diff --git a/src/Surface.zig b/src/Surface.zig
index cde23a188..e71af3939 100644
--- a/src/Surface.zig
+++ b/src/Surface.zig
@@ -46,8 +46,8 @@ const Renderer = rendererpkg.Renderer;
 /// being resized to a size that is too small to be useful. These defaults
 /// are chosen to match the default size of Mac's Terminal.app, but is
 /// otherwise somewhat arbitrary.
-const min_window_width_cells: u32 = 10;
-const min_window_height_cells: u32 = 4;
+pub const min_window_width_cells: u32 = 10;
+pub const min_window_height_cells: u32 = 4;
 
 /// The maximum number of key tables that can be active at any
 /// given time. `activate_key_table` calls after this are ignored.
diff --git a/src/apprt/gtk/class/application.zig b/src/apprt/gtk/class/application.zig
index c24352c18..00560fd13 100644
--- a/src/apprt/gtk/class/application.zig
+++ b/src/apprt/gtk/class/application.zig
@@ -2182,6 +2182,18 @@ const Action = struct {
         // Create a new tab with window context (first tab in new window)
         win.newTabForWindow(parent);
 
+        // Estimate the initial window size before presenting so the window
+        // manager can position it correctly.
+        if (win.getActiveSurface()) |surface| {
+            surface.estimateInitialSize();
+            if (surface.getDefaultSize()) |size| {
+                win.as(gtk.Window).setDefaultSize(
+                    @intCast(size.width),
+                    @intCast(size.height),
+                );
+            }
+        }
+
         // Show the window
         gtk.Window.present(win.as(gtk.Window));
     }
diff --git a/src/apprt/gtk/class/surface.zig b/src/apprt/gtk/class/surface.zig
index 7627470a5..2f4a13a32 100644
--- a/src/apprt/gtk/class/surface.zig
+++ b/src/apprt/gtk/class/surface.zig
@@ -2005,6 +2005,55 @@ pub const Surface = extern struct {
         self.as(gobject.Object).notifyByPspec(properties.@"default-size".impl.param_spec);
     }
 
+    /// Estimate and set the initial window size from config and font metrics.
+    /// This can be called before the core surface exists to set up the window
+    /// size before presenting. This is an estimate because it does not take
+    /// into account any padding that may need to be added to the window.
+    pub fn estimateInitialSize(self: *Self) void {
+        const priv: *Private = self.private();
+        const config_obj = priv.config orelse return;
+        const config = config_obj.get();
+
+        // Both dimensions must be configured
+        if (config.@"window-height" <= 0 or config.@"window-width" <= 0) return;
+
+        const app = Application.default();
+        const alloc = app.allocator();
+
+        // Get content scale and compute DPI
+        const content_scale = self.getContentScale();
+        const x_dpi = content_scale.x * font.face.default_dpi;
+        const y_dpi = content_scale.y * font.face.default_dpi;
+
+        const font_size: font.face.DesiredSize = .{
+            .points = config.@"font-size",
+            .xdpi = @intFromFloat(x_dpi),
+            .ydpi = @intFromFloat(y_dpi),
+        };
+
+        // Get font grid for cell metrics
+        var derived_config = font.SharedGridSet.DerivedConfig.init(alloc, config) catch return;
+        defer derived_config.deinit();
+
+        const font_grid_key, const font_grid = app.core().font_grid_set.ref(
+            &derived_config,
+            font_size,
+        ) catch return;
+        defer app.core().font_grid_set.deref(font_grid_key);
+
+        const cell = font_grid.cellSize();
+
+        const width = @max(CoreSurface.min_window_width_cells, config.@"window-width") * cell.width;
+        const height = @max(CoreSurface.min_window_height_cells, config.@"window-height") * cell.height;
+        const width_f32: f32 = @floatFromInt(width);
+        const height_f32: f32 = @floatFromInt(height);
+
+        const final_width: u32 = @intFromFloat(@ceil(width_f32 / content_scale.x));
+        const final_height: u32 = @intFromFloat(@ceil(height_f32 / content_scale.y));
+
+        self.setDefaultSize(.{ .width = final_width, .height = final_height });
+    }
+
     /// Get the key sequence list. Full transfer.
     fn getKeySequence(self: *Self) ?*ext.StringList {
         const priv = self.private();