Windsor was the son of John Windsor. He studied at Manchester Royal School of Medicine and qualified in 1853-4. He worked with his father and at various Manchester Hospitals. In 1873 he was appointed ophthalmic surgeon at MRI, and in 1874 lecturer in ophthalmology at Owens College Manchester. Windsor was a well-regarded surgeon and had a large private practice.
Windsor's real reputation however derives from his work as librarian to the Manchester Medical Society from 1858-1883 and his private collection of books. He took over the library at a low point in the Society's fortunes, but soon built it up into a nationally significant collection. Windsor catalogued the library and oversaw its transfer to Owens College in 1875. He later quarrelled with the Society and on his death in 1910 much of his private library was left to the Surgeon General's Library in Washington D.C. (now the National Library of Medicine).