How to Install and Configure Powerlevel10k, a Fast Zsh Theme

Powerlevel10k can be installed in a variety of ways. If you are unsure which method to choose, use the Manual method — it works alongside any plugin manager and is the most reliable option. After installation, restart Zsh with exec zsh and the configuration wizard will start automatically; if it does not, run p10k configure.

Powerlevel10k is in limited-support mode. No new features are planned and most bugs will go unfixed. It remains fully functional for existing and new installs.

Install the recommended MesloLGS NF font before running p10k configure to unlock all prompt styles.

Installation Methods

Manual
Plugin Managers
Package Managers

The manual installation method works even if you already use a plugin manager. If your plugin manager has a theme active, disable it first to avoid conflicts.

Clone the repository

git clone --depth=1 https://github.com/romkatv/powerlevel10k.git ~/powerlevel10k

China mirror — Users in China can use the official mirror on gitee.com for faster download. 中国用户可以使用 gitee.com 上的官方镜像加速下载.

git clone --depth=1 https://gitee.com/romkatv/powerlevel10k.git ~/powerlevel10k

Source the theme from ~/.zshrc

echo 'source ~/powerlevel10k/powerlevel10k.zsh-theme' >>~/.zshrc

Restart Zsh and configure

exec zsh

The configuration wizard starts automatically. If it does not, run p10k configure.

Choose the tab for your plugin manager below.

Oh My Zsh

Clone the repository into Oh My Zsh custom themes

git clone --depth=1 https://github.com/romkatv/powerlevel10k.git "${ZSH_CUSTOM:-$HOME/.oh-my-zsh/custom}/themes/powerlevel10k"

China mirror — Users in China can use the official mirror on gitee.com for faster download. 中国用户可以使用 gitee.com 上的官方镜像加速下载.

git clone --depth=1 https://gitee.com/romkatv/powerlevel10k.git "${ZSH_CUSTOM:-$HOME/.oh-my-zsh/custom}/themes/powerlevel10k"

Set the theme in ~/.zshrc

Open ~/.zshrc, find the line that sets ZSH_THEME, and change its value to:

ZSH_THEME="powerlevel10k/powerlevel10k"

Restart Zsh

exec zsh

Prezto

Add the following line to ~/.zpreztorc:

zstyle :prezto:module:prompt theme powerlevel10k

Then restart Zsh with exec zsh.

Zim

Add to ~/.zimrc

zmodule romkatv/powerlevel10k --use degit

Install the module

zimfw install

Restart Zsh

exec zsh

Antibody

Add the following line to ~/.zshrc:

antibody bundle romkatv/powerlevel10k

Antidote

Add the following line to ~/.zsh_plugins.txt:

romkatv/powerlevel10k

Antigen

Add the following lines to ~/.zshrc (make sure antigen apply appears after the theme line):

antigen theme romkatv/powerlevel10k
antigen apply

Zplug

Add the following line to ~/.zshrc:

zplug romkatv/powerlevel10k, as:theme, depth:1

Zgen

Add the following line to ~/.zshrc:

zgen load romkatv/powerlevel10k powerlevel10k

Zplugin

Add the following lines to ~/.zshrc:

zplugin ice depth=1; zplugin light romkatv/powerlevel10k

The use of depth=1 ice is optional. Other types of ice are neither recommended nor officially supported by Powerlevel10k.

Zinit

Add the following lines to ~/.zshrc:

zinit ice depth=1; zinit light romkatv/powerlevel10k

The use of depth=1 ice is optional. Other types of ice are neither recommended nor officially supported by Powerlevel10k.

Zi

Add the following lines to ~/.zshrc:

zi ice depth=1; zi light romkatv/powerlevel10k

The use of depth=1 ice is optional. Other types of ice are neither recommended nor officially supported by Powerlevel10k.

Zap

Add the following line to ~/.zshrc:

plug "romkatv/powerlevel10k"

Homebrew (macOS / Linux)

Install via Homebrew

brew install powerlevel10k

Source the theme from ~/.zshrc

echo "source $(brew --prefix)/share/powerlevel10k/powerlevel10k.zsh-theme" >>~/.zshrc

Restart Zsh

exec zsh

Arch Linux

Install the AUR package

yay -S --noconfirm zsh-theme-powerlevel10k-git

The zsh-theme-powerlevel10k-git package referenced above is the official Powerlevel10k AUR package.

Source the theme from ~/.zshrc

echo 'source /usr/share/zsh-theme-powerlevel10k/powerlevel10k.zsh-theme' >>~/.zshrc

Restart Zsh

exec zsh

Alpine Linux

Install the package and create the plugin directory

apk add zsh zsh-theme-powerlevel10k
mkdir -p ~/.local/share/zsh/plugins
ln -s /usr/share/zsh/plugins/powerlevel10k ~/.local/share/zsh/plugins/

Restart Zsh

exec zsh

Post-Install: First-time Configuration

After installing and restarting Zsh with exec zsh, the configuration wizard will start automatically and guide you through choosing a prompt style. If it does not appear, run:

p10k configure

The wizard creates ~/.p10k.zsh based on your answers. You can rerun it at any time to change your prompt style.

Do not use source ~/.zshrc to apply changes — this can cause random errors and progressive slowdown. Always use exec zsh or open a new terminal session instead.

Updating Powerlevel10k

The update command depends on how Powerlevel10k was installed. After updating, restart Zsh with exec zsh.

Installation	Update Command
Manual	`git -C ~/powerlevel10k pull`
Oh My Zsh	`git -C "${ZSH_CUSTOM:-$HOME/.oh-my-zsh/custom}/themes/powerlevel10k" pull`
Prezto	`zprezto-update`
Zim	`zimfw update`
Antigen	`antigen update`
Antidote	`antidote update`
Zplug	`zplug update`
Zgen	`zgen update`
Zplugin	`zplugin update`
Zinit	`zinit update`
Zi	`zi update`
Zap	`zap update`
Homebrew	`brew update && brew upgrade`
Arch Linux	`yay -S --noconfirm zsh-theme-powerlevel10k-git`
Alpine Linux	`apk update && apk upgrade`

Restart Zsh after updating. Do not use source ~/.zshrc.

Uninstalling Powerlevel10k

Remove p10k references from ~/.zshrc

Remove the instant-prompt snippet at the top of ~/.zshrc if present:

if [[ -r "${XDG_CACHE_HOME:-$HOME/.cache}/p10k-instant-prompt-${(%):-%n}.zsh" ]]; then
  source "${XDG_CACHE_HOME:-$HOME/.cache}/p10k-instant-prompt-${(%):-%n}.zsh"
fi

And remove the config-sourcing line at the bottom if present:

[[ ! -f ~/.p10k.zsh ]] || source ~/.p10k.zsh

Remove powerlevel10k references from config files

Remove all references to powerlevel10k from ~/.zshrc, ~/.zpreztorc, and ~/.zimrc (some of these files may be missing — this is normal).

Verify all references are gone

grep -E 'p10k|powerlevel10k' ~/.zshrc ~/.zpreztorc ~/.zimrc 2>/dev/null

If this command produces output, there are still references that need to be removed.

Delete the configuration file

rm -f ~/.p10k.zsh

Delete Powerlevel10k source files

The command depends on which installation method you used:

Installation	Uninstall Command
Manual	`rm -rf ~/powerlevel10k`
Oh My Zsh	`rm -rf -- "${ZSH_CUSTOM:-$HOME/.oh-my-zsh/custom}/themes/powerlevel10k"`
Prezto	n/a
Zim	`zimfw uninstall`
Antigen	`antigen purge romkatv/powerlevel10k`
Antidote	`antidote purge romkatv/powerlevel10k`
Zplug	`zplug clean`
Zgen	`zgen reset`
Zplugin	`zplugin delete romkatv/powerlevel10k`
Zinit	`zinit delete romkatv/powerlevel10k`
Zi	`zi delete romkatv/powerlevel10k`
Zap	`zsh -ic 'zap clean'`
Homebrew	`brew uninstall powerlevel10k`
Arch Linux	`yay -R --noconfirm zsh-theme-powerlevel10k-git`
Alpine Linux	`apk del zsh-theme-powerlevel10k`

Restart Zsh

exec zsh

Delete cache files

rm -rf -- "${XDG_CACHE_HOME:-$HOME/.cache}"/p10k-*(N) "${XDG_CACHE_HOME:-$HOME/.cache}"/gitstatus

Installing Without Internet Access

If you need to install Powerlevel10k on a machine that has no internet connection, follow these steps. You will need a second machine with internet access to prepare the files.

Identify the target machine's OS and architecture

Run this command on the machine without internet access:

uname -sm | tr '[A-Z]' '[a-z]'

Note the output (e.g. linux x86_64).

Prepare files on an internet-connected machine

On a machine with internet access, replace target_uname with the output from the previous step:

target_uname="replace this with the output of the previous command"
git clone --depth=1 https://github.com/romkatv/powerlevel10k.git ~/powerlevel10k
GITSTATUS_CACHE_DIR="$HOME"/powerlevel10k/gitstatus/usrbin ~/powerlevel10k/gitstatus/install -f -s "${target_uname% *}" -m "${target_uname#* }"

Copy the files to the offline machine

Transfer the ~/powerlevel10k directory from the internet-connected machine to the machine without internet access (for example, using scp, a USB drive, or any other transfer method).

Source the theme on the offline machine

echo 'source ~/powerlevel10k/powerlevel10k.zsh-theme' >>~/.zshrc

Remove any existing ZSH_THEME setting

sed -i.bak '/^ZSH_THEME=/d' ~/.zshrc

To update on an offline machine, remove ~/powerlevel10k on both machines and repeat the steps above.

Get Started

Configuration

Prompt Features

Compatibility

Reference

How to Install and Configure Powerlevel10k, a Fast Zsh Theme

Installation Methods

Oh My Zsh

Prezto

Zim

Antibody

Antidote

Antigen

Zplug

Zgen

Zplugin

Zinit

Zi

Zap

Homebrew (macOS / Linux)

Arch Linux

Alpine Linux

Post-Install: First-time Configuration

Updating Powerlevel10k

Uninstalling Powerlevel10k

Installing Without Internet Access

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Get Started

Configuration

Prompt Features

Compatibility

Reference

Documentation Index

​Installation Methods

​Oh My Zsh

​Prezto

​Zim

​Antibody

​Antidote

​Antigen

​Zplug

​Zgen

​Zplugin

​Zinit

​Zi

​Zap

​Homebrew (macOS / Linux)

​Arch Linux

​Alpine Linux

​Post-Install: First-time Configuration

​Updating Powerlevel10k

​Uninstalling Powerlevel10k

​Installing Without Internet Access

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Installation Methods

Oh My Zsh

Prezto

Zim

Antibody

Antidote

Antigen

Zplug

Zgen

Zplugin

Zinit

Zi

Zap

Homebrew (macOS / Linux)

Arch Linux

Alpine Linux

Post-Install: First-time Configuration

Updating Powerlevel10k

Uninstalling Powerlevel10k

Installing Without Internet Access