Installing PowerShell on Windows - PowerShell (2024)

There are multiple ways to install PowerShell in Windows. Each install method is designed to supportdifferent scenarios and workflows. Choose the method that best suits your needs.

• Winget - Recommended way to install PowerShell on Windows clients
• MSI package - Best choice for Windows Servers and enterprise deployment scenarios
• ZIP package - Easiest way to "side load" or install multiple versions
  • Use this method for Windows Nano Server, Windows IoT, and Arm-based systems
• .NET Global tool - A good choice for .NET developers that install and use other global tools
• Microsoft Store package - An easy way to install for casual users of PowerShell but haslimitations

Install PowerShell using Winget (recommended)

Winget, the Windows Package Manager, is a command-line tool enables users to discover, install,upgrade, remove, and configure applications on Windows client computers. This tool is the clientinterface to the Windows Package Manager service. The winget command-line tool is bundled withWindows 11 and modern versions of Windows 10 by default as the App Installer.

The following commands can be used to install PowerShell using the published winget packages:

Search for the latest version of PowerShell

winget search Microsoft.PowerShell

Name Id Version Source-----------------------------------------------------------------PowerShell Microsoft.PowerShell 7.4.2.0 wingetPowerShell Preview Microsoft.PowerShell.Preview 7.5.0.3 winget

Install PowerShell or PowerShell Preview using the id parameter

winget install --id Microsoft.Powershell --source wingetwinget install --id Microsoft.Powershell.Preview --source winget

Installing the MSI package

To install PowerShell on Windows, use the following links to download the install package fromGitHub.

• PowerShell-7.4.2-win-x64.msi
• PowerShell-7.4.2-win-x86.msi

Once downloaded, double-click the installer file and follow the prompts.

The installer creates a shortcut in the Windows Start Menu.

• By default the package is installed to $env:ProgramFiles\PowerShell\<version>
• You can launch PowerShell via the Start Menu or $env:ProgramFiles\PowerShell\<version>\pwsh.exe

Support for Microsoft Update in PowerShell 7.2 and newer

PowerShell 7.2 and newer has support for Microsoft Update. When you enable this feature, you'll getthe latest PowerShell 7 updates in your traditional Microsoft Update (MU) management flow, whetherthat's with Windows Update for Business, WSUS, Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager, or theinteractive MU dialog in Settings.

The PowerShell MSI package includes following command-line options:

• USE_MU - This property has two possible values:
  • 1 (default) - Opts into updating through Microsoft Update, WSUS, or Configuration Manager
  • 0 - Don't opt into updating through Microsoft Update, WSUS, or Configuration Manager
• ENABLE_MU
  • 1 (default) - Opts into using Microsoft Update for Automatic Updates
  • 0 - Don't opt into using Microsoft Update

For more information, see the PowerShell Microsoft Update FAQ.

Install the MSI package from the command line

MSI packages can be installed from the command line allowing administrators to deploy packageswithout user interaction. The MSI package includes the following properties to control theinstallation options:

• ADD_EXPLORER_CONTEXT_MENU_OPENPOWERSHELL - This property controls the option for adding theOpen PowerShell item to the context menu in Windows Explorer.
• ADD_FILE_CONTEXT_MENU_RUNPOWERSHELL - This property controls the option for adding theRun with PowerShell item to the context menu in Windows Explorer.
• ENABLE_PSREMOTING - This property controls the option for enabling PowerShell remoting duringinstallation.
• REGISTER_MANIFEST - This property controls the option for registering the Windows EventLogging manifest.
• ADD_PATH - This property controls the option for adding PowerShell to the Windows PATHenvironment variable.
• DISABLE_TELEMETRY - This property controls the option for disabling PowerShell's telemetry bysetting the POWERSHELL_TELEMETRY_OPTOUT environment variable.
• INSTALLFOLDER - This property controls the installation directory. The default is$env:ProgramFiles\PowerShell\. This is the location where the installer creates the versionedsubfolder. You can't change the name of the versioned subfolder.
  • For current releases, the versioned subfolder is 7
  • For preview releases, the versioned subfolder is 7-preview

The following example shows how to silently install PowerShell with all the install options enabled.

msiexec.exe /package PowerShell-7.4.2-win-x64.msi /quiet ADD_EXPLORER_CONTEXT_MENU_OPENPOWERSHELL=1 ADD_FILE_CONTEXT_MENU_RUNPOWERSHELL=1 ENABLE_PSREMOTING=1 REGISTER_MANIFEST=1 USE_MU=1 ENABLE_MU=1 ADD_PATH=1

For a full list of command-line options for Msiexec.exe, seeCommand line options.

Installing the ZIP package

PowerShell binary ZIP archives are provided to enable advanced deployment scenarios. Download one ofthe following ZIP archives from the current release page.

• PowerShell-7.4.2-win-x64.zip
• PowerShell-7.4.2-win-x86.zip
• PowerShell-7.4.2-win-arm64.zip

Depending on how you download the file you may need to unblock the file using the Unblock-Filecmdlet. Unzip the contents to the location of your choice and run pwsh.exe from there. Unlikeinstalling the MSI packages, installing the ZIP archive doesn't check for prerequisites. Forremoting over WSMan to work properly, ensure that you've met the prerequisites.

Use this method to install the ARM-based version of PowerShell on computers like the MicrosoftSurface Pro X. For best results, install PowerShell to the to $env:ProgramFiles\PowerShell\7folder.

If you already have the .NET Core SDK installed, you can install PowerShell as a.NET Global tool.

dotnet tool install --global PowerShell

The dotnet tool installer adds $HOME\.dotnet\tools to your $env:PATH environment variable.However, the currently running shell doesn't have the updated $env:PATH. You can start PowerShellfrom a new shell by typing pwsh.

Installing from the Microsoft Store

PowerShell can be installed from the Microsoft Store. You can find the PowerShell release in theMicrosoft Store site or in the Store application in Windows.

Benefits of the Microsoft Store package:

• Automatic updates built right into Windows
• Integrates with other software distribution mechanisms like Intune and Configuration Manager
• Can install on Windows systems using x86, x64, or Arm64 processors

Known limitations

By default, Windows Store packages run in an application sandbox that virtualizes access to somefilesystem and registry locations. Changes to virtualized file and registry locations don't persistoutside of the application sandbox.

This sandbox blocks all changes to the application's root folder. Any system-level configurationsettings stored in $PSHOME can't be modified. This includes the WSMAN configuration. This preventsremote sessions from connecting to Store-based installs of PowerShell. User-level configurations andSSH remoting are supported.

The following commands need write to $PSHOME. These commands aren't supported in a Microsoft Storeinstance of PowerShell.

• Register-PSSessionConfiguration
• Update-Help -Scope AllUsers
• Enable-ExperimentalFeature -Scope AllUsers
• Set-ExecutionPolicy -Scope LocalMachine

For more information, seeUnderstanding how packaged desktop apps run on Windows.

Changes for PowerShell 7.2

Beginning in PowerShell 7.2, the PowerShell package is now exempt from file and registryvirtualization. Changes to virtualized file and registry locations now persist outside of theapplication sandbox. However, changes to the application's root folder are still blocked.

Installing a preview version

Preview releases of PowerShell 7 install to $env:ProgramFiles\PowerShell\7-preview so they can berun side-by-side with non-preview releases of PowerShell. PowerShell 7.4 is the next previewrelease.

Upgrading an existing installation

For best results when upgrading, you should use the same install method you used when you firstinstalled PowerShell. If you aren't sure how PowerShell was installed, you can check the value ofthe $PSHOME variable, which always points to the directory containing PowerShell that the currentsession is running.

• If the value is $HOME\.dotnet\tools, PowerShell was installed with the .NET Global tool.
• If the value is $Env:ProgramFiles\PowerShell\7, PowerShell was installed as anMSI package or with Winget on a computer with an X86 or x64 processor.
• If the value starts with $Env:ProgramFiles\WindowsApps\, PowerShell was installed as aMicrosoft Store package or with Winget on computer with an ARM processor.
• If the value is anything else, it's likely that PowerShell was installed as a ZIP package.

If you installed via the MSI package, that information also appears in thePrograms and Features Control Panel.

To determine whether PowerShell may be upgraded with Winget, run the following command:

winget list --name PowerShell --upgrade-available

If there is an available upgrade, the output indicates the latest available version.

Deploying on Windows 10 IoT Enterprise

Windows 10 IoT Enterprise comes with Windows PowerShell, which we can use to deploy PowerShell 7.

# Replace the placeholder information for the following variables:$deviceip = '<device ip address'$zipfile = 'PowerShell-7.4.2-win-arm64.zip'$downloadfolder = 'u:\users\administrator\Downloads' # The download location is local to the device. # There should be enough space for the zip file and the unzipped contents.# Create PowerShell session to target deviceSet-Item -Path WSMan:\localhost\Client\TrustedHosts $deviceip$S = New-PSSession -ComputerName $deviceIp -Credential Administrator# Copy the ZIP package to the deviceCopy-Item $zipfile -Destination $downloadfolder -ToSession $S#Connect to the device and expand the archiveEnter-PSSession $SSet-Location u:\users\administrator\DownloadsExpand-Archive .\PowerShell-7.4.2-win-arm64.zip# Set up remoting to PowerShell 7Set-Location .\PowerShell-7.4.2-win-arm64# Be sure to use the -PowerShellHome parameter otherwise it tries to create a new# endpoint with Windows PowerShell 5.1.\Install-PowerShellRemoting.ps1 -PowerShellHome .

When you set up PowerShell Remoting you get an error message and are disconnected from the device.PowerShell has to restart WinRM. Now you can connect to PowerShell 7 endpoint on device.

# Be sure to use the -Configuration parameter. If you omit it, you connect to Windows PowerShell 5.1Enter-PSSession -ComputerName $deviceIp -Credential Administrator -Configuration PowerShell.7.4.2

Deploying on Windows 10 IoT Core

Windows 10 IoT Core adds Windows PowerShell when you include IOT_POWERSHELL feature, which we canuse to deploy PowerShell 7. The steps defined above for Windows 10 IoT Enterprise can be followedfor IoT Core as well.

For adding the latest PowerShell in the shipping image, use Import-PSCoreRelease command toinclude the package in the workarea and add OPENSRC_POWERSHELL feature to your image.

Deploying on Nano Server

These instructions assume that the Nano Server is a "headless" OS that has a version of PowerShellalready running on it. For more information, see the Nano Server Image Builderdocumentation.

PowerShell binaries can be deployed using two different methods.

1. Offline - Mount the Nano Server VHD and unzip the contents of the zip file to your chosenlocation within the mounted image.
2. Online - Transfer the zip file over a PowerShell Session and unzip it in your chosen location.

In both cases, you need the Windows x64 ZIP release package. Run the commands within an"Administrator" instance of PowerShell.

Offline Deployment of PowerShell

1. Use your favorite zip utility to unzip the package to a directory within the mounted Nano Serverimage.
2. Unmount the image and boot it.
3. Connect to the built-in instance of Windows PowerShell.
4. Follow the instructions to create a remoting endpoint using the"another instance technique".

Online Deployment of PowerShell

Deploy PowerShell to Nano Server using the following steps.

# Replace the placeholder information for the following variables:$ipaddr = '<Nano Server IP address>'$credential = Get-Credential # <An Administrator account on the system>$zipfile = 'PowerShell-7.4.2-win-x64.zip'# Connect to the built-in instance of Windows PowerShell$session = New-PSSession -ComputerName $ipaddr -Credential $credential# Copy the file to the Nano Server instanceCopy-Item $zipfile c:\ -ToSession $session# Enter the interactive remote sessionEnter-PSSession $session# Extract the ZIP fileExpand-Archive -Path C:\PowerShell-7.4.2-win-x64.zip -DestinationPath 'C:\Program Files\PowerShell 7'

If you want WSMan-based remoting, follow the instructions to create a remoting endpoint using the"another instance technique".

PowerShell remoting

PowerShell supports the PowerShell Remoting Protocol (PSRP) over both WSMan and SSH. For moreinformation, see:

• SSH Remoting in PowerShell
• WSMan Remoting in PowerShell

The following prerequisites must be met to enable PowerShell remoting over WSMan on older versionsof Windows.

• Install the Windows Management Framework (WMF) 5.1 (as necessary). For more information about WMF,see WMF Overview.
• Install the Universal C Runtime on Windows versions predating Windows 10. It's available viadirect download or Windows Update. Fully patched systems already have this package installed.

Supported versions of Windows

Microsoft supports PowerShell until PowerShell reaches end-of-support or the version ofWindows reaches end-of-support.

• Docker images containing PowerShell 7.2, PowerShell 7.4, and PowerShell 7.5-preview for x64 forWindows Server 2022, Windows Server Core 2022, and Windows Server Nano build 1809 are availablefrom the Microsoft Artifact Registry
• PowerShell 7.2 and higher can be installed on Windows 10 build 1607 and higher, Windows 11,Windows Server 2016 and higher, and Windows Server Nano build 1809 and higher

You can check the version that you are using by running winver.exe.

Installation support

Microsoft supports the installation methods in this document. There may be other third-party methodsof installation available from other sources. While those tools and methods may work, Microsoftcan't support those methods.