Instance Management

WSL Dashboard provides a complete suite of tools to manage your WSL distribution instances, from basic state control to advanced disk management.

Basic Operations

In the main view, you can perform the following actions on a selected instance:

• Start: Wake up a distribution that is in a stopped state.
• Stop (Shutdown): Gracefully shut down a running distribution.
• Terminate: Forcefully end a running distribution's process (similar to a hard power-off).
• Unregister: Permanently delete the distribution and all its data. Use with caution — this action is irreversible.

Advanced Features

Set as Default

You can designate a distribution as the system's default WSL instance. When you run the wsl command directly in the terminal, it will enter this distribution by default.

Move VHDX

WSL installs instances on the system drive (C:) by default. Over time, the disk image (.vhdx) can consume a significant amount of space. WSL Dashboard lets you migrate an instance to another drive with a single click, without the need to manually run complex export/import commands.

Export & Clone

• Export: Package the entire instance into a .tar or .tar.gz file for backup purposes.
• Clone: Quickly create a full copy of an existing instance — perfect for taking a snapshot before a risky operation.

Browse Files

Click "Open in File Explorer" to directly access the root filesystem of a WSL instance.

Real-Time Monitoring

WSL Dashboard displays live information for each instance:

• Status: Running, stopped, installing, etc.
• Disk Usage: Automatically calculates and displays the size of the .vhdx file.
• Install Path: Shows the exact physical location of the instance's files.

Best Practices

Regular Backups

Before major system updates or modifications to core WSL internals (such as kernel compilation or driver installation), it is recommended to use the Clone feature to create a temporary copy, or the Export feature to generate a compressed backup.

Reclaiming Space (Sparse VHDX)

While the WSL 2 disk grows automatically, it does not shrink automatically when files are deleted within it.

• Tip: Migrating to a filesystem that supports compression, or periodically exporting and re-importing, can effectively reclaim "hollow" space.

Partition Recommendations

It is advisable to migrate your primary development environments to a non-system drive (such as D: or E:) to prevent low disk space on the system drive from degrading Windows performance.