diff --git a/.github/workflows/build_win.yml b/.github/workflows/build_win.yml
index 391a13c5..904d7482 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/build_win.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/build_win.yml
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ jobs:
       - name: Checkout Source
         uses: actions/checkout@v4
 
-      - name: Download Artifacts
+      - name: Download Assets
         uses: actions/download-artifact@v4
         with:
           name: nw-assets
diff --git a/.github/workflows/build_win_launcher.yml b/.github/workflows/build_win_launcher.yml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..901f8a0d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/build_win_launcher.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,45 @@
+name: BuildWindowsLauncher
+
+on: workflow_dispatch
+
+jobs:
+  buildLauncherWin64:
+    runs-on: windows-latest
+    steps:
+      - name: Checkout Source
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
+
+      - name: Build Launcher
+        id: build
+        run: |
+          Set-Location setup\windows
+          .\make.ps1
+
+      - name: Upload Unsigned Artifacts
+        id: upload-unsigned-artifact
+        uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
+        with:
+          name: launcher
+          path: setup/windows/novelWriter.exe
+          if-no-files-found: error
+          retention-days: 14
+
+      - name: Submit Signing Request
+        uses: signpath/github-action-submit-signing-request@v1
+        with:
+          api-token: "${{ secrets.SIGNPATH_API_TOKEN }}"
+          organization-id: "0471e52c-66fa-4e9a-bfb9-36167095ca3f"
+          project-slug: "novelWriter"
+          signing-policy-slug: "release-signing"
+          artifact-configuration-slug: "launcher"
+          github-artifact-id: "${{ steps.upload-unsigned-artifact.outputs.artifact-id }}"
+          wait-for-completion: true
+          output-artifact-directory: "."
+
+      - name: Upload Signed Artifacts
+        uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
+        with:
+          name: launcher-signed
+          path: novelWriter.exe
+          if-no-files-found: error
+          retention-days: 14
diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 90e51a5d..fd69c45f 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ setup.iss
 /novelwriter.desktop
 /novelWriter.pyw
 /setup/macos/Info.plist
+/setup/windows/build
 .venv
 
 # Translations
diff --git a/setup/win_setup_embed.iss b/setup/win_setup_embed.iss
index f4c55ac9..e1d15de7 100644
--- a/setup/win_setup_embed.iss
+++ b/setup/win_setup_embed.iss
@@ -5,7 +5,6 @@
 #define nwAppVersion "%%version%%"
 #define nwAppPublisher "novelWriter"
 #define nwAppURL "https://novelWriter.io"
-#define nwAppExeName "novelWriter.pyw"
 
 [Setup]
 AppId={{459A75D0-951F-4932-9809-6002EC8E733E}
@@ -50,15 +49,15 @@ Type: filesandordirs; Name: "{app}\novelwriter\*"
 Source: "{#nwAppDir}\novelWriter\*"; DestDir: "{app}"; Flags: ignoreversion recursesubdirs createallsubdirs
 
 [Icons]
-Name: "{autoprograms}\{#nwAppName}"; Filename: "{app}\pythonw.exe"; Parameters: "{#nwAppExeName}"; IconFilename: "{app}\novelwriter.ico"
-Name: "{autodesktop}\{#nwAppName}"; Filename: "{app}\pythonw.exe"; Parameters: "{#nwAppExeName}"; IconFilename: "{app}\novelwriter.ico"; Tasks: desktopicon;
+Name: "{autoprograms}\{#nwAppName}"; Filename: "{app}\novelWriter.exe"; IconFilename: "{app}\novelWriter.ico"
+Name: "{autodesktop}\{#nwAppName}"; Filename: "{app}\novelWriter.exe"; IconFilename: "{app}\novelWriter.ico"; Tasks: desktopicon;
 
 [Run]
-Filename: "{app}\pythonw.exe"; Parameters: "{#nwAppExeName}"; Description: "{cm:LaunchProgram,{#StringChange(nwAppName, '&', '&&')}}"; Flags: nowait postinstall skipifsilent
+Filename: "{app}\novelWriter.exe"; Description: "{cm:LaunchProgram,{#StringChange(nwAppName, '&', '&&')}}"; Flags: nowait postinstall skipifsilent
 
 [Registry]
 Root: HKA; Subkey: "Software\Classes\.nwx\OpenWithProgids"; ValueType: string; ValueName: "novelWriterProject.nwx"; ValueData: ""; Flags: uninsdeletevalue
 Root: HKA; Subkey: "Software\Classes\novelWriterProject.nwx"; ValueType: string; ValueName: ""; ValueData: "novelWriter Project File"; Flags: uninsdeletekey
 Root: HKA; Subkey: "Software\Classes\novelWriterProject.nwx\DefaultIcon"; ValueType: string; ValueName: ""; ValueData: "{app}\novelwriter\assets\icons\x-novelwriter-project.ico"
-Root: HKA; Subkey: "Software\Classes\novelWriterProject.nwx\shell\open\command"; ValueType: string; ValueName: ""; ValueData: """{app}\pythonw.exe"" ""{app}\{#nwAppExeName}"" ""%1"""
-Root: HKA; Subkey: "Software\Classes\Applications\{#nwAppExeName}\SupportedTypes"; ValueType: string; ValueName: ".nwx"; ValueData: ""; Flags: uninsdeletekey
+Root: HKA; Subkey: "Software\Classes\novelWriterProject.nwx\shell\open\command"; ValueType: string; ValueName: ""; ValueData: """{app}\novelWriter.exe"" ""%1"""
+Root: HKA; Subkey: "Software\Classes\Applications\novelWriter.exe\SupportedTypes"; ValueType: string; ValueName: ".nwx"; ValueData: ""; Flags: uninsdeletekey
diff --git a/setup/windows/CMakeLists.txt b/setup/windows/CMakeLists.txt
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..4f1ec280
--- /dev/null
+++ b/setup/windows/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.14)
+
+project(novelWriter LANGUAGES CXX)
+
+add_executable(novelWriter main.cpp launcher.rc)
diff --git a/setup/windows/launcher.rc b/setup/windows/launcher.rc
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..d8ad36e2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/setup/windows/launcher.rc
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+IDI_ICON1 ICON DISCARDABLE "novelwriter.ico"
+1 VERSIONINFO
+FILEVERSION 1,0,0,0
+PRODUCTVERSION 1,0,0,0
+FILEOS 0x4
+FILETYPE 0x1
+{
+    BLOCK "StringFileInfo" {
+        BLOCK "040904b0" {
+            VALUE "CompanyName",      "Veronica Berglyd Olsen\0"
+            VALUE "FileDescription",  "novelWriter Launcher\0"
+            VALUE "FileVersion",      "1.0.0.0\0"
+            VALUE "LegalCopyright",   "© 2025 Veronica Berglyd Olsen\0"
+            VALUE "OriginalFilename", "novelWriter.exe\0"
+            VALUE "ProductName",      "novelWriter\0"
+            VALUE "ProductVersion",   "1.0.0.0\0"
+        }
+    }
+    BLOCK "VarFileInfo" {
+        VALUE "Translation", 0x0809, 1200
+    }
+}
diff --git a/setup/windows/main.cpp b/setup/windows/main.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..052f57c6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/setup/windows/main.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,51 @@
+/*
+** novelWriter - Windows Launcher
+** ==============================
+**
+** This file is a part of novelWriter
+** Copyright (C) 2025 Veronica Berglyd Olsen and novelWriter contributors
+**
+** This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+** it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+** the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+** (at your option) any later version.
+**
+** This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but
+** WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+** MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU
+** General Public License for more details.
+**
+** You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+** along with this program. If not, see <https://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+*/
+
+#include <windows.h>
+#include <stdio.h>
+#include <tchar.h>
+#include <iostream>
+
+void _tmain( int argc, TCHAR *argv[] ) {
+    STARTUPINFO si;
+    PROCESS_INFORMATION pi;
+
+    ZeroMemory(&si, sizeof(si));
+    si.cb = sizeof(si);
+    ZeroMemory(&pi, sizeof(pi));
+
+    TCHAR fileName[MAX_PATH];
+    auto pathlen = GetModuleFileName(NULL, fileName, MAX_PATH);
+    fileName[pathlen - 15] = 0;
+    SetCurrentDirectory(fileName);
+    std::cout << "WorkDir: " << fileName << std::endl;
+
+    TCHAR cmd[MAX_PATH] = "pythonw.exe novelWriter.pyw";
+    if (argc > 1) {
+        _tcscat_s(cmd, TEXT(" "));
+        _tcscat_s(cmd, argv[1]);
+    }
+    std::cout << "Command: " << cmd << std::endl;
+
+    CreateProcess(NULL, cmd, NULL, NULL, FALSE, 0, NULL, NULL, &si, &pi);
+
+    return;
+}
diff --git a/setup/windows/make.ps1 b/setup/windows/make.ps1
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..2056ce63
--- /dev/null
+++ b/setup/windows/make.ps1
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+if (Test-Path .\build) {
+    Remove-Item .\build -Recurse
+}
+New-Item -Path . -Name build -ItemType Directory
+Set-Location .\build
+
+cmake -S .. -B .
+cmake --build . --config Release
+
+Set-Location ..
+Copy-Item .\build\Release\novelWriter.exe . -Force
diff --git a/setup/windows/novelWriter.exe b/setup/windows/novelWriter.exe
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..5026cddb
Binary files /dev/null and b/setup/windows/novelWriter.exe differ
diff --git a/setup/windows/novelWriter.ico b/setup/windows/novelWriter.ico
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..54301ffe
Binary files /dev/null and b/setup/windows/novelWriter.ico differ
diff --git a/utils/build_windows.py b/utils/build_windows.py
index c6401dfd..1a94632a 100644
--- a/utils/build_windows.py
+++ b/utils/build_windows.py
@@ -44,8 +44,9 @@ def prepareCode(outDir: Path) -> None:
         ROOT_DIR / "CREDITS.md",
         ROOT_DIR / "LICENSE.md",
         ROOT_DIR / "requirements.txt",
-        SETUP_DIR / "icons" / "novelwriter.ico",
         SETUP_DIR / "iss_license.txt",
+        SETUP_DIR / "windows" / "novelWriter.ico",
+        SETUP_DIR / "windows" / "novelWriter.exe",
 
     ]
     for item in files:
@@ -203,7 +204,7 @@ def main(args: argparse.Namespace) -> None:
     outDir.mkdir()
     libDir.mkdir()
 
-    copySourceCode(outDir)
+    prepareCode(outDir)
     embedPython(bldDir, outDir)
     installRequirements(libDir)
     removeRedundantQt(libDir)