diff --git a/tabby-local/src/config.ts b/tabby-local/src/config.ts
index e6dbc2e1..6df505ae 100644
--- a/tabby-local/src/config.ts
+++ b/tabby-local/src/config.ts
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ export class TerminalConfigProvider extends ConfigProvider {
             useConPTY: true,
             environment: {},
             setComSpec: false,
+            windowsRefreshEnvironment: true,
         },
     }
 
diff --git a/tabby-local/src/environment.ts b/tabby-local/src/environment.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..96ebfd34
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tabby-local/src/environment.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,149 @@
+let wnr: any = null
+
+try {
+    wnr = require('windows-native-registry') // eslint-disable-line @typescript-eslint/no-var-requires
+} catch { }
+
+let cachedEnvironment: Record<string, string>|null = null
+
+/** Strips `undefined` values from a process-style environment object. */
+function normalizeEnv (env: Record<string, string|undefined>): Record<string, string> {
+    const result: Record<string, string> = {}
+    for (const [key, value] of Object.entries(env)) {
+        if (value !== undefined) {
+            result[key] = value
+        }
+    }
+    return result
+}
+
+/**
+ * Resolves a variable name to its actual key in `env`. Lookups are
+ * case-insensitive on Windows, where environment variable names are.
+ */
+function findKey (env: Record<string, string>, name: string): string|undefined {
+    if (name in env) {
+        return name
+    }
+    if (process.platform !== 'win32') {
+        return undefined
+    }
+    const lower = name.toLowerCase()
+    return Object.keys(env).find(k => k.toLowerCase() === lower)
+}
+
+/** Iteratively expands `%VAR%` references within an environment block in place. */
+function expandWindowsEnv (env: Record<string, string>): void {
+    const pattern = /%([^%]+)%/g
+    let changed = true
+    let iterations = 0
+    while (changed && iterations < 10) {
+        changed = false
+        iterations++
+        for (const [key, value] of Object.entries(env)) {
+            const expanded = value.replace(pattern, (match, varName) => {
+                const found = findKey(env, varName)
+                return found !== undefined ? env[found] : match
+            })
+            if (expanded !== env[key]) {
+                env[key] = expanded
+                changed = true
+            }
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+function readRegistryEnv (hive: any, path: string): Record<string, string> {
+    const env: Record<string, string> = {}
+    if (!wnr) {
+        return env
+    }
+    try {
+        const key = wnr.getRegistryKey(hive, path)
+        if (!key) {
+            return env
+        }
+        for (const [name, entry] of Object.entries(key)) {
+            if (!name || typeof name !== 'string') {
+                continue
+            }
+            const e = entry as any
+            if (e && typeof e.value === 'string') {
+                env[name] = e.value
+            }
+        }
+    } catch {
+        // ignore registry read errors
+    }
+    return env
+}
+
+function isPathLikeVar (name: string): boolean {
+    const lower = name.toLowerCase()
+    return lower === 'path' || lower === 'pathext'
+}
+
+/**
+ * Merges a registry environment source into `target`. Most variables override,
+ * but `Path`/`PATHEXT` are appended to the existing value (resolved
+ * case-insensitively so e.g. system `Path` and user `PATH` don't split).
+ */
+function mergeRegistryEnv (target: Record<string, string>, source: Record<string, string>): void {
+    for (const [key, value] of Object.entries(source)) {
+        const existingKey = isPathLikeVar(key) ? findKey(target, key) : undefined
+        if (existingKey !== undefined) {
+            target[existingKey] = target[existingKey] && value
+                ? target[existingKey] + ';' + value
+                : target[existingKey] || value
+        } else {
+            target[key] = value
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+/**
+ * Rebuilds the environment block from Windows registry sources,
+ * mimicking the behavior of Windows Terminal's environment refresh.
+ */
+function buildWindowsEnvironment (): Record<string, string> {
+    const merged: Record<string, string> = {}
+
+    // System env vars as base, then user and volatile overrides (Path/PATHEXT appended)
+    mergeRegistryEnv(merged, readRegistryEnv(wnr.HK.LM, 'SYSTEM\\CurrentControlSet\\Control\\Session Manager\\Environment'))
+    mergeRegistryEnv(merged, readRegistryEnv(wnr.HK.CU, 'Environment'))
+    mergeRegistryEnv(merged, readRegistryEnv(wnr.HK.CU, 'Volatile Environment'))
+
+    // Preserve process-specific vars (e.g. Electron, Node, Angular)
+    // that aren't defined in the registry
+    for (const [key, value] of Object.entries(process.env)) {
+        if (value !== undefined && findKey(merged, key) === undefined) {
+            merged[key] = value
+        }
+    }
+
+    expandWindowsEnv(merged)
+    return merged
+}
+
+export function getEnvironment (refreshFromRegistry = false): Record<string, string> {
+    if (process.platform === 'win32' && refreshFromRegistry) {
+        cachedEnvironment = buildWindowsEnvironment()
+    } else {
+        cachedEnvironment ??= normalizeEnv(process.env)
+    }
+    return cachedEnvironment
+}
+
+/** Expands `%VAR%` (Windows) / `$VAR` (POSIX) references using the cached environment. */
+export function substituteEnv (env: Record<string, string>): Record<string, string> {
+    const base = getEnvironment()
+    env = { ...env }
+    const pattern = process.platform === 'win32' ? /%(\w+)%/g : /\$(\w+)\b/g
+    for (const [key, value] of Object.entries(env)) {
+        env[key] = value.toString().replace(pattern, (substring, p1) => {
+            const found = findKey(base, p1)
+            return found !== undefined ? base[found] : ''
+        })
+    }
+    return env
+}
diff --git a/tabby-local/src/session.ts b/tabby-local/src/session.ts
index 0847139c..6927e152 100644
--- a/tabby-local/src/session.ts
+++ b/tabby-local/src/session.ts
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ import { Injector } from '@angular/core'
 import { HostAppService, ConfigService, WIN_BUILD_CONPTY_SUPPORTED, isWindowsBuild, Platform, BootstrapData, BOOTSTRAP_DATA, LogService } from 'tabby-core'
 import { BaseSession } from 'tabby-terminal'
 import { SessionOptions, ChildProcess, PTYInterface, PTYProxy } from './api'
+import { getEnvironment, substituteEnv } from './environment'
 
 const windowsDirectoryRegex = /([a-zA-Z]:[^\:\[\]\?\"\<\>\|]+)/mi
 
@@ -21,21 +22,6 @@ function mergeEnv (...envs) {
     return result
 }
 
-function substituteEnv (env: Record<string, string>) {
-    env = { ...env }
-    const pattern = process.platform === 'win32' ? /%(\w+)%/g : /\$(\w+)\b/g
-    for (const [key, value] of Object.entries(env)) {
-        env[key] = value.toString().replace(pattern, function (substring, p1) {
-            if (process.platform === 'win32') {
-                return Object.entries(process.env).find(x => x[0].toLowerCase() === p1.toLowerCase())?.[1] ?? ''
-            } else {
-                return process.env[p1] ?? ''
-            }
-        })
-    }
-    return env
-}
-
 /** @hidden */
 export class Session extends BaseSession {
     private pty: PTYProxy|null = null
@@ -67,8 +53,12 @@ export class Session extends BaseSession {
         }
 
         if (!pty) {
+            const baseEnv = getEnvironment(
+                this.hostApp.platform === Platform.Windows && this.config.store.terminal.windowsRefreshEnvironment,
+            )
+
             let env = mergeEnv(
-                process.env,
+                baseEnv,
                 {
                     COLORTERM: 'truecolor',
                     TERM: 'xterm-256color',
diff --git a/tabby-terminal/src/components/terminalSettingsTab.component.pug b/tabby-terminal/src/components/terminalSettingsTab.component.pug
index f5fb4ffc..3657b5e9 100644
--- a/tabby-terminal/src/components/terminalSettingsTab.component.pug
+++ b/tabby-terminal/src/components/terminalSettingsTab.component.pug
@@ -245,3 +245,12 @@ div.mt-4(*ngIf='hostApp.platform === Platform.Windows')
             [(ngModel)]='config.store.terminal.setComSpec',
             (ngModelChange)='config.save()',
         )
+
+    .form-line
+        .header
+            .title(translate) Refresh environment variables from registry
+            .description(translate) Reload PATH and other variables from the Windows registry for each new session
+        toggle(
+            [(ngModel)]='config.store.terminal.windowsRefreshEnvironment',
+            (ngModelChange)='config.save()',
+        )