WSLg — Run Linux GUI Apps on Windows

WSLg (Windows Subsystem for Linux GUI) puts graphical Linux applications straight onto your Windows desktop – without you installing or configuring an X server yourself. Built into WSL 2 on Windows 11 (and recent Windows 10 builds), it combines a Wayland and X11 compositor with PulseAudio and GPU acceleration. Linux apps such as gedit, GIMP or Nautilus launch with a single command; DISPLAY and WAYLAND_DISPLAY are already wired up for you. WSLg is therefore less a single command than a feature – this guide shows you how to set it up, launch GUI apps and fix the usual snags.

Setup & Requirements

wsl --update — Update WSL to ensure WSLg is included.

wsl --update

wsl --version — Check WSLg version (listed as WSLg version).

wsl --version

echo $DISPLAY — Verify the DISPLAY variable is set (should be :0).

echo $DISPLAY

echo $WAYLAND_DISPLAY — Verify Wayland display is available.

echo $WAYLAND_DISPLAY

Run GUI Applications

<app> & — Launch a Linux GUI app in the background.

gedit &

nautilus . — Open the GNOME file manager in the current directory.

nautilus . &

firefox & — Launch Linux Firefox (if installed).

firefox &

gimp & — Launch GIMP image editor.

gimp &

xeyes — Quick test to verify X11 forwarding works.

sudo apt install x11-apps && xeyes

Install GUI Apps

sudo apt install <gui-app> — Install a Linux GUI application.

sudo apt install gedit nautilus

sudo apt install x11-apps — Install basic X11 test applications.

sudo apt install x11-apps

sudo apt install mesa-utils — Install OpenGL utilities (test GPU acceleration).

sudo apt install mesa-utils && glxinfo | grep 'OpenGL renderer'

GPU & Audio

glxinfo | grep 'OpenGL renderer' — Check which GPU renderer is being used.

glxinfo | grep 'OpenGL renderer'

glxgears — Run OpenGL benchmark to test GPU acceleration.

glxgears

pactl info — Check PulseAudio connection (audio support).

pactl info | grep 'Server Name'

speaker-test -t wav -c 2 — Test audio output through WSLg.

speaker-test -t wav -c 2 -l 1

Troubleshooting

wsl --shutdown && wsl — Restart WSL (fixes most WSLg issues).

wsl --shutdown && wsl

ls /tmp/.X11-unix/ — Verify the X11 socket exists.

ls -la /tmp/.X11-unix/

ls /mnt/wslg/ — Check if the WSLg mount point exists.

ls /mnt/wslg/

export DISPLAY=:0 — Manually set DISPLAY if not set automatically.

export DISPLAY=:0

cat /mnt/wslg/versions.txt — Show WSLg component versions.

cat /mnt/wslg/versions.txt

Conclusion

WSLg makes the jump from the Linux command line to graphical Linux apps on Windows surprisingly painless: install the app with apt and launch it as if you were on a native Linux desktop – Wayland, X11, PulseAudio and GPU acceleration are already in place. Keep WSL current with wsl --update, since that is also how WSLg improvements arrive. If an app refuses to start, a wsl --shutdown followed by a restart almost always fixes it; for deeper diagnosis, look at /mnt/wslg/ and the DISPLAY and WAYLAND_DISPLAY variables. There is little destructive risk here – WSLg is a convenience feature, not a system-altering command.