WinSafe

May 11, 2026 · View on GitHub

Crates.io Crates.io total downloads License: MIT Lines of code

Windows API and GUI in safe, idiomatic Rust.

WinSafe has:

  • low-level Win32 API constants, functions and structs;
  • high-level structs to build native Win32 GUI applications.

WinSafe documentation:

BranchDocs
Stabledocs.rs/winsafe
Nightly (master)rodrigocfd.github.io/winsafe/winsafe

Current status

Native FFI items implemented

Native FFI itemCount
Functions908
Structs264
Constants15,131
Window messages684
Handles54
COM interfaces98
COM methods643

Although WinSafe already has a lot of Win32 APIs, it doesn't have everything, simply because Win32 API is gigantic. So if you're looking for a comprehensive Win32 coverage, take a look at winapi or windows crates, which are unsafe, but have everything.

High-level GUI controls implemented

  • User custom window/dialog – main, modal, modeless, control, message-only.
  • Native controls – button, check box, combo box, date and time picker, edit, header, label, list box, list view, month calendar, progress bar, radio button, status bar, tab, track bar, tree view, up down.

Usage

Add the dependency in your Cargo.toml:

[dependencies]
winsafe = { version = "0.0.27", features = [] }

Then you must enable the Cargo features you want to be included – these modules are named after native Windows DLL and library names, mostly.

Cargo features

The APIs in WinSafe are split into Cargo features to speed up compilation time. Only the features you include will be compiled.

The following Cargo features are available so far:

FeatureDescription
advapiAdvapi32.dll and Ktmw32.dll, advanced kernel functions
comctlComCtl32.dll, the Common Controls
dshowDirectShow
dwmDesktop Window Manager
dxgiDirectX Graphics Infrastructure
gdiGdi32.dll, the Windows GDI
guiThe WinSafe high-level GUI abstractions
kernelKernel32.dll, basic kernel functions
mfMedia Foundation
oleBasic OLE/COM support
oleautOLE Automation
psapiProcess Status API
raw-dylibEnables raw-dylib linking
shellShell32.dll, Shlwapi.dll, and Userenv.dll, the COM-based Windows Shell
taskschdTask Scheduler
userUser32.dll and ComDlg32.dll, the basic Windows GUI support
uxthemeUxTheme.dll, extended window theming
versionVersion.dll, to manipulate *.exe version info
wininetWindows Internet
winspoolPrint Spooler API

Don't worry about including dependency features. Once you use a feature, Cargo will add and resolve all dependencies automatically.

You can visualize the complete dependency graph here.

Example

Note: You can find several examples in the dedicated repo: github.com/rodrigocfd/winsafe-examples

WinSafe allows you to create windows in two ways:

  • programmatically defining parameters; or
  • loading dialogs from a .res file created with a WYSIWYG resource editor.

The example below creates a window with a button programmatically. Note how the click event is handled with a closure:

Example 01

[dependencies]
winsafe = { version = "0.0.27", features = ["gui"] }
#![windows_subsystem = "windows"]

use winsafe::{self as w, gui, prelude::*};

fn main() {
    if let Err(e) = MyWindow::create_and_run() {
        eprintln!("{}", e);
    }
}

#[derive(Clone)]
pub struct MyWindow {
    wnd: gui::WindowMain,   // responsible for managing the window
    btn_hello: gui::Button, // a button
}

impl MyWindow {
    pub fn create_and_run() -> w::AnyResult<i32> {
        let wnd = gui::WindowMain::new(
            // instantiate the window manager
            gui::WindowMainOpts {
                title: "My window title",
                size: gui::dpi(300, 150),
                ..Default::default() // leave all other options as default
            },
        );

        let btn_hello = gui::Button::new(
            &wnd, // the window manager is the parent of our button
            gui::ButtonOpts {
                text: "&Click me",
                position: gui::dpi(20, 20),
                ..Default::default()
            },
        );

        let new_self = Self { wnd, btn_hello };
        new_self.events(); // attach our events

        new_self.wnd.run_main(None) // show the main window; will block until closed
    }

    fn events(&self) {
        let wnd = self.wnd.clone(); // clone so it can be passed into the closure
        self.btn_hello.on().bn_clicked(move || {
            wnd.hwnd().SetWindowText("Hello, world!")?; // call native Windows API
            Ok(())
        });
    }
}

License

Licensed under MIT license, see LICENSE.md for details.