win-desktop-utils

Windows-first desktop utility helpers for Rust apps.

Published on crates.io: https://crates.io/crates/win-desktop-utils API docs: https://docs.rs/win-desktop-utils

What this crate does

win-desktop-utils provides small, focused helpers for common Windows desktop-app tasks:

open files and directories with the default shell handler
open URLs
reveal files in Explorer
send files or directories to the Recycle Bin
enforce single-instance behavior with a named mutex
resolve per-user roaming and local app-data paths
check elevation status and relaunch as admin

This crate is intended for Windows desktop applications and utilities. Some functions launch external shell behavior, and elevation helpers may trigger UAC prompts.

Current API

open_with_default(path)
open_url(url)
reveal_in_explorer(path)
move_to_recycle_bin(path)
single_instance(app_id)
roaming_app_data(app_name)
local_app_data(app_name)
ensure_roaming_app_data(app_name)
ensure_local_app_data(app_name)
is_elevated()
restart_as_admin(args)

Example

fn main() -> Result<(), win_desktop_utils::Error> {
    win_desktop_utils::open_url("https://www.rust-lang.org")?;

    let local = win_desktop_utils::ensure_local_app_data("demo-app")?;
    println!("local app dir: {}", local.display());

    match win_desktop_utils::single_instance("demo-app")? {
        Some(_guard) => println!("first instance"),
        None => println!("already running"),
    }

    Ok(())
}

Behavior notes

open_with_default and open_url delegate to the Windows shell.
reveal_in_explorer starts explorer.exe and asks it to select the provided path.
move_to_recycle_bin requires an absolute path and returns an error if the path does not exist.
single_instance uses a Local\... named mutex, so it is scoped to the current Windows session.
restart_as_admin starts a new elevated instance of the current executable and does not terminate the current process.

Status