Why Microsoft’s New ‘Edit’ Tool Could Replace Vim on Windows Terminal

Project Overview

Edit

is a Rust‑written command‑line text editor designed for Windows Terminal, also supporting Linux (and theoretically macOS). It follows a non‑modal, modern minimalist UI, with operations similar to VS Code rather than Vim, using menus and shortcuts.

The goal is to offer a simple, lightweight, high‑efficiency text‑processing solution for users unfamiliar with terminal editors.

Since its open‑source release half a month ago, it has already earned over 7.2K stars on GitHub.

Performance Highlights

Lightweight: only a few hundred kilobytes in size, launches instantly, and stays under 10 MB RAM even with many tabs.

Multi‑tab and multi‑file support: open several files simultaneously, switch with Ctrl+P or Ctrl+N.

Rich editing features: regex search/replace, auto‑indent, syntax highlighting, line numbers, word wrap, undo/redo, etc.

Seamless Windows integration: native CRLF handling, works with PowerShell, CMD, and Windows Terminal; invoke with edit directly.

Mouse mode: allows mouse‑driven interaction within the terminal.

Quick Installation

Method 1: Download binary package (recommended for beginners)

Download the appropriate compressed package from the project’s release page, extract, and run. Adding the directory to the system PATH makes usage easier.

Method 2: WinGet one‑click install (Windows only)

Open PowerShell or CMD and execute: winget install Microsoft.Edit After installation, a new terminal can use the edit command immediately.

Build Guide for Developers (Rust required)

First install the Rust toolchain, then run:

git clone https://github.com/microsoft/edit.git
cargo build --config .cargo/release.toml --release

The compiled binary appears in target/release; copy it to a folder in PATH to use.

Conclusion

For beginners, Edit requires no learning curve like Vim/Nano and lowers the barrier to command‑line editing.

For experienced users, it is lightweight and ideal for quick config or script edits without leaving the terminal.

For Microsoft, it strengthens the Windows command‑line ecosystem, potentially becoming a default tool.

If you frequently work in the Windows terminal, give this lightweight editor a try; typing edit will let you edit files directly in the console.

Project repository: https://github.com/microsoft/edit