Microsoft has introduced Coreutils for Windows, a new Microsoft-maintained set of Unix-style command-line utilities that run natively on Windows.
Announced at Microsoft’s Build 2026, Coreutils for Windows brings familiar Linux-style commands to Windows without requiring WSL or additional compatibility layers. The package is based on the uutils open-source project, a cross-platform reimplementation of GNU Coreutils in Rust.
The goal is simple: commands and workflows common to Linux, macOS, WSL, containers, and cloud environments should work natively in Windows. Microsoft positions the project as a way to reduce friction for developers who rely on familiar command-line tools across platforms.
On GitHub, Microsoft describes Coreutils for Windows as “UNIX-style core utilities for Windows.” The package is distributed as a single multi-call binary and includes Microsoft-maintained builds of uutils/coreutils, uutils/findutils, and a Microsoft fork of uutils/grep. Installation is handled through WinGet:
winget install Microsoft.CoreutilsCode language: CSS (css)However, it is worth noting that while Microsoft’s Build announcement lists Coreutils for Windows as generally available, the project’s GitHub repository still labels it as in preview.
Keep in mind also that coreutils for Windows has functional limitations. It requires PowerShell 7.4 or later, and some commands conflict with existing CMD or PowerShell built-ins and aliases. Affected commands include cat, cp, ls, mv, pwd, rm, sleep, tee, and uptime.
Moreover, the package does not include all GNU Coreutils-style commands. Microsoft has intentionally excluded utilities such as dd, dircolors, shred, sync, and uname. Many POSIX-specific tools are also missing, including chmod, chown, chroot, mkfifo, tty, users, and who.
In other words, this is not a complete GNU Coreutils port for Windows. Instead, it is a Windows-focused package that provides a useful subset of Unix-style tools, based on Rust-based uutils and maintained by Microsoft.
Alongside Coreutils for Windows, Microsoft introduced WSL containers, which provide a built-in way to create, run, and manage Linux containers on Windows through a CLI and API. Unlike Coreutils, WSL containers are not yet generally available and will enter public preview in the coming months as part of a regular WSL update.
According to Microsoft, WSL containers will allow developers to build and run Linux containers on Windows out of the box, while giving enterprises policy-based control over container usage, image sources, and interaction with the host system.
Finally, to be clear: while this does not turn Windows into a Linux system or eliminate the need for WSL in many cases, it does make cross-platform command-line work more seamless.
Coreutils for Windows is available now from Microsoft’s GitHub repository.
