Change iTerm2 window and tab titles in zsh

Question

I want to label the window tabs of terminal sessions. I'm using the zshell in iterm2 on OSX. Is it possible to change the label of a window tab dynamically in the terminal?

Solution 1

You can enter the following in zsh to set the window title of iTerm2:

echo -ne "\e]1;this is the title\a"

If you want to automate that to insert e.g. the current time or working directory, edit your zsh configuration files to set the title in the precmd() function to e.g. $PWD.

echo -ne "\e]1;$PWD\a"

You can read about the precmd function in man zshmisc in the section SPECIAL FUNCTIONS.

Solution 2

What works for me:

echo -e "\033];this is the title\007"

If you use Mac OSX and iTerm, iTerm2::

• iTerm → Preferences → Appearance → Window & Tab Titles → uncheck all

If you use Oh My Zsh, then you may need to edit your settings. Your settings are typically in the file ~/.zshrc. You want to add or edit your settings to make sure this line exists:

DISABLE_AUTO_TITLE="true"

Solution 3

One of the amenities of using iTerm is the possibility of setting window title & tab title separately:

# $1 = type; 0 - both, 1 - tab, 2 - title
# rest = text
setTerminalText () {
    # echo works in bash & zsh
    local mode=$1 ; shift
    echo -ne "\033]$mode;$@\007"
}
stt_both  () { setTerminalText 0 $@; }
stt_tab   () { setTerminalText 1 $@; }
stt_title () { setTerminalText 2 $@; }

This way you can immediately see what host you're connected to in what window, and the window title for each tab shows user & CWD.

Solution 4

A precmd does the trick. However, some oh-my-zsh themes mess around with the window title. Set PR_TITLEBAR to an empty string to fix it.

set-window-title() {
  # /Users/clessg/projects/dotfiles -> ~/p/dotfiles
  window_title="\e]0;${${PWD/#"$HOME"/~}/projects/p}\a"
  echo -ne "$window_title"
}

PR_TITLEBAR=''
set-window-title
add-zsh-hook precmd set-window-title

I would also recommend playing around with the tab settings of iTerm2 in Preferences -> Appearance.

Solution 5

None of the answers seemed to work for me, probably for the iterm2 version (3.3.3).

I found this out: https://gist.github.com/phette23/5270658#gistcomment-3020766

Essentially, you can do whatever is said in all other answers, but also need to set Preferences > Profiles > General > Title -> Name (Job)

This worked for me.

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Comments

[bneil]

when I execute the command echo -ne "\e]1;this is the title\a" the tab title does not change. Is there a setting I have to change in iterm2?

[bneil]

Figured it out. I have to deselect all the options for window and tab titles in the iterm->preferences->appearance section. and in the .zshrc I have to uncomment/add export DISABLE_AUTO_TITLE="true" Thanks @Daniel Beck

[Orangenhain]

I just noticed that the Terminal.app version in OS X Lion supports this as well.

[qazwsx]

silly question: you add these code to .bashrc, right?

[Mei]

Also appears that (in iTerm2 Build 1.0.0.20140629) until you change the Window Title... it tracks the tab title, no matter what. I'm sure that's a setting. Once the Window title is changed (2) it no longer tracks tab title.

[blockloop]

The question specifically says zsh, not bash.

[user15681]

I modified the function above to include the line DISABLE_AUTO_TITLE="true" that fixed the issue and this way if I don't set the title, I still get the automatic title feature

[vaughan]

You also need to set Profiles > Terminal > Terminal Emulation > Terminal may set tab/window title.

[Cas]

Welcome to Super User! On this Q&A site we try to provide good answers to questions people ask. Part of writing a good answer is providing context for the proposed solution. Please edit your answer and explain why your solution works, and what, specifically, it does.

[salep]

It still works as of 02/28/2018.

[iconoclast]

THIS DOES NOT WORK (for me, at least) IN THE LATEST VERSION OF iTerm (3.3.0)

[Ferris]

Good, it works in bash!

[jalanb]

And doesn't work for me on latest stable version of iTerm2 (3.2.9)

[Nuno Gonçalves]

Check my answer. I had the same issue and fixed it. Thanks.

[Falmarri]

This isn't under the General tab, it's under the Profiles tab

[Nuno Gonçalves]

Right. I missed the > Profiles one. My bad. Updated.

[dcsan]

there isn't Name (Job) as an option now.

[cambunctious]

DISABLE_AUTO_TITLE is an Oh My Zsh feature, not zsh

[Graham P Heath]

But there is Job Name...

[azureai]

This doesn't work anymore in iTerm2 3.3.10, even when doing what @NunoGonçalves wrote.

[azureai]

This doesn't work.

[mojave]

i'm using Oh My Zsh, and the DISABLE_AUTO_TITLE fixed it for me.

[Franklin Yu]

That’s weird; it works for me in iTerm2 3.3.12.

[HappyFace]

I had to do prompt_pure_set_title() true # disables pure setting the title. Your own theme might have sth similar.