---
id: windows-curses
version: "2.4.2"
license: PSF2
license_treatment: permissive
maintenance: active
---

# windows-curses — Support for the standard curses module on Windows

License: permissive · Maintenance: active · Downloads: 214.7K/mo

## What it is and what it does

Windows-curses bridges a gap in Python's standard library: the curses module, which provides low-level terminal control for building text-based user interfaces, is not available on Windows by default. This package wraps PDCurses (a cross-platform curses implementation) and provides pre-built wheels for Windows, allowing developers to write terminal UI code that works across Windows, Linux, and macOS without platform-specific branches.

The package includes a pragmatic enhancement: starting from version 2.0, it automatically handles terminal resizing by calling resize_term(0, 0) when KEY_RESIZE is received, mimicking the behavior of ncurses on Unix systems. PDCurses is compiled with wide character support, so get_wch() is available and UTF-8 is enforced as the encoding.

Use it for:

- Build cross-platform terminal UIs (dashboards, menus, forms) that work on Windows without code changes.
- Port existing ncurses-based Python applications from Unix to Windows with minimal modification.
- Create Windows console applications that need fine-grained control over cursor position, colors, and text attributes.
- Develop interactive command-line tools that rely on the standard curses API across all platforms.
- Handle terminal resizing events in Windows terminal applications without manual SIGWINCH-style workarounds.

## Worth the install?

AI-flagged interpretation of the facts above — verify before relying.

Provides the standard Python curses module on Windows by wrapping PDCurses, enabling terminal UI development that would otherwise require platform-specific workarounds.

Yes, if you need curses on Windows. It is actively maintained, has no known vulnerabilities, and solves a real gap in Python's Windows support. The medium install friction (platform-specific wheels) is a one-time cost. If you are building cross-platform terminal UIs or porting Unix code to Windows, this is the standard solution.

## Install

pip install windows-curses
uv add windows-curses
poetry add windows-curses

## Installing windows-curses

Before you install: Medium install friction due to platform-specific wheel requirements across multiple Python versions (3.6–3.14, both 32- and 64-bit). Package is actively maintained with recent commits and no known vulnerabilities.

License in practice: Licensed under PSF2 (Python Software Foundation License), a permissive license that allows free use, modification, and distribution with minimal restrictions.

Quickstart:

pip install windows-curses

import curses

def main(stdscr):
    stdscr.addstr('Hello, Windows!')
    stdscr.refresh()
    stdscr.getch()

curses.wrapper(main)

Windows-only; requires a compatible Python version (3.6–3.14) and appropriate architecture (32- or 64-bit) matching your installation.

Verify before relying:

- Whether the automatic resize_term(0, 0) hack in version 2.0+ works reliably with all terminal emulators on Windows.
- Performance characteristics compared to native ncurses on Unix-like systems when ported code runs on Windows.
- Compatibility with third-party curses libraries or wrappers beyond standard Python curses API.

## Package facts

- License: PSF2 (permissive)
- Python support: unspecified
- Install friction: medium
- Maintenance: active
- Downloads: 214.7K/month (top 15,000 on PyPI)
- Known vulnerabilities: none known

## Tags

curses windows support, terminal ui windows, pdcurses python, windows console graphics, text-based ui windows, ncurses alternative windows, terminal control windows, terminal-ui, windows-compat, cross-platform

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