Color options for xterm

There are several command-line parameters for colors that can be passed to xterm, including the following:

• -bd color
• -bg color
• Specifies the color to use for the background of the window.
• -cr color
• Specifies the color to use for the text cursor
• -fg color
• Specifies the color to use for the foreground (text).
• -hc color
• Specifies the color to use for the background of selected or otherwise highlighted text. If not specified, reverse video is used.
• -ms color

• Specifies the color to use for the mouse cursor. If not specified, the foreground color is used.

  Example color option command line

  
  xterm -ls -sb -bg black -fg yellow
  

  Changing the font used by xterm

  To specify a different font, use the following option for xterm:

  • -fn fontname

• Specifies the font to use for terminal text.

  Example font option command line

  
  xterm -ls -sb -fn ”-*-courier-medium-*”
  

  Changing the font size in a running xterm

  To change the font size in a running xterm, just press and hold the Ctrl key then click the right mouse button to open a font size menu. When the menu is displayed, select the new font size, release the mouse button and the Ctrl key, and the font size should change immediately. This menu is shown in a screenshot below.

  xterm’s Ctrl + Right-Click menu for changing the font size

  

  See Also

  How to give each xterm a unique title or color

  Category:FAQ
  Category:Applications -> xterm

  Categories:

  • Applications
    • xterm
  • FAQ