USB Device Management

WSL Dashboard integrates usbipd-win so you can easily connect local USB devices to WSL instances from the GUI.

Prerequisites

Before using this feature, make sure:

1. You have usbipd-win installed on Windows.
2. Your WSL kernel supports USB (modern WSL 2 default kernels usually do).

Steps

1. Scan Devices

Open the "USB" tab and the app automatically lists all USB devices currently connected to Windows (including hubs, mice, storage devices, etc.).

2. Bind a Device

Before connecting a device to a specific WSL instance, you need to "bind" it first. Binding requires administrator privileges, and WSL Dashboard handles the elevation request automatically.

Once bound, the device is ready to be shared with WSL.

3. Attach to an Instance

Select a running WSL instance and click "Attach".

• After a successful attach, the USB device disappears from Windows and appears in the selected WSL instance.
• You can verify it inside WSL with the lsusb command.

4. Detach

When you're done, click "Detach" and the device returns to Windows' control.

Common Issues

• Device not found?: Try refreshing the list, or check whether the device is properly plugged into the host.
• Attach failed?: Make sure the target WSL instance is running and you have sufficient permissions.
• usbipd command not found?: Confirm that usbipd-win is installed and added to the system's PATH environment variable.