powershellcolorswrite-hostpowershell-7.3

PowerShell write-host background color continuing past the code

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this is from VS code, also happens in PowerShell 7.3 in Windows Terminal

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the code is this:

write-host "text text text" -ForegroundColor Magenta -BackgroundColor white

that's just for a test, but it happens a lot more often when write-host is inside a big script and the background colors just keep dragging outside the text. how can I prevent this from happening? been having this problem for a couple of months.

p.s the correct word for this seems to be bleeding, so PowerShell write-host color bleeding is happening.

Solution

  • This is a known bug related to scrolling. When the output of Write-Host involves scrolling, the background color leaks into the command-line:

    1..100 | % { write-host "text text text" -ForegroundColor Magenta -BackgroundColor white }

    As a workaround you could use ANSI escape sequences for coloring, which is pretty easy as of PS 7.2+ by using the automatic $PSStyle variable:

    Write-Host "$($PSStyle.Foreground.Magenta)$($PSStyle.Background.White)text text text$($PSStyle.Reset)"

    The $($PSStyle.Reset) explicitly resets the style at the end of the line which should avoid any background color leaking into the command-line.