WTouch

Native Windows touch. No WSL. No friction. Just works.

A lightweight Windows-native implementation of the GNU touch command.
Create files and update timestamps instantly from CMD or PowerShell.

Single binary. Drop in PATH. Done.

---

Demo

Create and update files instantly - no WSL needed:

---

Why WTouch?

Working on Windows often means switching to WSL for simple tasks like:

• Creating files
• Updating timestamps
• Running quick scripts

WTouch removes that friction.

No environment switching. No overhead. Just one command.

---

Quick Comparison

Linux

touch file.txt

Windows (before)

WSL → touch file.txt

Windows (now)

wtouch file.txt

---

Features

• Create files when they do not exist (unless --no-create)
• Update access (-a) and modification (-m) times
• Copy timestamps from another file (-r)
• Apply explicit timestamps via -d and -t
• Expand Windows wildcards internally (FindFirstFileW)
• Full Unicode support
• Works with files and directories

---

Installation

Prebuilt binary (recommended)

Download from Releases and place in your PATH:

wtouch file.txt

---

PowerShell install

$destination = "$env:ProgramFiles\wtouch"
New-Item -ItemType Directory -Path $destination -Force | Out-Null
Invoke-WebRequest -Uri "https://github.com/PolakiniO/WTouch/releases/latest/download/wtouch.exe" -OutFile (Join-Path $destination 'wtouch.exe')

---

Usage

wtouch [OPTION]... FILE...

Examples

Create a file:

wtouch newfile.txt

Update modification time:

wtouch -m existing.txt

Update access time:

wtouch -a existing.txt

Copy timestamps:

wtouch -r source.txt target.txt

Set explicit timestamp:

wtouch -t 202511101138 file.txt

---

Command Options

-a                   Change the access time only
-m                   Change the modification time only
-c, --no-create      Do not create any files
-d STRING            Parse explicit timestamp
-t STAMP             [[CC]YY]MMDDhhmm[.ss]
-r FILE              Use reference file timestamps
--                   Treat following args as literal paths
-h, --help           Show help
-V, --version        Show version
-P, --path           Show executable path

---

Advanced

Multiple implementations

• C++ (native, primary)
• C (portable)
• Python (cross-platform)
• Bash (wrapper)

---

Build from Source

cmake --preset windows-release
cmake --build --preset windows-release
cmake --install build/windows-release --config Release

---

Uninstall

.\scripts\uninstall-wtouch.ps1

Clean removal. No leftovers.

---

Future Improvements

• Dry-run mode
• UTC timestamp support
• Symlink handling

---

Disclaimer

Originally bootstrapped using OpenAI Codex.

---

Contributing

Found a bug? Have an idea?

Open an issue or start a discussion. Contributions are welcome.