WSL hide /mnt/c/Users/ - windows

Question

It is possible to view shorter path in my terminal (VS Code & Hyper) with WSL (Ubuntu). On top of the Ubuntu, I have installed zsh. Currently, I am using a git bash and path looks Lukas#Y50-70 ~/Coding but with the Ubuntu, I have something like this lukas#Y50-70 /mnt/c/Users/Lukas/Coding. When I have a project in another 2 folders or so and I have a long branch name it is annoying to have a full row unnecessary info (for me).
Here is a comparison of Ubuntu and git bash:
Thanks

Answer 1

I was able to solve this using Named Directories - by adding this line to your ~/.zshrc file
hash -d c=/mnt/c
you will see '~c/' in your prompt rather than '/mnt/c/' which I think is a lot nicer.
This has a similar effect to setting an alias for the directory but the name is reflected in how your path is displayed.
As an added bonus you can then switch to that directory at any time by typing ~c

Answer 2

Check if the zsh installation guide under WSL can help (from neurogenesis):
Install zsh with sudo apt-get install zsh
bash.exe is the entrypoint to the WSL / linux subsystem. You'll have to modify the windows shortcut to specify bash -c --login or modify ~/.bashrc with exec /bin/zsh to properly load a different shell.
/etc/passwd isn't consulted because it's not a full login process. Be sure to set your SHELL env var as well. See #846 for details.
Fix your umask before you start installing things, otherwise tools like zsh will complain.
Specifically, "group" and "other" permissions will have the same privileges that owner do. This causes zsh's compaudit and compinit to fail (both are related to command completion).
See #352 for details. umask 022 can be added to your ~/.bashrc.
NOTE: This should be done before trying to install zsh plugin managers like antigen (otherwise the directory/file permissions issues from git clones).
You should also do this before installing RVM or rbenv.
I ended up inserting a few lines to the top of my ~/.bashrc, something like the following:
# ~/.bashrc: executed by bash(1) for non-login shells.
# see /usr/share/doc/bash/examples/startup-files (in the package bash-doc)
# for examples
## Fix missing umask value
umask 022
## Launch Zsh
if [ -t 1 ]; then
cd $HOME
export SHELL=/bin/zsh
exec -cl $SHELL
fi
Issue 846 (mentioned in point 2) includes the comment:
A normal -c zsh symlink opened up in the wrong directory to me, but I managed using this (note the tilde):
C:\Windows\System32\bash.exe ~ -c /bin/zsh
See also "How to Use Zsh (or Another Shell) in Windows 10".

Answer 3

I know this isn't exactly the fix you were hoping for. I was looking to solve the same issue. The prompt was just too long and it was causing some of my commands to wrap to the next line. After seeing the comments on VonC's answer, I'm deciding to keep my next-best solution.
What I did in my ~/.bashrc file is this:
if [ "$color_prompt" = yes ]; then
PS1='${debian_chroot:+($debian_chroot)}\[\033[01;32m\]\u#\h\[\033[00m\]:\[\033[01;34m\]\w\[\033[00m\]\n\$ '
else
PS1='${debian_chroot:+($debian_chroot)}\u#\h:\w\n\$ '
fi
I added a \n right before the \$
So when I'm at my Windows home folder, it looks like this
ryan#DESKTOP-RSKAA4F:/mnt/c/Users/ryank
$
And I start typing my commands after the $. It takes up more vertical space, but at least I don't have to maximize my terminal window just to avoid text wrap.

Answer 4

It appears to me that just running 'cd' after starting the terminal session, re-bases the prompt to the normal '/home/(user)'
there should be no need for installing zsh or anything else. It works for me anyway.
also when starting the session at the root folder from windows, seems to do the trick.
I keep my sessions under
C:\vms
sample:
cd -d C:\vms\minikube\ubu_jenkinsX\rootfs
C:\vms\minikube\ubu_jenkinsX\rootfs>wsl -d ubu_jenkinsX
Yours may be under your userprofile in local data. Search for the rootfs folder

Answer 5

The reason your WSL prompt shows such a long path is because you're not actually in your home directory. You see, WSL has its own virtual filesystem separate from Windows, and Windows paths (like your C:\Users\Lukas\...) are stored under /mnt/c/Users/Lukas/.... Your WSL home directory would be /home/Lukas (since your WSL username is capitalized), but of course, that's not where your project is.
The fish shell has a prompt_pwd function that shortens a path to something like this:
0 ---- /m/c/U/L/Documents cd Something
0 ---- /m/c/U/L/D/Something prompt_pwd
/m/c/U/L/D/Something
Is that something you're interested in? You could port the function to Bash, or just switch to Fish, or just display the current directory name instead of path.