https://github.com/microsoft/coreutils
Coreutils for Windows: Installer & Packaging
https://github.com/microsoft/coreutils
command-line-tool coreutils gnu-coreutils
Last synced: 6 days ago
JSON representation
Coreutils for Windows: Installer & Packaging
- Host: GitHub
- URL: https://github.com/microsoft/coreutils
- Owner: microsoft
- License: mit
- Created: 2026-05-15T05:42:32.000Z (about 1 month ago)
- Default Branch: main
- Last Pushed: 2026-06-10T21:40:17.000Z (6 days ago)
- Last Synced: 2026-06-10T22:15:27.442Z (6 days ago)
- Topics: command-line-tool, coreutils, gnu-coreutils
- Language: Rust
- Homepage:
- Size: 107 KB
- Stars: 3,842
- Watchers: 23
- Forks: 61
- Open Issues: 53
-
Metadata Files:
- Readme: README.md
- Contributing: CONTRIBUTING.md
- License: LICENSE
- Code of conduct: CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md
- Security: SECURITY.md
- Notice: NOTICE.md
Awesome Lists containing this project
- my-awesome-github-stars - microsoft/coreutils - Coreutils for Windows: Installer & Packaging (Rust)
- awesome - microsoft/coreutils - Coreutils for Windows: Installer & Packaging (Rust)
README
Coreutils for Windows
UNIX-style core utilities for Windows. The same commands and pipelines you use on Linux, macOS, and WSL - natively.
Install
·
Shell conflicts
·
Windows caveats
·
Contributing
---
A Microsoft-maintained build of [uutils/coreutils](https://github.com/uutils/coreutils),
[findutils](https://github.com/uutils/findutils), and [grep](https://github.com/uutils/grep) packaged as a
single multi-call binary for Windows. The goal is to make moving between Linux, macOS, WSL,
containers, and Windows frictionless: the same commands, flags, and pipelines work the same
way, so existing scripts carry over without translation.
Each command supports the standard `--help` flag for full syntax and options.
**This project is in preview.**
## Install
Install Coreutils for Windows with WinGet:
```powershell
winget install Microsoft.Coreutils
```
Or grab the latest build from our [Release Page](https://github.com/microsoft/coreutils/releases/latest).
## Creating custom alias
* PowerShell: Set-Alias ll 'ls' or a function in your $PROFILE for arguments, e.g. `function ll { ls -la --color=auto @args }`
* CMD: doskey ll=ls -la $*
> [!WARNING]
> Using PowerShell aliases will cause binary stream compatibility. Some utilities will not work when piped (e.g. xargs, find, ...)
## Shell conflicts
> [!NOTE]
> Any command not mentioned is included in this suite. The following only lists conflicts.
> [!WARNING]
> PowerShell 7.4 or later is required.
> PowerShell 7.6 or later is recommended for `~` support.
Several commands share names with built-ins in CMD and PowerShell. Whether the Coreutils
version runs depends on the shell, the PATH order, and (for PowerShell) the alias table.
Legend: ✅ ships and works · ⚠️ ships but conflicts with a built-in · 🛑 not shipped
| Command | CMD | PowerShell 7.4+ | Notes |
| ---------- | :--: | :-------------: | ----- |
| `cat` | ✅ | ⚠️ | |
| `cp` | ✅ | ⚠️ | |
| `date` | ⚠️ | ⚠️ | |
| `dir` | 🛑 | 🛑 | Conflicts with the built-in DOS command |
| `echo` | ⚠️ | ⚠️ | |
| `expand` | 🛑 | 🛑 | Conflicts with the built-in DOS command |
| `find` | ✅ | ✅ | Integrated port of the original DOS command |
| `hostname` | ✅ | ✅ | Superset of the Windows built-in |
| `kill` | 🛑 | 🛑 | Unavailable due to lack of signals on Windows; Implementing a form of SIGTERM/SIGKILL may be possible in the future however |
| `ls` | ✅ | ⚠️ | |
| `mkdir` | ⚠️ | ⚠️ | |
| `more` | 🛑 | 🛑 | Conflicts with the built-in DOS command (consider `edit` as an alternative) |
| `mv` | ✅ | ⚠️ | |
| `pwd` | ✅ | ⚠️ | |
| `rm` | ✅ | ⚠️ | |
| `rmdir` | ⚠️ | ⚠️ | |
| `sleep` | ✅ | ⚠️ | |
| `sort` | ✅ | ⚠️ | Integrated port of the original DOS command |
| `tee` | ✅ | ⚠️ | |
| `timeout` | 🛑 | 🛑 | Relies on `kill`'s functionality |
| `uptime` | ✅ | ⚠️ | |
| `whoami` | 🛑 | 🛑 | Conflicts with the built-in Windows command |
## Windows caveats
| Difference | Detail |
| --------------------- | ------ |
| **CRLF line endings** | Windows text files often use CRLF (`\r\n`). Most utilities handle this transparently, but byte-oriented behavior can still observe the `\r`; for example, `uniq` may treat the final line as different from a preceding duplicate if the input uses CRLF and the final line has no trailing newline. |
| **No `/dev/null`** | Use `NUL` instead, for example `find . -name "*.log" > NUL` |
| **No POSIX signals** | Signals such as `SIGHUP`, `SIGPIPE`, and `SIGUSR` aren't available. `Ctrl+C` (`SIGINT`) works as expected. |
| **Path separators** | Both `/` and `\` are accepted. Some utilities produce `\`-separated output, which can affect downstream piping. |
| **File permissions** | Windows uses ACLs, not POSIX permission bits. Permission-based predicates (for example `find -perm`) may behave differently or be unavailable. |
| **Symbolic links** | Reading existing symbolic links works without elevation. Creating new symbolic links requires Developer Mode ([**Settings > System > Advanced**](https://learn.microsoft.com/windows/advanced-settings)) or an elevated terminal. |
### PowerShell Command Parsing
The installer integrates itself with interactive PowerShell sessions via `PSReadLine`.
It ensures that quoted expression behave somewhat like they do under UNIX shells or CMD:
`echo *.txt` will then print a number of file names, while `echo '*.txt'` will print "*.txt" literally.
There are two shortcomings, however:
* PowerShell's escape character is still \`, not \\
While you may write `find . \( -foo -bar \)` with Bash, you still need to write ``find . `( -foo -bar `)`` in PowerShell.
* `Get-Command ls`, `Get-Help ls`, etc., will still show `ls`, etc., as builtin commands
Due to limitations around `PSNativeCommandPreserveBytePipe` we cannot integrate ourselves in a more robust way with PowerShell.
### Intentionally dropped
Commands that exist upstream but aren't shipped here because they rely on POSIX-only concepts, would break existing Windows scripts, or simply aren't useful on Windows.
* `dd`: Perhaps useful in the future.
* `dircolors`, `shred`, `sync`, `uname`: Not particularly useful on Windows.
* `chcon`, `chgrp`, `chmod`, `chown`, `chroot`, `groups`, `hostid`, `id`, `install`,
`logname`, `mkfifo`, `mknod`, `nice`, `nohup`, `pinky`, `runcon`, `stdbuf`,
`stty`, `tty`, `users`, `who`: POSIX-only concepts unavailable on Windows.
## Contributing
Bug reports and pull requests are welcome. See [`CONTRIBUTING.md`](./CONTRIBUTING.md) for details on the repo layout and how changes flow between this repo and the upstream uutils projects.