In Windows Terminal running Ubuntu, how can I make the default directory be ~ (/home/jake) instead of / (root)?

This is an issue raised on Microsoft Terminal's GitHub Page in Windows Terminal as startingDirectory setting issue for wsl profile #592 . And not respecting things is a hobby of some things.

Actually it seems that startingDirectory Windows Terminal doesn't work well under WSL fs paths since the issue isn't specific to $HOME, it exists for all folders in /.

While the user3140225's approach is a good start but as per DHowett-MSFT's comment:

This is also a great way to get weird and unexpected behaviour in everything else that uses bash on your machine.

Since in Ubuntu's profile you've provided the command line wsl.exe -d Ubuntu. This command line invokes WSL and ask it to start "Ubuntu" which is done in the current directory, i.e. if you run wsl.exe -d Ubuntu while in Desktop of Windows, Ubuntu will start on Windows' Desktop.

As a workaround, you can modify the command line and use one of the below.

1. Since WSL is specifically for Linux, thus Tilde Expansion can be expected from that. Therefore, you can specify the "starting directory" in the command line and use the following as the value of command line.

   wsl.exe ~ -d ubuntu
   

2. When Ubuntu app is installed, it automatically registers ubuntu command. Therefore, ubuntu command will invoke Ubuntu App. The benefit of this is that it always starts at $HOME. Therefore, you can change the value of command-line to

   ubuntu
   

   Note: If you are using Ubuntu 18.04 or 16.04 app, the command would vary accordingly. The above is only for Ubuntu App.

3. If you're uncomfortable in changing command-line, you can still get it to work by modifying startDirectory to

   "startingDirectory":"//wsl$/Ubuntu/home/jake/"
   

   Credits: caksoylar 's comment

Open WSL and cd to your home directory:

cd ~

Then use nano to edit your .bashrc file:

nano .bashrc

At the bottom of the file add the following line:

cd ~

Finally, restart WSL.