Install & setup
How do I install Rust on Windows?
Download rustup-init.exe from this page or from rustup.rs. Run it and select option 1 (default). rustup installs the Rust compiler, cargo and the MSVC Build Tools automatically. See the full install guide.
Do I need Visual Studio to use Rust on Windows?
You need Visual Studio Build Tools 2022 (free) — not the full IDE. Install it with the 'Desktop development with C++' workload. rustup installs it automatically during setup. See the MSVC toolchain guide.
How do I update Rust on Windows?
Run rustup update in PowerShell. This updates all installed toolchains to the latest versions. Rust releases a new stable version every 6 weeks.
How do I uninstall Rust on Windows?
Run rustup self uninstall. This removes all toolchains, cargo and rustup itself.
Compilation
error: linker link.exe not found — how to fix?
Install Visual Studio Build Tools 2022 with 'Desktop development with C++'. Then run rustup toolchain install stable-x86_64-pc-windows-msvc. See the linker error guide.
Why is Rust compilation slow on Windows?
Windows Defender scans build artifacts in real-time. Add your target directory and %USERPROFILE%\.cargo to Defender exclusions. This alone can reduce build times by 30-60%.
What is the difference between rustup, rustc and cargo?
rustup installs and manages Rust toolchains. rustc is the Rust compiler. cargo is the build system and package manager you use day-to-day.
Development
What is the best GUI framework for Rust on Windows?
For most projects: egui via eframe for quick apps, Slint for polished desktop apps, windows-rs for native Win32/WinUI. See the GUI guide.
How do I call Win32 APIs from Rust?
Use the windows crate (maintained by Microsoft). Add it to Cargo.toml with the feature flags for the APIs you need. See the Win32 & WinRT guide.
WSL2 or native Windows for Rust development?
Native Windows for Windows apps, WSL2 for Linux server targets. Both can coexist. See the WSL vs native comparison.
Performance & distribution
Is Rust faster than C++ on Windows?
They are equivalent. Both use LLVM and produce similar machine code. Benchmarks show Rust and C++ within a few percent of each other for CPU-bound work.
How do I create a Windows installer for a Rust app?
Use cargo-wix to create an MSI installer. Run cargo install cargo-wix && cargo wix init && cargo wix. See the package and sign guide.
How do I reduce Rust binary size for Windows?
Add to your release profile: lto = true, codegen-units = 1, strip = true, opt-level = 'z' for size. See the performance guide.