Use WinGet to install and manage applications

WinGet is a command line tool enabling users to discover, install, upgrade, remove and configure applications on Windows 10, Windows 11, and Windows Server 2025 computers. This tool is the client interface to the Windows Package Manager service.

Install WinGet

WinGet the Windows Package Manager is available on Windows 11, modern versions of Windows 10, and Windows Server 2025 as a part of the App Installer. The App Installer is a System Component delivered and updated by the Microsoft store on Windows Desktop versions, and via Updates on Windows Server 2025.

Install WinGet preview version [Developers Only]

WinGet is included in the App Installer. To try the latest Windows Package Manager features, you can install a preview build one of the following ways:

• Download the latest WinGet preview version. Read the Release notes for WinGet preview to learn about any new features. Installing this package will give you the preview version of the WinGet client, but it will not enable automatic updates of new preview versions from the Microsoft Store.

• Use a Microsoft Account (MSA), work, school or Azure Active Directory (AAD) account to sign up for the Windows Insider Program in the Canary or Dev Channels. The Windows Insider Canary and Dev Channels include automatic updates of new preview versions of WinGet from the Microsoft Store.

Install WinGet on Windows Sandbox

Windows Sandbox provides a lightweight desktop environment to safely run applications in isolation. Software installed inside the Windows Sandbox environment remains "sandboxed" and runs separately from the host machine. Windows Sandbox does not include WinGet, nor the Microsoft Store app, so you will need to download the latest WinGet package from the WinGet releases page on GitHub, or use the Repair-WinGetPackageManager cmdlet.

To install the stable release of WinGet on Windows Sandbox, follow these steps from a Windows PowerShell command prompt:

$progressPreference = 'silentlyContinue'
Write-Host "Installing WinGet PowerShell module from PSGallery..."
Install-PackageProvider -Name NuGet -Force | Out-Null
Install-Module -Name Microsoft.WinGet.Client -Force -Repository PSGallery | Out-Null
Write-Host "Using Repair-WinGetPackageManager cmdlet to bootstrap WinGet..."
Repair-WinGetPackageManager -AllUsers
Write-Host "Done."

To install the WinGet PowerShell module in machine scope, you can use the -Scope AllUsers parameter with the Install-Module cmdlet. If you would like a preview version of WinGet, you can add -IncludePrerelease parameter with the Repair-WinGetPackageManager cmdlet. To see the available parameters for the Repair-WinGetPackageManager cmdlet, you can run Get-Help Repair-WinGetPackageManager -Full.

For more information on Windows Sandbox, including how to install a sandbox and what to expect from its usage, see the Windows Sandbox docs.

Administrator considerations

Installer behavior can be different depending on whether you are running WinGet with administrator privileges.

• When running WinGet without administrator privileges, some applications may require elevation to install. When the installer runs, Windows will prompt you to elevate. If you choose not to elevate, the application will fail to install.

• When running WinGet in an Administrator Command Prompt, you will not see elevation prompts if the application requires it. Always use caution when running your command prompt as an administrator, and only install applications you trust.

Use WinGet

After App Installer is installed, you can run WinGet by typing 'winget' from a Command Prompt.

One of the most common usage scenarios is to search for and install a favorite tool.

1. To search for a tool, type winget search <appname>.

2. After you have confirmed that the tool you want is available, you can install the tool by typing winget install <appname>. The WinGet tool will launch the installer and install the application on your PC.

3. In addition to install and search, WinGet provides a number of other commands that enable you to show details on applications, change sources, and validate packages. To get a complete list of commands, type: winget --help.

Some users have reported issues with the client not being on their PATH.

Commands

The current version of the WinGet tool supports the following commands.

Command	Description
install	Installs the specified application.
show	Displays details for the specified application.
source	Adds, edits, removes, and updates the Windows Package Manager repositories accessed by WinGet.
search	Searches for an application.
list	Display installed packages.
upgrade	Upgrades the given specified application.
uninstall	Uninstalls the specified application.
hash	Generates the SHA256 hash for the installer.
validate	Validates a manifest file for submission to the Windows Package Manager repository.
settings	Open settings.
features	Shows the status of experimental features.
export	Exports a list of the installed packages.
import	Installs all the packages in a file.
pin	Manage package pins.
configure	Configures the system into a desired state.
download	Downloads the specified application's installer.
repair	Repairs the selected application.
dscv3	PowerShell Desired State Configuration (DSC) v3 resource commands.

Options

The WinGet tool supports the following options.

Option	Description
-v, --version	Returns the current version of WinGet.
--info	Provides you with all detailed information on WinGet, including the links to the license, privacy statement, and configured group policies.
-?, --help	Shows additional help for WinGet.
--wait	Prompts the user to press any key before exiting.
--logs,--open-logs	Opens the default logs location.
--verbose,--verbose-logs	Enables verbose logging for winget.
--nowarn,--ignore-warnings	Suppresses warning outputs.
--disable-interactivity	Disables interactive prompts.
--proxy	Sets a proxy to use for this execution.
--no-proxy	Disables the use of proxy for this execution.

Supported installer formats

WinGet supports the following types of installers:

• EXE (with Silent and SilentWithProgress flags)
• ZIP
• INNO
• NULLSOFT
• MSI
• WIX
• APPX
• MSIX
• BURN
• PORTABLE
• FONT

Scripting WinGet

The Microsoft.WinGet.Client PowerShell module is available on the PowerShell Gallery.

Debugging and troubleshooting

WinGet provides logging to help diagnose issues. For troubleshooting and details on logging, see Debugging and troubleshooting.

Missing tools

If the community repository does not include your tool or application, submit a package to our repository. By adding your favorite tool, it will be available to you and everyone else.

Customize WinGet settings

You can configure the WinGet command line experience by modifying the settings.json file. For more information, see the page for the settings command.

Open source details

The WinGet tool is open source software available on GitHub in the repo https://github.com/microsoft/winget-cli/. The source for building the client is located in the src folder.

The source for WinGet is contained in a Visual Studio 2022 C++ solution. To build the solution correctly, clone the repository and run the appropriate WinGet Configuration file located in the ".github" directory.

We encourage you to contribute to the WinGet source on GitHub. You must first agree to and sign the Microsoft CLA. Pull requests should come from a branch on your own fork.

Troubleshooting

The winget-cli repo maintains a list of common issues and common errors, along with recommendations on how to resolve:

• common issues -- not recognized, failed to run, App Installer version or PATH variable need updating
• common errors -- Error 0x801901a0, 0x80d03002, 0x80070490