unfocusedBackground being used in the active tab color

Windows Terminal version

1.23.12371.0

Windows build number

10.0.26100.6584

Other Software

No response

Steps to reproduce

Define the theme below:

"themes": 
[
    {
        "name": "Snazzy",
        "tab": 
        {
            "background": "#00FF00",
            "iconStyle": "default",
            "showCloseButton": "hover",
            "unfocusedBackground": "#F00"
        },
        "tabRow": 
        {
            "background": "#20212B",
            "unfocusedBackground": "#20212B"
        },
        "window": 
        {
            "applicationTheme": "dark",
            "experimental.rainbowFrame": false,
            "frame": "#20212B",
            "unfocusedFrame": "#20212B",
            "useMica": false
        }
    }
]

Expected Behavior

Version 1.22.12111.0 uses the color defined in tab.background as the color of the active tab.

Actual Behavior

Version 1.23.12371.0 uses the color defined in tab.unfocusedBackground as the color of the active tab.

The same is happening in 1.24.2372.0.

Carlos Zamora (@carlos-zamora)

Carlos Zamora (@carlos-zamora) spoke up and said it was probably his fault.

Yeah, I suspect this is related to #18109 and #18306. I'm familiar with that part of the code so I can take a look.

Fix unfocusedBackground being used as active tab color (microsoft#19424)

Seems to me like this problem is not fixed, all the colors are completely wrong.

I am on the latest version 1.23.12811.0.

This is my test theme:

        {
            "name": "Testing",
            "tab": 
            {
                "background": "#FF0000FF",
                "iconStyle": "default",
                "showCloseButton": "never",
                "unfocusedBackground": "#0000FFFF"
            }
        }

This is the current result, and this is not expected:

Tab is selected
Blue background with red border.
Tab is selected and mouse is hovering it
Blue background with red border.
Tab is selected and mouse is hovering it and mouse is clicking it
Blue background with red border.
Tab is not selected
Blue background.
Tab is not selected and mouse is hovering it
Background is a mix of red and blue resulting in some shade of brown.
Tab is not selected and mouse is hovering it and mouse is clicking it
Red background.

IIRC this is how it was working before, and this is expected:

Tab is selected
Red background.
Tab is selected and mouse is hovering it
Red background.
Tab is selected and mouse is hovering it and mouse is clicking it
Red background.
Tab is not selected
Blue background.
Tab is not selected and mouse is hovering it
Red background.
Tab is not selected and mouse is hovering it and mouse is clicking it
Red background.

Thanks for confirming. The pull request which fixed this bug was merged five days ago, but the release build known as 1.23.12811 was produced six days ago. Unfortunately, it does follow that you would not have the fix.

Fix unfocusedBackground being used as active tab color (#19424)

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unfocusedBackground being used in the active tab color #19343

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unfocusedBackground being used in the active tab color #19343

Description

Windows Terminal version

Windows build number

Other Software

Steps to reproduce

Expected Behavior

Actual Behavior

Activity

DHowett commented on Oct 1, 2025

carlos-zamora commented on Oct 1, 2025

thnee commented on Oct 14, 2025

DHowett commented on Oct 14, 2025

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