Set your window title to your current working directory with xterm

The process you use to set your window title to your current working directory depends on the shell you're using:

  • If you use ksh (Korn Shell), add the following lines to your .profile file:
     if test "$TERM" = xterm then PS1='^[]2;$PWD^G^[]1;^G$PWD $ ' fi

    To produce the ^[, press the Esc key; for the ^G, press Ctrl-g. If you are using Emacs or vi as your editor, substitute the keystrokes below to reproduce the characters:

    Emacs: C-q Esc  and  C-q C-g
    vi: \ Esc  and  \ Ctrl-g
  • If you use bash (GNU Bourne-again Shell), add the following lines to your .bashrc file:
     if test "$TERM" = xterm then PROMPT_COMMAND='echo -ne "\033]2;`dirs`\007\033]1;\007"' fi
  • If you use tcsh (TC shell), add the following lines to your .cshrc file:
     if ($?prompt) then if ($term == xterm) then set prompt="%{\e]2\;%~^g\e]1\;%m^g\r%}%m %~%# " endif
  • If you use csh (C shell), there is no simple way to accomplish this. However, you can change to TC shell with little or no change to your setup.

At Indiana University, for personal or departmental Linux or Unix systems support, see Get help for Linux or Unix at IU.

This is document aebk in the Knowledge Base.
Last modified on 2023-07-12 11:28:48.