Welcome

These are all my Windows dotfiles and how to set them up, using Neovim with PowerShellCore in Wezterm along with fzf and a wrapper for it for fast navigation. Additionally, there is a quick setup for Firefox with Tridactyl and for a Tiling Window Manager using Komorebi with Yasb and AutoHotkey. You will also find a list of other useful tools at the end.

config_demo.mp4

Showcase: An overhaul of Windows, using a Tiling Window Manager with workspaces and a status bar rather than a taskbar, many command line utilities, some custom scripts, a lot of hotkeys and a fully fledged Neovim setup that uses Wezterm with PowerShellCore.

The layout of this repository assumes a chronological reading, meaning that dependencies from one section may carry over to later sections, so it is recommended to install all the previous dependencies before trying to set up a later section.

System

Every folder in this repository is located locally at $Env:USERPROFILE\.config.

Setup

• Ensure "Developer Mode" is turned on in windows settings (Windows + I and then search developer).
• Ensure you are able to access and use the Windows Store, winget relies on this for certain things. If you can't access the store (it's known to be glitchy for some accounts) then you can find alternative installs for all dependencies on either Chocolatey or the dependency's official website.
• You can right click your desktop and go to "View" and then "Hide desktop icons" to have a clean desktop.

Terminal

Dependencies

• NerdFont → Download from here (I use CaskaydiaCove), then in explorer select all .ttf files and right click them, now select "Install". After that you can delete the files.
• WezTerm → Run winget install --id wez.wezterm.
• PowerShellCore → Run winget install --id Microsoft.Powershell --source winget --version 7.4.5.0.
• gsudo → Run winget install --id gerardog.gsudo.
• Git → Run winget install --id Git.Git --source winget.
• Difftastic → Run winget install difftastic.
• OhMyPosh → Run winget install JanDeDobbeleer.OhMyPosh --version 23.16.0.
• fzf → Run winget install --id=junegunn.fzf.
• fd → Run winget install --id sharkdp.fd --source winget.
• bat → Run winget install sharkdp.bat.

Setup

• Paste wezterm into your config and change the font face to whatever NerdFont you installed. You can go to C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs and rename the WezTerm shortcut to something shorter like wt for ease of typing in the start menu.
• Paste pwsh into your config, then run notepad $PROFILE and paste this line into the file that is opened (you may have to create the file first if it doesn't exist): . $Env:USERPROFILE"\.config\pwsh\profile.ps1".
• Go back to pwsh\profile.ps1 and remove the attend and music functions, as they are specific to me. Other than those two functions, skim the rest of the file and remove anything you know you won't need - everything is commented so you can be sure of what you're doing.
• To set up gsudo after installing it, run the following commands:
  • sudo config PowerShellLoadProfile true.
  • sudo config CacheMode auto.
  • sudo config CacheDuration infinite.
  • sudo config LogLevel None.
• Run git config --system core.longpaths true. After that you can use the following configuration in your $Env:USERPROFILE\.gitconfig file if you want:

  [alias]
    i = init
    re = remote
    rs = restore
    cl = clone
    pl = pull
    a = add
    co = commit
    ps = push
    sm = submodule
    b = branch
    ch = checkout
    m = merge
    s = status
    d = diff
    l = log --graph --decorate --pretty=oneline --abbrev-commit --all
  [diff]
    external = difft
  

• Paste posh into your config and run oh-my-posh disable notice to stop the annoying update message every so often.
• Paste which into your config and put it in your path.

Neovim

Dependencies

• Complete the Terminal section first.
• Microsoft Visual C++ 2015-2022 Redistributable (x64) → Download from here and run the installation wizard.
• Java → Download the compressed archive from here and place the folder named jdk-[VERSION] in C:\Program Files\Java then add C:\Program Files\Java\jdk-[VERSION]\bin to your path.
• MinGW → Download from here and put the contents in C:\MinGW (I recommend 64-bit with POSIX threads for general purpose use). Add C:\MinGW\bin to your path.
• Python → Run winget install --id Python.Python.3.10.
• NodeJS → Run winget install OpenJS.NodeJS and say yes to installing Chocolatey.
• Yarn → Run winget install --id Yarn.Yarn.
• ripgrep → Run winget install BurntSushi.ripgrep.MSVC.
• Neovim → Run winget install neovim --version 0.10.0.
• Python Provider → Run pip install pynvim --upgrade.
• NodeJS Provider → Run npm install -g neovim.

Setup

After completing the dependencies for this section, I recommend manually recreating nvim on your machine rather than just pasting it in, because this will allow you to single out any unexpected errors as they happen.

You should start with the top level init.lua and then lua\main\init.lua. Then you can create lua\main\util.lua, lua\main\set.lua and lua\main\map.lua and paste the config into each. set.lua is for global neovim settings, map.lua is for neovim keybinds and util.lua is for helper functions used throughout the configuration, designed to remove the need for visible logic in any configuration files.

Now you can create lua\main\lazy.lua, and populate it with only the following lines:

lazy_util.bootstrap()
map("n", "<LEADER>l", "<CMD>Lazy<CR>")
require("lazy").setup
{
}

Restart neovim and there should be no error messages.

Now, inside the .setup field start adding plugins, do so in the following pattern (with some exceptions below):

• Add the line to lua\main\lazy.lua and restart neovim.
• If it needs one, add an after\plugin\[PLUGIN].lua file for the plugin and restart neovim.
• Customize the file to your liking.
• Test the plugin.

The following plugins require some extra or different steps:

• Helpers → Some plugins are only here to help other plugins and files which you can remove if you don't need, these are:
  • plenary.nvim → Required by telescope.nvim and harpoon.
  • lacasitos.nvim → Required by any files that I want a better vim.ui.select().
  • nui.nvim → Required by noice.nvim.
  • nvim-web-devicons → Required by most plugins that use icons.
  • notify.nvim → Required by any files that I want to notify the user in, and by noice.nvim.
• Yanky → This plugin requires telescope to be installed, so make sure to do that first.
• Leap → This should be installed at the same time as leap-by-word.nvim, after\plugin\leap.lua requires both of these plugins to be installed.
• Colorscheme → vim-transparent and vscode.nvim should both be installed at the same time, their plugin file is after\plugin\colors.lua. You don't have to use that combination of plugins, but the file assumes you are and lualine is also set up to use the vscode colorscheme.
• Noice → This plugin requires nvim-notify to be installed, so make sure to do that first.
• Treesitter → After following the pattern, you should see it compiling languages - don't touch your keyboard until this is finished, though it is common to get errors at this point, if you do, generally restarting neovim a few times and deleting any directories manually that it says it doesn't have permission to delete will let them all figure themselves out. However if you get an error along the lines of [LANGUAGE].so is not a valid Win32 app, this means either your version of MinGW does not match your operating system or treesitter is using the wrong compiler for that specific language. After fixing the issue you can run :TSInstall [LANGUAGE] to recompile it.
• Coc → after\plugin\coc.lua requires treesitter to run, so install that first. After following the pattern, run :CocInstall coc-diagnostic coc-copilot coc-git coc-html coc-tsserver coc-css coc-json coc-xml coc-pyright coc-java coc-clangd coc-clang-format-style-options then :q to close the dialog once everything is installed. Now add coc-settings.json, where you should add the path to your java installation instead of my one, then restart again. If you don't want one of the listed servers, dont include them or just run :CocUninstall [SERVER] after the first command. If a language you want is missing, you can find it here.
• Supermaven → If you don't have a subscription, you can still use it by running :SupermavenUseFree when prompted, otherwise you can follow the instructions to use it with a subscription.

You can now add the after\ftplugin folder and any files inside it, which are used for language specific configuration; after that, don't forget to include after\plugin\buffers.lua.

The file buffers.lua is an optional "plugin", as it can slow down the startup time but will open, in separate buffers, every file in the specified directory that has any of the file extensions specified - this can be useful for certain language servers. If you need to close all the buffers except the current one (when you need to rename symbols, go to references etc.), this file also provides the keybind for that, and the keybind for re-opening them all again too. It also has a toggle for whether you are using Coc or not, so it is not necessary to use Coc to use this file.

Finally, you can paste the mapping-info folder into the root for safe keeping. All keybinds and settings can be edited at lua\main\map.lua, lua\main\set.lua or the respective after\plugin\[PLUGIN].lua files and you can go into deeper detail inside lua\main\util.lua. Furthermore, all language specific settings can be edited at after\ftplugin\[EXTENSION].lua and language server settings can be edited at coc-settings.json.

Portable Neovim

I also have an extremely minimal setup (one file) that can be cloned and run on any machine that can run neovim. You can find it here, I only use it when I have to use a remote machine or someone else's computer.

Firefox with Tridactyl

Dependencies

• Firefox → Download from here.
• Tridactyl → Go here on Firefox.

Setup

First, make firefox your default browser and make the folder containing firefox.exe an environment variable (C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox by default). After that go to Firefox settings and change the following:

• General → Use recommended performance settings = Off.
• General → Use hardware acceleration when available = Off.
• Home → Homepage and new windows → Custom URLs... → Open a new tab, then close it and go to your history, copy the url of that closed tab and paste it into the field - it should be of the form moz-extension://[NUMBERS]/static/newtab.html.
• Home → Default search engine = Google.
• Now go to the url about:config and search for full-screen-api.transition-duration.enter and full-screen-api.transition-duration.leave and change both to 0 0.
• Scan the rest of the settings and disable things you don't want that will slow down the browser.
• Optionally, you can install the black theme I use or find your own on their themes page.

Using Tridactyl, press : and type the following commands:

• colorscheme midnight.
• set newtab about:newtab.
• set searchengine google.
• set modeindicatorshowkeys true.
• set modeindicatormodes {"normal":"true","insert":"true","input":"true","ignore":"false","ex":"true","hint":"true","visual":"true"}.

You can go here to view all the most important bindings.

Tiling Window Manager

Dependencies

• Komorebi → Run winget install LGUG2Z.komorebi --version 0.1.30.
• Yasb → Run winget install --id AmN.yasb --version 1.2.7.
• AutoHotkey → Run winget install AutoHotkey.AutoHotkey --version 2.0.18.
• ToggleRoundedCorners → Download the portable executable from here and rename it to trc.exe. Place it in C:\ToggleRoundedCorners and put that folder in your path.

Setup

• Run Set-ItemProperty 'HKLM:\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\FileSystem' -Name 'LongPathsEnabled' -Value 1 in PowerShellCore as an admin.
• Open control panel and go to the "Ease of Access Center" then "Make the computer easier to see" - enable "Turn off all unnecessary animations (when possible)".
• Press Windows + I and search taskbar, go to taskbar settings and turn on "Automatically hide the taskbar" under the taskbar behaviours.
• Search multitasking and turn off everything under the snap windows section except "Show my snapped windows when I hover over taskbar apps... ...when I press Alt+Tab".
• Paste komorebi into your config. In komorebi.json ensure that the correct amount of monitors are configured.
• Paste yasb into your config. Add $Env:USERPROFILE\AppData\Local\Yasb to your path.
• Paste ahk into your config. Ensure you configure anything specific to monitor resolution. Right click wm.ahk and create a shortcut, then rename that shortcut to just wm and create a copy of it, one should be moved to C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs and the other to that folder's sub-directory Startup. Now it will be run at startup and is accessible from the start menu in case you need to restart the manager, and all three processes can be killed from the task manager.
• Restart your PC.

Keybinds and commands to run on startup can be configured in wm.ahk, the status bar can be configured in the Yasb config.yaml and styles.css files, and the window manager can be configured by Komorebi's komorebi.json, applications.yaml and any *.json files for custom layouts.

Other Useful Tools

VimForVoyager → Go here and follow the setup guide for a native Vim toggle for QMK keyboards.

PowerToys → Run winget install Microsoft.PowerToys --source winget --version 0.85.0 and enable Run at startup - my favourite tools are:

• Run with an activation shortcut of shift+backspace, input smoothing disabled, clear previous query on launch enabled, preferred monitor primary, all plugins off except "Program" - this behaves just like the windows run dialog but without cortana, searching the internet or any other annoyances.
• Color Picker with an activation shortcut of win+shift+c and HEX, RGB and VEC4 enabled.
• Mouse Jump with an activation shortcut of win+shift+d and a max size of 1200x900.
• Screen Ruler with an activation shortcut of win+shift+p.
• Text Extractor with an activation shortcut of win+shift+t.
• File Locksmith enabled.

SysInternals → Download from here and choose the executables that you want - the only one I use is ZoomIt with the following settings:

• Run ZoomIt when Windows starts and Show tray icon both enabled.
• Zoom on ctrl+/ with animate zoom in and zoom out disabled.
• Draw on ctrl+'.
• Record on ctrl+;.

Visual Studio 2022 → Download from here and go through the installation wizard.

Make → Run winget install --id ezwinports.make.

CMake → Run winget install --id Kitware.CMake.

Dependencies → Download from here and put the contents in C:\Dependencies, make that folder is an environment variable, then right click DependenciesGui.exe and select "Create shortcut" and rename it to Dependencies, then move that to C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs.

Everything → Download the portable zip from here and put the contents in C:\Everything. Right click Everything.exe and select "Create shortcut", then rename it to Everything and place this shortcut in C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs.

Cutter → Download from here and put the contents in C:\Cutter. Right click cutter.exe and select "Create shortcut", then rename it to Cutter and place this shortcut in C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs.

Portal → Run winget install SpatiumPortae.portal, go here for instructions.

Mp3tag → Download from here and go through the installation wizard.

scc → As an admin, run choco install scc - details can be found here.

Windows11CursorConceptV2.2 → Go here for a more fitting cursor. After buying, extract the contents to a known location and go to the version you desire, right click the install.inf file, click install and accept any dialogs that appear.