This is an unofficial guide. The official Rust site is rust-lang.org. Official Rust installer: rustup.rs.

Key concepts

What you need to know before installing

rustup: The official Rust toolchain installer and version manager. It installs rustc, cargo, and manages multiple toolchain versions.
rustc: The Rust compiler. Installed automatically by rustup — you rarely invoke it directly.
cargo: Rust's build system and package manager. You use cargo to build, test, run and manage dependencies.
MSVC: Microsoft Visual C++ linker — required on Windows. rustup installs Visual Studio Build Tools automatically when you choose the default target.
x86_64-pc-windows-msvc: The default and recommended Rust target on Windows. Produces native Windows binaries using the MSVC linker.
windows-rs: The official Microsoft crate for calling Win32 and WinRT APIs from Rust code.

Quick start

Install Rust on Windows in 3 steps

1
Download and run rustup-init.exe
Click the download button above. Run the installer — accept the default options. rustup installs the MSVC build tools automatically if they are not present.
2
Verify the installation

PowerShell
PS> rustc --version
rustc 1.79.0 (129f3b996 2024-06-10)
PS> cargo --version
cargo 1.79.0 (ffa9cf99a 2024-06-03)
3
Create your first project

PowerShell
PS> cargo new hello-win
PS> cd hello-win
PS> cargo run
Compiling hello-win v0.1.0
Finished dev profile
Hello, world!

All guides

Rust on Windows — complete guide index

Guide	What it covers
Full install guide	MSVC toolchain, rustup, PATH, verification
Rustup guide	Manage toolchains, targets, components
Download options	rustup-init.exe, offline, standalone
Windows 11	Windows 11 specific setup and fixes
MSVC toolchain	Visual Studio Build Tools setup
Quickstart	First native Windows app
Cargo on Windows	Build, deps, workspaces
GUI development	WinUI, egui, iced, Slint
Win32 & WinRT	windows-rs, windows-sys
Package & sign	MSI, MSIX, code signing
Cross-compile	Linux/macOS targets from Windows
WSL vs native	Which to choose
Performance	Release builds, PGO, LTO
Troubleshooting	Build and linker errors
Not compiling	Compiler error fixes
Linker errors	LNK2019, link.exe fixes
Rust vs C++	Language comparison
Rust vs Go	Language comparison
FAQ	Common questions answered

FAQ

Common questions

What is the fastest way to install Rust on Windows?

Download rustup-init.exe and run it. Accept the default options. rustup installs the Rust compiler, cargo, and the MSVC build tools automatically. The whole process takes about 5 minutes.

Verify with rustc --version in a new PowerShell window after install.

Do I need Visual Studio to use Rust on Windows?

You need the Visual Studio Build Tools (not the full Visual Studio IDE). rustup installs them automatically when you choose the default MSVC target. The Build Tools include the MSVC linker which Rust requires on Windows. See the MSVC toolchain guide.

What is the difference between rustup, rustc and cargo?

rustup is the toolchain manager — it installs and updates Rust. rustc is the Rust compiler — it turns .rs files into binaries. cargo is the build system and package manager — it manages your project, dependencies and build process. You use cargo for almost everything; rustup for toolchain management.

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