Thomas Maurer

Cloud and Datacenter Blog focusing on Microsoft Azure

Subscribe
, ,

How to Install WinGet Windows Package Manager

Thomas Maurer
Updated
2–3 minutes
6 comments on How to Install WinGet Windows Package Manager
Install WinGet - Windows Package Manager

For a long time, people have been asking for a package manager on Windows. Today at Microsoft Build, Microsoft announced the preview of the Windows Package Manager called WinGet. A package manager can help you to save time and quickly install software and tools on to your machine. Developers and IT Pros have wanted a native package manager in Windows for a long time and with WinGet, you will get that.

You can read more about the Windows Package Manager Preview announcement here.

How to install WinGet Windows Package Manager

The Windows Package Manager is currently in preview. To install the preview of Windows Package Manager, you basically have two options. Since WinGet is open source, you can clone, build, run, and test the code from the GitHub repository (https://github.com/microsoft/winget-cli). You can also become a Windows Insider an join the Windows Package Manager Insider program by sending your Microsoft Account (MSA) to [email protected] and request to be included in the preview.

App Installer in the Windows Store
App Installer in the Windows Store

After you have joined either Insider program, head over to the Microsoft Store and get the App Installer. The Windows Package manager will be available after you get the update.

How to install software using the Windows Package Manager

Now you can start using winget in the Windows Terminal, Windows command line, or PowerShell. The command line client “winget.exe” is already pre-configured to point to the Microsoft community repository.

winget install Windows Package Manager
winget install Windows Package Manager

Search for available packages

winget search APPLICATION

Display information about the packages

winget show APPLICATION

Install packages

winget install APPLICATION

Manage sources for packages

winget source (add/list/update/remove/reset)

Here is a quick look at some of the packages in the Microsoft Community repository.

winget show
winget show

Contribute and Feedback

Since the Windows Package Manager is open source, you can also contribute by sharing your feedback and suggestions on GitHub.

More information

You can find more information about the WinGet Windows Package Manager check out the Microsoft Docs and the preview announcement blog post. If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment below.

 

Tags, , , , , , , , , , , ,
Thomas Maurer
Thomas is the EMEA Global Black Belt (GBB) for Sovereign Cloud at Microsoft, helping organizations across the region harness Microsoft’s sovereign, hybrid, multicloud, and edge solutions. He works directly with C-level leaders and technical teams to remove roadblocks, accelerate digital transformation, and shape long-term cloud strategies that meet business and regulatory needs. With over 15 years of experience in cloud and datacenter, including his previous role as Principal Program Manager and Chief Evangelist for Azure Hybrid, he combines deep technical expertise with a passion for customer success. He specializes in creating scalable architectures, solution accelerators, and thought leadership that drive adoption and innovation on Azure. Thomas is a passionate community advocate and frequently speaks at industry events such as Microsoft Ignite and Microsoft TechDays. He shares his expertise through his Cloud and Datacenter Blog at www.thomasmaurer.ch and on LinkedIn and X.com www.twitter.com/thomasmaurer.

Related articles

6 responses

  1. vinod Avatar
    vinod

    No powershell commands for this?

    Reply
  2. Rickard Avatar
    Rickard

    Is it possible to run install winget on Windows Server 2019?

    Reply
    1. Thomas Maurer Avatar
      Thomas Maurer

      But currently, the preview is distributed over the store, which is not available on the Server. However, you could build it yourself from GitHub.

      Reply
  3. Dan Avatar
    Dan

    I dont think i done everything right. Installed from command line. When i search for packages, only a few come upp. And i cant install any of them. I would like if people did like, this is the exact command: winget search apllication nl winget show application, for example, you did a really good job the best one i seen so far in explaining. One error i get is AWS serverless application, and that dont sound good. I think i unistalled something when i backed my cunouter the other day. Had to unistall repair and install some programs just to be safe. Or mayby cleaner app wiped some important stuff. Thanks for this. And the jason file is written as normal text, i dont know how to do that, i only know if i see the code then looking at your. Cuz im new to changing files for settings but its awsome :) I know im noob.

    Reply
  4. Homero Fonseca Avatar
    Homero Fonseca

    Where winget install apps? Trying to finish the GraphViz setup, adding the installation path to PATH variable, but can’t find where WinGet installed it.

    Reply
  5. Ian Murphy Avatar
    Ian Murphy

    Winget seems to work very well in a logged in session but, due to the way it installs into the user profile, it works differently when you try to use it in gpos or remotely, via winrm. Which is the principal way its going to be used – its an admin tool after all.
    I’ve been fighting with this for a while now and have not managed to get winget to work non-interactively at all, which is a shame as it has so much potential.
    If you try to install it under local system, it fails with ‘local system does not have permissions to realise this operation’
    If you install it using a domain admin type account, it fails with an error saying it couldn’t determine the profile type – I assume because the account has never logged in interactively.
    Why on earth is an administration tool being distributed as a windowsapp?

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.