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Terminal emulation refers to software that replicates the behavior of traditional text-based computer terminals inside a modern graphical or mobile environment. A terminal emulator provides a command line interface by displaying text, accepting input, and sending it to a shell or remote system.

In operation, the emulator runs locally and connects to a host's shell either directly or over a network using protocols such as SSH, Telnet, or serial. It translates the control sequences produced by the host application into screen updates, handling cursor movement, text attributes, and color.

Terminals emulate various terminal types, most commonly VT100 and its successors, xterm, and ANSI standards. The emulator interprets escape codes to implement features like cursor positioning, screen clearing, bold or color text, and graphics. Modern terminals add features such as tabs, split panes, background transparency, font customization, and 24-bit color. Some support multiplexing via tmux or GNU Screen.

Common examples include xterm, GNOME Terminal, Konsole, iTerm2, Windows Terminal, and PuTTY. They are standard tools in software development, system administration, and remote work.

Although called emulation, a terminal emulator does not replicate the entire hardware terminal; it recreates the interactive interface through which a shell or remote system can present text. Performance depends on font rendering, system resources, and network latency. The design goal is compatibility with well-known terminal control sequences while providing user-friendly features.