diff --git a/.github/workflows/windows_exe.yml b/.github/workflows/windows_exe.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6780950
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/windows_exe.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,47 @@
+name: Windows EXE build
+
+on: [push, pull_request]
+
+jobs:
+  build:
+    runs-on: windows-latest
+    steps:
+      - name: Checkout Instaloader repository
+        uses: actions/checkout@v2
+      - name: Setup Python
+        uses: actions/setup-python@v1
+        with:
+          python-version: 3.8
+          architecture: x64
+      - name: Get the tagged version
+        id: get_version
+        env:
+          GITHUB_REF: ${{ github.ref }}
+        run: echo ::set-output name=VERSION::${GITHUB_REF/refs\/tags\/v/}
+        shell: bash
+      - name: Run custom python script for EXE creation
+        env:
+          VERSION_TAG: v${{ steps.get_version.outputs.VERSION }}
+        run: python deploy/windows/create_exe.py
+      - name: Create draft release
+        if: github.event_name == 'push' && startsWith(github.ref, 'refs/tags/v')
+        id: create_release
+        uses: actions/create-release@v1
+        env:
+          GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
+        with:
+          tag_name: v${{ steps.get_version.outputs.VERSION }}
+          release_name: Version ${{ steps.get_version.outputs.VERSION }}
+          draft: true
+          prerelease: contains(steps.get_version.outputs.VERSION, 'a') || contains(steps.get_version.outputs.VERSION, 'b') || contains(steps.get_version.outputs.VERSION, 'c')
+      - name: Upload EXE as release asset
+        if: github.event_name == 'push' && startsWith(github.ref, 'refs/tags/v')
+        id: upload-release-asset
+        uses: actions/upload-release-asset@v1
+        env:
+          GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
+        with:
+          upload_url: ${{ steps.create_release.outputs.upload_url }}
+          asset_path: ./instaloader-v${{ steps.get_version.outputs.VERSION }}-windows-standalone.zip
+          asset_name: instaloader-v${{ steps.get_version.outputs.VERSION }}-windows-standalone.zip
+          asset_content_type: application/zip
diff --git a/Pipfile b/Pipfile
index 4a82320..1cfe444 100644
--- a/Pipfile
+++ b/Pipfile
@@ -7,6 +7,10 @@ verify_ssl = true
 pylint = "*"
 mypy = "*"
 sphinx = "*"
+pyinstaller = "*"
+pefile = "*"
+pywin32-ctypes = "*"
+psutil = "*"
 
 [packages]
 requests = "*"
diff --git a/Pipfile.lock b/Pipfile.lock
index ae9cffc..43c9e72 100644
--- a/Pipfile.lock
+++ b/Pipfile.lock
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 {
     "_meta": {
         "hash": {
-            "sha256": "dfbaa1642735b07bdcc118cb0c9328817b1d558af626b696593db099df863b39"
+            "sha256": "33408a60fda1a56bf680462fad21643ae0159bc13f3b85d8f10ebf3eef7d8725"
         },
         "pipfile-spec": 6,
         "requires": {},
@@ -59,6 +59,13 @@
             ],
             "version": "==0.7.12"
         },
+        "altgraph": {
+            "hashes": [
+                "sha256:1f05a47122542f97028caf78775a095fbe6a2699b5089de8477eb583167d69aa",
+                "sha256:c623e5f3408ca61d4016f23a681b9adb100802ca3e3da5e718915a9e4052cebe"
+            ],
+            "version": "==0.17"
+        },
         "astroid": {
             "hashes": [
                 "sha256:71ea07f44df9568a75d0f354c49143a4575d90645e9fead6dfb52c26a85ed13a",
@@ -94,6 +101,12 @@
             ],
             "version": "==0.16"
         },
+        "future": {
+            "hashes": [
+                "sha256:b1bead90b70cf6ec3f0710ae53a525360fa360d306a86583adc6bf83a4db537d"
+            ],
+            "version": "==0.18.2"
+        },
         "idna": {
             "hashes": [
                 "sha256:c357b3f628cf53ae2c4c05627ecc484553142ca23264e593d327bcde5e9c3407",
@@ -117,10 +130,10 @@
         },
         "jinja2": {
             "hashes": [
-                "sha256:74320bb91f31270f9551d46522e33af46a80c3d619f4a4bf42b3164d30b5911f",
-                "sha256:9fe95f19286cfefaa917656583d020be14e7859c6b0252588391e47db34527de"
+                "sha256:93187ffbc7808079673ef52771baa950426fd664d3aad1d0fa3e95644360e250",
+                "sha256:b0eaf100007721b5c16c1fc1eecb87409464edc10469ddc9a22a27a99123be49"
             ],
-            "version": "==2.10.3"
+            "version": "==2.11.1"
         },
         "lazy-object-proxy": {
             "hashes": [
@@ -227,6 +240,30 @@
             ],
             "version": "==20.1"
         },
+        "pefile": {
+            "hashes": [
+                "sha256:a5d6e8305c6b210849b47a6174ddf9c452b2888340b8177874b862ba6c207645"
+            ],
+            "index": "pypi",
+            "version": "==2019.4.18"
+        },
+        "psutil": {
+            "hashes": [
+                "sha256:094f899ac3ef72422b7e00411b4ed174e3c5a2e04c267db6643937ddba67a05b",
+                "sha256:10b7f75cc8bd676cfc6fa40cd7d5c25b3f45a0e06d43becd7c2d2871cbb5e806",
+                "sha256:1b1575240ca9a90b437e5a40db662acd87bbf181f6aa02f0204978737b913c6b",
+                "sha256:21231ef1c1a89728e29b98a885b8e0a8e00d09018f6da5cdc1f43f988471a995",
+                "sha256:28f771129bfee9fc6b63d83a15d857663bbdcae3828e1cb926e91320a9b5b5cd",
+                "sha256:70387772f84fa5c3bb6a106915a2445e20ac8f9821c5914d7cbde148f4d7ff73",
+                "sha256:b560f5cd86cf8df7bcd258a851ca1ad98f0d5b8b98748e877a0aec4e9032b465",
+                "sha256:b74b43fecce384a57094a83d2778cdfc2e2d9a6afaadd1ebecb2e75e0d34e10d",
+                "sha256:e85f727ffb21539849e6012f47b12f6dd4c44965e56591d8dec6e8bc9ab96f4a",
+                "sha256:fd2e09bb593ad9bdd7429e779699d2d47c1268cbde4dda95fcd1bd17544a0217",
+                "sha256:ffad8eb2ac614518bbe3c0b8eb9dffdb3a8d2e3a7d5da51c5b974fb723a5c5aa"
+            ],
+            "index": "pypi",
+            "version": "==5.6.7"
+        },
         "pygments": {
             "hashes": [
                 "sha256:2a3fe295e54a20164a9df49c75fa58526d3be48e14aceba6d6b1e8ac0bfd6f1b",
@@ -234,6 +271,13 @@
             ],
             "version": "==2.5.2"
         },
+        "pyinstaller": {
+            "hashes": [
+                "sha256:3730fa80d088f8bb7084d32480eb87cbb4ddb64123363763cf8f2a1378c1c4b7"
+            ],
+            "index": "pypi",
+            "version": "==3.6"
+        },
         "pylint": {
             "hashes": [
                 "sha256:3db5468ad013380e987410a8d6956226963aed94ecb5f9d3a28acca6d9ac36cd",
@@ -256,6 +300,14 @@
             ],
             "version": "==2019.3"
         },
+        "pywin32-ctypes": {
+            "hashes": [
+                "sha256:24ffc3b341d457d48e8922352130cf2644024a4ff09762a2261fd34c36ee5942",
+                "sha256:9dc2d991b3479cc2df15930958b674a48a227d5361d413827a4cfd0b5876fc98"
+            ],
+            "index": "pypi",
+            "version": "==0.2.0"
+        },
         "requests": {
             "hashes": [
                 "sha256:11e007a8a2aa0323f5a921e9e6a2d7e4e67d9877e85773fba9ba6419025cbeb4",
diff --git a/deploy/windows/create_exe.py b/deploy/windows/create_exe.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7b5ca6f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/deploy/windows/create_exe.py
@@ -0,0 +1,86 @@
+import hashlib
+import os
+import re
+import shutil
+import subprocess
+import sys
+
+# copy the required files into repo root
+shutil.copy('docs/favicon.ico', '.')
+shutil.copy('deploy/windows/instaloader.spec', '.')
+shutil.unpack_archive('deploy/windows/ps', '.', 'xztar')
+
+code = """
+import psutil
+import subprocess
+
+def __main():
+    grandparentpid = psutil.Process(os.getppid()).ppid()
+    grandparentpidsearchstring = ' ' + str(grandparentpid) + ' '
+    if hasattr(sys, "_MEIPASS"):
+        ps = os.path.join(sys._MEIPASS, 'tasklist.exe')
+    else:
+        ps = 'tasklist'
+    popen = subprocess.Popen(ps, stdout=subprocess.PIPE, universal_newlines=True)
+    for examine in iter(popen.stdout.readline, ""):
+        if grandparentpidsearchstring in examine:
+            pname = examine
+            break
+    popen.stdout.close()
+    return_code = popen.wait()
+    if return_code:
+        raise subprocess.CalledProcessError(return_code, ps)
+    if pname[0:12] == 'explorer.exe':
+        subprocess.Popen("cmd /K \\\"{0}\\\"".format(os.path.splitext(os.path.basename(sys.argv[0]))[0]))
+    else:
+        main()
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    __main()
+"""
+
+with open('instaloader/__main__.py', 'r') as f:
+    # adjust imports for changed file structure
+    regex = re.compile(r'from (?:(\.[^ ]+ )|\.( ))import')
+    lines = [regex.sub(r'from instaloader\1\2import', line) for line in f.readlines()]
+
+    # insert code for magic exe behavior
+    index = lines.index('if __name__ == "__main__":\n')
+    code_lines = [cl + '\n' for cl in code.splitlines()]
+    for i, code_line in enumerate(code_lines):
+        if i + index < len(lines):
+            lines[i + index] = code_line
+        else:
+            lines.extend(code_lines[i:])
+            break
+
+with open('__main__.py', 'w+') as f:
+    f.writelines(lines)
+
+# install dependencies and invoke PyInstaller
+commands = ["pip install pipenv==2018.11.26",
+            "pipenv sync --dev",
+            "pipenv run pyinstaller --log-level=DEBUG instaloader.spec"]
+
+for command in commands:
+    print()
+    print('#' * (len(command) + 6))
+    print('## {} ##'.format(command))
+    print('#' * (len(command) + 6))
+    print(flush=True)
+    err = subprocess.Popen(command).wait()
+    if err != 0:
+        sys.exit(err)
+
+# calculate and store MD5 hash for created executable
+hash_md5 = hashlib.md5()
+with open('dist/instaloader.exe', 'rb') as f:
+    for chunk in iter(lambda: f.read(4096), b''):
+        hash_md5.update(chunk)
+
+with open('dist/instaloader.exe.md5', 'w+') as f:
+    f.write('{} *instaloader.exe\n'.format(hash_md5.hexdigest()))
+
+# Create ZIP file
+shutil.make_archive('instaloader-{}-windows-standalone'.format(os.getenv('VERSION_TAG')), 'zip', 'dist')
diff --git a/deploy/windows/instaloader.spec b/deploy/windows/instaloader.spec
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..42a8f67
--- /dev/null
+++ b/deploy/windows/instaloader.spec
@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+# -*- mode: python -*-
+
+block_cipher = None
+
+
+a = Analysis(['__main__.py'],
+             binaries=[],
+             datas=[('tasklist.exe', '.'), ('framedyn.dll', '.')],
+             hiddenimports=[],
+             hookspath=[],
+             runtime_hooks=[],
+             excludes=[],
+             win_no_prefer_redirects=False,
+             win_private_assemblies=False,
+             cipher=block_cipher)
+pyz = PYZ(a.pure, a.zipped_data,
+             cipher=block_cipher)
+exe = EXE(pyz,
+          a.scripts,
+          a.binaries,
+          a.zipfiles,
+          a.datas,
+          name='instaloader',
+          debug=False,
+          strip=False,
+          upx=False,
+          runtime_tmpdir=None,
+          console=True , icon='favicon.ico')
diff --git a/deploy/windows/ps b/deploy/windows/ps
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6760d35
Binary files /dev/null and b/deploy/windows/ps differ