# The REPL and character display

**URL:** <https://discourse.julialang.org/t/the-repl-and-character-display/59269>\
**Category:** Performance\
**Tags:** windows, repl, display\
**Created:** [April 14, 2021, 11:46am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/the-repl-and-character-display/59269 "2021-04-14T11:46:04Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Hermes](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/hermes/32/35562_2.png) [@Hermes](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/Hermes)\
**Post date:** [April 14, 2021, 11:46am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/the-repl-and-character-display/59269/1 "2021-04-14T11:46:04Z")

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What should I install so that in Julia REPL, symbols and special characters can be correctly seen. In the figure I show what happens:

 ![REPL caracteres](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/original/3X/5/2/52cae8557165627089cfe66687283b3ffe58bdc7.jpeg)

However in VS Code Terminal, the characters and symbols are correctly seen

 ![VsCode Terminal](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/original/3X/f/4/f462f9130d35a057fedb8fa75dc86bf4db4f3e62.jpeg)

```julia
julia> versioninfo()
Julia Version 1.6.0
Commit f9720dc2eb (2021-03-24 12:55 UTC)
Platform Info:
  OS: Windows (x86_64-w64-mingw32)
  CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 1800X Eight-Core Processor
  WORD_SIZE: 64
  LIBM: libopenlibm
  LLVM: libLLVM-11.0.1 (ORCJIT, znver1)

```

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![fredrikekre](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/fredrikekre/32/1688_2.png) [@fredrikekre](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/fredrikekre)\
**Post date:** [April 14, 2021, 11:47am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/the-repl-and-character-display/59269/2 "2021-04-14T11:47:14Z")

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You can try the Windows Terminal as suggested here: [Platform Specific Instructions for Official Binaries](https://julialang.org/downloads/platform/#windows)

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Hermes](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/hermes/32/35562_2.png) [@Hermes](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/Hermes)\
**Post date:** [April 14, 2021, 12:28pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/the-repl-and-character-display/59269/4 "2021-04-14T12:28:45Z")

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Julia is added to the Windows PATH

 ![Julia CMD Prompt](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/original/3X/c/4/c4455277c0134a6ead49d69712bfdd7a623aa940.jpeg)

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**Author:** ![FPGro](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/fpgro/32/20822_2.png) [@FPGro](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/FPGro)\
**Post date:** [April 14, 2021, 2:56pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/the-repl-and-character-display/59269/5 "2021-04-14T14:56:46Z")

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No he meant this section:

> We highly recommend running Julia using a modern terminal, such as installing the [Windows Terminal from the Microsoft Store](https://aka.ms/terminal).

The point is: the missing symbols are due to the terminal, not Julia. A newer terminal will display them (given that a proper font is available)

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**Author:** ![NiclasMattsson](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/niclasmattsson/32/21988_2.png) [@NiclasMattsson](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/NiclasMattsson)\
**Post date:** [April 14, 2021, 4:29pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/the-repl-and-character-display/59269/6 "2021-04-14T16:29:58Z")

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The standard REPL should also display the characters provided you set it to a font that supports them. The problem is that it’s really hard to find a monospace font that (1) has wide character support and (2) looks good. The reason why quality editors and terminals often display tricky glyphs even when set to a font that doesn’t support them is that they have “font fallback”, i.e. they use some backup typeface when the primary one chokes on a weird character.

That said, +1 for Windows Terminal. It’s fantastic.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Hermes](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/hermes/32/35562_2.png) [@Hermes](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/Hermes)\
**Post date:** [April 14, 2021, 7:23pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/the-repl-and-character-display/59269/7 "2021-04-14T19:23:09Z")

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Customizing the Command Prompt Fonts in Windows 10 to JetBrains Mono NL

 ![REPL with Font JetBrains Mono](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/original/3X/7/7/77930daf2b4a3d9f4d5da7d370db6431ebf026d1.jpeg)