Packaging for Windows

Now that you know how to set up build scripts for macOS and Ubuntu Linux, configuring for Windows shouldn't be a problem for you.

As I mentioned earlier, it is possible and also recommended to keep the configuration files for all platforms in a single code repository, inside the package.json file. The build scripts for Windows are shown in the following code:

{
   "scripts": {
    "start": "electron .",
    "build:windows": "electron-builder --win --dir",
    "dist:windows": "electron-builder --win"
  }
}

Both scripts should be familiar to you. The build:windows script creates an unpacked local build for development and testing purposes, while the dist:windows script prepares the application for distribution.

Let's try to build and run the development version of the application:

1. Open the Terminal window in Visual Studio Code, or a Command Prompt tool, and run the following script:

      npm run build:windows

1. Once the script exits, you should see the prebuilt application, that is, my-first-app.exe, in the dist/win-unpacked folder.
2. Double-click on the my-first-app.exe file to run the application:

1. We need to use the build:windows script to create a distribution package for testing purposes. Let's check that we can build packages for redistribution:

      npm run dist:windows

1. Check the dist folder once again. You should see the my-first-app Setup 1.0.0.exe installer file alongside the win-unpacked folder:

1. Now, double-click the installer file. The setup wizard should set up the application and automatically launch it.

Congratulations—you've got your first cross-platform Electron application package up and running on Windows 10!