Add Font to PowerShell Console

I saw an article about Adobe's release of a new font called Source Code Pro which was designed in part to help reduce the confusion between certain characters. I thought I would give it a try. After copying the .ttf files to C:\Windows\Fonts, I realized that the font needed to be added in the registry, so here are some steps to get you going.

Change the provider to the registry HKLM: which will get you to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE. Navigate to the Console key, then list the properties for TrueTypeFont. Note: I removed some of the extra entries returned by Get-ItemProperty for clarity.

PS C:\> cd HKLM:
PS HKLM:\> cd '.\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Console'
PS HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Console> Get-ItemProperty -Path TrueTypeFont


0            : Lucida Console
00           : Consolas
PSPath       : Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\Registry::HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows
               NT\CurrentVersion\Console\TrueTypeFont
PSParentPath : Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\Registry::HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows
               NT\CurrentVersion\Console
PSChildName  : TrueTypeFont
PSDrive      : HKLM
PSProvider   : Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\Registry

Add the new string value. Here I see that 0 and 00 are already used, so we're going to use 000. Then verify the new string exists.

PS HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Console> Set-ItemProperty -Path TrueTypeFont -Name 000 -Value 'Source Code Pro'
PS HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Console> Get-ItemProperty -Path TrueTypeFont


0            : Lucida Console
00           : Consolas
000          : Source Code Pro
PSPath       : Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\Registry::HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows
               NT\CurrentVersion\Console\TrueTypeFont
PSParentPath : Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\Registry::HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows
               NT\CurrentVersion\Console
PSChildName  : TrueTypeFont
PSDrive      : HKLM
PSProvider   : Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\Registry

Let's try and programmatically set the new font in the console. Create a new PSDrive for the HKEY_USERS hive. Change to the HKU: drive. Change to the SID for the current user. Set the Console property for FaceName to the new font.

PS C:\> New-PSDrive HKU Registry HKEY_USERS

Name           Used (GB)     Free (GB) Provider      Root                                               CurrentLocation
----           ---------     --------- --------      ----                                               ---------------
HKU                                    Registry      HKEY_USERS

PS C:\> cd HKU:
PS HKU:\> cd (New-Object System.Security.Principal.NTAccount($env:USERNAME)).Translate([System.Security.Principal.SecurityIdentifier]).Value
PS HKU:\S-1-5-21-3501008845-2378336731-207489776-1001>
PS HKU:\S-1-5-21-3501008845-2378336731-207489776-1001> Set-ItemProperty -Path Console -Name FaceName -Value 'Source Code Pro'

Now you just need to restart your console and you're good to go!