Troubleshooting

Fixing Windows Terminal Closing Immediately

A troubleshooting note for Windows Terminal failing to open with DCOM 10010 and invalid graphics settings.

May 30, 2026

Symptoms

  • PowerShell and Windows Terminal closed immediately after launch.
  • Event Viewer showed DCOM 10010 errors.
  • The Terminal settings file contained an invalid graphicsAPI value.

Fix

Changing the setting alone was not enough, so I removed and re-registered Windows Terminal. I also checked the fallback path of temporarily using Windows Console Host.

Lesson

Invalid Windows Terminal settings can fail quietly. When the terminal closes immediately, check both the settings file and the app registration state.