Winchisel

Winchisel is a fast, native Windows tweaking app built in Rust with egui/eframe. It focuses on practical system tweaks, cleaner defaults, and a compact UI for quickly changing Windows settings without digging through multiple control panels.

Download

Get the latest release here:

Features

• Home dashboard with system information
• Debloater tools for removing Windows components and apps
• Privacy settings for disabling telemetry and tracking
• Security options for system hardening
• Downloads tab for installing useful apps and tools (via winget or vendor sites)
• Performance tab with gaming and system tweaks
• Processes tab for process management, priorities, affinity, and related actions
• Latency tab for USB latency analysis and device topology inspection
• Settings tab for app behavior and system protection options
• Automatic admin launch for system-level tweaks
• Auto-updater via GitHub Releases
• Restore point support before risky actions

How To Use

1. Run Winchisel.exe and grant Administrator rights (required)
2. Select a tab from the sidebar:

Tab	Purpose
Home	System overview
Debloater	Remove bloatware — use 🛡️ Recommended for safe defaults
Privacy	Disable telemetry and tracking
Security	System hardening and security tweaks
Downloads	Install tools (fetches from winget or vendor sites)
Performance	Gaming/system tweaks
Processes	Manage priorities and affinity
Latency	USB latency analysis
Settings	App preferences, console, updates

🛡️ Recommended buttons = safe, tested defaults. Manual toggles = full control, may need restart.

Important Notes

• Winchisel is Windows-only.
• Most tweak actions require Administrator rights.
• Some settings depend on the Windows build or system configuration.
• A restore point may be created before risky operations where supported.
• The app stores its own settings in %APPDATA%\Winchisel\settings.json.
• Network usage: Auto-updater and Downloads tab require internet access.

Configuration

Winchisel stores its settings in:

%APPDATA%\Winchisel\settings.json

Available app settings:

• check_updates_on_startup
• show_console

Project Structure

Module	Purpose
main.rs	Bootstrap, admin elevation, settings
app/	UI tabs (home, debloater, performance, processes, latency, settings)
performance.rs	Tweak registry/catalog
latency.rs	USB device topology analysis
updater.rs	GitHub Releases integration

Contributing

Contributions are welcome. Please keep the UI consistent and make sure cargo clippy --all-targets --all-features -- -D warnings passes before opening a PR.

License

Software License

Winchisel is licensed under the AGPL-3.0.

In plain language:

• ✅ Free to use for everyone — individuals, businesses, IT professionals
• ✅ Use it to service and consult for clients
• ✅ Modify for your own internal use
• ✅ Fork and modify under AGPL-3.0 terms (must remain open source)
• ❌ Remove or circumvent license/copyright notices
• ❌ Rebrand redistributed versions as "Winchisel"

Community Guidelines

We respectfully ask contributors and forkers:

1. Consider upstream contributions — Pull requests help everyone
2. Use distinct branding for public forks — "Winchisel" is reserved
3. Credit original work — Link back to this repository

These are social expectations, not legal requirements. The AGPL-3.0 governs all rights and obligations.

Trademark

"Winchisel" and the Winchisel logo are trademarks of lyrx2k. Derivative works must use a different name and branding.