Yeah we're improving our logic here to find these installations. Hoping to get a fix out this week. If not then next weeks release. Thanks for all the info y'all!

[dannyneira]

Closing as resolved since the other locations for PWSH installs are now supported.