Kitty Terminal Configuration
Info
This guide provides a quickstart using kitty — from the config file itself, to theming, transparency, and window sizing. kitty's stand-out feature is smooth touchpad scrolling, where most terminals jump whole lines at a time.
Master quick append
Paste into ~/.config/kitty/kitty.conf, then reload with Ctrl+Shift+F5. Each option is explained in the sections below.
# transparency: lower is more transparent (blur needs Blur my Shell on GNOME)
background_opacity 0.8
background_blur 1
# start at a fixed grid size: "c" means cells (columns and rows), not pixels
remember_window_size no
initial_window_width 120c
initial_window_height 40cInstallation
kitty is in the official repositories of all major distros.
sudo dnf install kittysudo apt install kittysudo pacman -S kittyDistro packages can lag behind releases. If you want the newest version, see the official install guide from Kitty.
Config File
Location and syntax
kitty reads its configuration from ~/.config/kitty/kitty.conf.
The file uses a simple key value format
- One key per line, separated by a space — no
=sign. - Keys are case-sensitive.
- Comments must be on their own line starting with
#; inline trailing comments are not supported.
# This is a valid comment
background_opacity 0.8Reloading the config
Ctrl+Shift+F5 (the default keybind on Linux) to reload it at runtime. Newer versions of kitty also pick up saved changes automatically.
Theme and Transparency
Applying a theme
kitty has a built-in theme picker with live preview. Run it in a terminal, browse with the arrow keys, and press Enter to apply:
kitten themesTips
Already know the theme you want? Apply it directly and reload every open window:
kitten themes --reload-in=all Everforest Dark HardHow the picker saves your choice (technical detail)
The kitten writes the chosen colours to ~/.config/kitty/current-theme.conf and adds an include current-theme.conf line to kitty.conf. To change themes later, just run the kitten again — no manual editing needed.
Background transparency and blur
# background_opacity: lower is more transparent
background_opacity 0.8
background_blur 1Warning
background_blur only works where the system provides blur — KDE Plasma on Wayland and macOS. On a standard GNOME session it is ignored. Transparency (background_opacity) still works — only blur is N/A.
If you want blur on GNOME, install the Blur my Shell extension and enable its application blur for kitty.
Default Window Size
By default, kitty remembers the size of the last window you closed and reuses it (remember_window_size yes). To start at a fixed size instead, turn that off and set the initial size yourself:
remember_window_size no
initial_window_width 120c
initial_window_height 40cThe c suffix means the size is in terminal cells (columns and rows). Without it, the numbers are pixels.
Keyboard Shortcuts
Most shortcuts start with kitty_mod, which is Ctrl+Shift by default. The most useful ones:
Ctrl+Shift+C/Ctrl+Shift+V— copy / pasteCtrl+Shift+T— new tabCtrl+Shift+Enter— new window (split)Ctrl+Shift+]/Ctrl+Shift+[— next / previous windowCtrl+Shift+=/Ctrl+Shift+-— bigger / smaller text
Every keybind can be remapped with the map option — see the official shortcuts reference.
GNOME Keyboard Shortcut
We can bind a key combo in GNOME Settings to launch kitty to access the terminal quickly.
Open keyboard shortcuts
Open
Settings->Keyboard. Under "Keyboard Shortcuts", clickView and Customise Shortcuts.Navigate to custom shortcuts
Scroll to the bottom of the list and select
Custom Shortcuts, then click the+button to add a new entry.Fill in the shortcut details
Enter a name (e.g. "Kitty") and set the command to
kitty.Set the key combo
Click
Set Shortcutand press your desired combination — for exampleSuper+ReturnorCtrl+Alt+T.Confirm
Click
Addto save. The shortcut is active immediately — no logout required.
Contributors
Changelog
467f5-on0f3b1-on