Winstow is a Windows-native symlink farm manager inspired by GNU Stow. It helps you manage your dotfiles, configuration files, and software packages by creating symbolic links from a central stow directory to a target directory (typically your home directory).
Features:
- Windows-Native: Built specifically for Windows with proper symlink support
- GNU Stow Compatible: Familiar interface if you've used GNU Stow
- Directory Folding: Intelligent directory symlinking reduces link count
- Conflict Resolution: --adopt and --override for handling existing files
- Pattern Matching: --ignore and --defer for flexible file management
- Configuration Files: Set defaults with .winstowrc
- Small & Fast: Single ~600KB binary
- Safe: Dry-run mode to preview changes before applying
Publisher’s description
What is Winstow?
Winstow by MathiasCodes is open-source Windows software in the terminals & cli tools category. It is written in Rust.
Installation and requirements
The publisher provides Portable installers for 64-bit Windows. It runs without installation (portable).
Popularity and file types
The source code on GitHub (MathiasCodes/winstow) has 11 stars. Similar programs include PowerShell, QPDF and Oh My Posh.
Project description on GitHub: “Windows-native symlink farm manager inspired by GNU Stow”
Pros / Cons
Pros
- Open source: the code can be inspected and built by anyone
- Portable: runs without installation
Cons
- No native ARM64 build
In short: Winstow is an open-source terminals & cli tool tool for 64-bit PCs.
Is Winstow safe to download?
- The file is served by github.com, the publisher’s own domain
- The download link uses HTTPS
- A SHA256 hash is published, so you can verify the file:
7396A218D2380DE760F54B5EC943799F61C8C84A4A1A69441E09FCA258AB0A3F· Open the VirusTotal report for this hash - The link has not been checked yet
- The source code is public
- ExeAtlas does not host, wrap or modify installers
Related guide: How to check a file’s SHA256 hash on Windows
Recent versions
All 1 versions ›| Version | Date | Size | Files |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.3.0Latest | November 17, 2025 | — | 64-bit ZIP |
Install from the command line
Silent install ›winget install --id MathiasCodes.Winstow -eRelated guide: How to use winget: install and update apps
Information
- Publisher
- MathiasCodes
- Category
- Terminals & CLI tools
- Licence
- MIT
- Price
- Free
- Source code
- github.com/MathiasCodes/winstow
- Written in
- Rust
- Requires
- Windows 11 / 10
- Architecture
- 64-bit
- Installer
- Portable
- Version
- 0.3.0
- Released
- November 17, 2025
- Added to the catalogue
- November 17, 2025
- Versions listed
- 1
- GitHub stars
- 11
- GitHub forks
- 4
- Website
- github.com
- winget ID
- MathiasCodes.Winstow
Ratings and reviews
No reviews yet. Be the first to rate it.
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Frequently asked questions
Is Winstow free?
Yes. Winstow is open-source software under the MIT licence.
Is Winstow safe to download?
The download comes from github.com, which belongs to the publisher; ExeAtlas does not host or change the file. Compare its SHA256 hash with the one shown here, or open the VirusTotal report for that hash.
How do I install Winstow with winget?
Open PowerShell or Windows Terminal and run the winget command shown on this page. winget downloads the official installer and checks its SHA256 hash before running it.
Does Winstow run on ARM (Windows on Arm)?
There is no ARM64 build; Windows 11 on Arm can run the 64-bit version through emulation.
Can I use Winstow without administrator rights?
Yes, it is portable: unpack and run it.
What are alternatives to Winstow?
PowerShell, QPDF, Oh My Posh, chezmoi and Alacritty. The alternatives page compares them.
