Install the Rust Programming Language on Windows

Step 1: Download the Rust installer

Open rust-lang.org, go to Install and download rustup-init.exe for Windows (64-bit).

Step 2: Run the installer

Rust on Windows needs the MSVC build tools. If you have none, rustup-init tells you and offers to install the Visual Studio C++ Build Tools. Accept it.

In the Visual Studio installer, choose Desktop development with C++, which contains:

• MSVC v143 - VS 2022 C++ build tools.
• Windows 11 SDK (or the Windows 10 SDK).

  

  

Install, then run rustup-init.exe again. In the Command Prompt window the installer offers:

1. Proceed with standard installation (default). Recommended.
2. Customize installation. Choose the toolchain.
3. Cancel installation.

Press 1 and Enter.

Step 3: Check the install

Open a new Command Prompt or PowerShell:

rustc --version
cargo --version

A first program

cargo new hello
cd hello
cargo run

Benefits of Rust on Windows

• Memory safety without a garbage collector.
• High performance.
• Safe concurrency.
• Cross-platform. The same code builds on Windows, Linux and macOS.

Update and remove

rustup update
rustup self uninstall

Quick recap

• Install the Visual Studio C++ Build Tools.
• Run rustup-init.exe and choose the standard install.
• Check with rustc --version.