ChrisTitusTech/winutil

Overview

WinUtil is a curated collection of Windows system tasks run through an interactive PowerShell GUI. It covers bulk program installation (Winget and other sources), debloating tweaks, troubleshooting configurations, and Windows Update settings. The intended audience is anyone setting up a fresh Windows install, from casual users picking a preset to power users customizing individual tweaks.

It is written in PowerShell and distributed as a script fetched and executed in memory; you do not need to clone the repository to use it.

Quick start

WinUtil must run with administrator rights because it changes system-wide settings. Open PowerShell or Terminal as administrator (right-click Start, or press the Windows key, type PowerShell, and use Ctrl+Shift+Enter).

Run the stable branch:

irm https://christitus.com/win | iex

A development build is available via irm https://christitus.com/windev | iex for testing unreleased changes. After the GUI loads, pick the installs, tweaks, or update configuration you want and apply them.

Automation and presets

For unattended runs, WinUtil accepts a preset flag instead of manual selection:

& ([ScriptBlock]::Create((irm https://christitus.com/win))) -Preset Standard

Available presets are Standard (balanced defaults), Minimal (fewer changes), and Advanced (deeper tweaks). The exact actions of each preset are listed in the preset configuration, which is worth reading before running one on a machine you rely on.

Constraints

• Administrator privileges are required; without them the script cannot perform its changes.
• The tweaks and debloat options modify Windows defaults, so choices can affect installed apps, services, and update behavior. Review a preset's contents before applying it.
• The project runs on Windows only and depends on PowerShell; the stable and development branches serve different purposes, so use the stable one unless you are deliberately testing.
• A paid .NET implementation is offered separately, but the free PowerShell script is the primary distribution.

HotRepo's take

The repository has accumulated a large following (about 65.6k stars and 3.9k forks) and appears in multiple Hacker News threads over 2024–2025, including one in June 2024 framed as "Should I use winutil? A popular tool to debloat windows" [48]. A September 2025 thread drew a strongly positive user comment calling it the best thing to happen to Windows for them [47]. The discussion around Microsoft Recall [49] is broader Windows-privacy context rather than a direct review of WinUtil. No ranked-list snapshot was recorded in the HotRepo data, so popularity here should be read from repository and discussion activity rather than a leaderboard position.