--- title: I ditched my WSL tab after Microsoft added real Unix... description: Microsoft now offers GNU Coreutils for Windows via a single WinGet command, bringing native Unix tools like grep, find, cat, and xargs to the Windows terminal... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/i-ditched-my-wsl-tab-after-microsoft-added-real-unix-commands-to-windows-gkevhqnio twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: I ditched my WSL tab after Microsoft added real Unix commands to Windows | daily.dev og:description: Microsoft now offers GNU Coreutils for Windows via a single WinGet command, bringing native Unix tools like grep, find, cat, and xargs to the Windows terminal... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/i-ditched-my-wsl-tab-after-microsoft-added-real-unix-commands-to-windows-gkevhqnio og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/gKEvHqnIO.png og:image:alt: I ditched my WSL tab after Microsoft added real Unix commands to Windows og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # I ditched my WSL tab after Microsoft added real Unix commands to Windows **[XDA Developers](https://daily.dev/sources/xda-developers)** · 3 min read · 0 upvotes · 1 comments ## Summary Microsoft now offers GNU Coreutils for Windows via a single WinGet command, bringing native Unix tools like grep, find, cat, and xargs to the Windows terminal without needing WSL. The author shares how this eliminates the need to keep a separate WSL tab open for quick one-liners, and notes a performance advantage since native commands skip WSL's filesystem translation layer. While Coreutils doesn't replace WSL for full Linux environments, it removes the overhead for simple command-line tasks. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Questions this post answers ### How do I install GNU Coreutils natively on Windows without using WSL? Microsoft provides a native Coreutils package installable via a single WinGet command: winget install Microsoft.Coreutils. This installs GNU Coreutils and Findutils tools like grep, find, cat, touch, and xargs directly into Windows, letting them run in PowerShell or another terminal without launching a WSL session. _daily.dev surfaces practical Windows tooling updates like this for developers streamlining their terminal setup._ ### Is running grep or find natively on Windows faster than using WSL? Yes, running Coreutils commands natively on Windows skips the kernel translation layer that WSL uses for filesystem access, which noticeably speeds up commands like grep and find when working across directories with thousands of files. WSL's overhead becomes especially apparent during recursive searches over large directory trees. _Developers comparing WSL performance against native tooling can track findings like this on daily.dev._ ### Does native Coreutils on Windows replace the need for WSL entirely? No, native Coreutils only covers common Unix commands and does not replace WSL, since WSL still provides a full Linux kernel and access to the entire Linux software ecosystem. Coreutils is best suited for quick one-off command-line tasks, while WSL remains necessary for running complete Linux environments or software. _daily.dev helps developers weigh trade-offs like Coreutils versus WSL when shaping their workflow._ ## Community discussion Top comments from developers on daily.dev. **@daviddennison** · 1 upvotes > Installing this will IMMEDIATELY hi-jack your PowerShell profile and brick it. Delete the part at the top and you should be good. ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [WSL keeps getting better, and it's because Microsoft is finally admitting where developers want to be](https://daily.dev/posts/wsl-keeps-getting-better-and-it-s-because-microsoft-is-finally-admitting-where-developers-want-to-b-x0d6hore1) · XDA Developers · 7 upvotes · 0 comments - [Making Windows a developer platform, again](https://daily.dev/posts/making-windows-a-developer-platform-again-hh9y1edqr) · InfoWorld · 14 upvotes · 3 comments - [MSYS2 And The No-Fuss Way To Get More GNU Into Your Windows](https://daily.dev/posts/msys2-and-the-no-fuss-way-to-get-more-gnu-into-your-windows-r5j7yotwg) · Hackaday · 7 upvotes · 2 comments --- Tags: [#windows](https://daily.dev/tags/windows), [#unix](https://daily.dev/tags/unix) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/i-ditched-my-wsl-tab-after-microsoft-added-real-unix-commands-to-windows-gkevhqnio) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"I ditched my WSL tab after Microsoft added real Unix commands to Windows","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/i-ditched-my-wsl-tab-after-microsoft-added-real-unix-commands-to-windows-gkevhqnio","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/i-ditched-my-wsl-tab-after-microsoft-added-real-unix-commands-to-windows-gkevhqnio"},"datePublished":"2026-07-26T21:35:01.042Z","dateModified":"2026-09-14T06:51:12.923Z","description":"Microsoft now offers GNU Coreutils for Windows via a single WinGet command, bringing native Unix tools like grep, find, cat, and xargs to the Windows terminal...","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/e293528855614d4d3c3cfd23b8358d87?_a=AQAEuop","thumbnailUrl":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/e293528855614d4d3c3cfd23b8358d87?_a=AQAEuop","isAccessibleForFree":true,"articleSection":"XDA Developers","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180}},"author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"XDA Developers","logo":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--kCg6yyAP--/f_auto,q_auto/v1774964407/logos/xda-developers?_a=BAMAMiWQ0","url":"https://daily.dev/sources/xda-developers"},"commentCount":1,"discussionUrl":"https://daily.dev/posts/i-ditched-my-wsl-tab-after-microsoft-added-real-unix-commands-to-windows-gkevhqnio","interactionStatistic":[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":0},{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"CommentAction"},"userInteractionCount":1}],"keywords":"windows,unix","timeRequired":"PT3M"} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://daily.dev"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"XDA Developers","item":"https://daily.dev/sources/xda-developers"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"I ditched my WSL tab after Microsoft added real Unix commands to Windows"}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/i-ditched-my-wsl-tab-after-microsoft-added-real-unix-commands-to-windows-gkevhqnio","comment":[{"@type":"Comment","text":"Installing this will IMMEDIATELY hi-jack your PowerShell profile and brick it. Delete the part at the top and you should be good.","datePublished":"2026-07-27T04:57:58.101Z","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/gKEvHqnIO#c-vOr9RfIdA","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"David Dennison","url":"https://daily.dev/daviddennison","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--B3KNHAGa--/f_auto/v1738078799/avatars/avatar_7TJPpokONY1WgTSi3E90W"},"interactionStatistic":{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":1}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"FAQPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/i-ditched-my-wsl-tab-after-microsoft-added-real-unix-commands-to-windows-gkevhqnio#faq","mainEntity":[{"@type":"Question","name":"How do I install GNU Coreutils natively on Windows without using WSL?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Microsoft provides a native Coreutils package installable via a single WinGet command: winget install Microsoft.Coreutils. 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