--- title: "Install & Manage Applications with the Powerful Winget Tool" description: "Learn how the new Winget tool from Microsoft simplifies and expands package management in the Windows 10 and 11 operating system!" canonical: "https://adamtheautomator.com/winget/" --- # Install & Manage Applications with the Powerful Winget Tool > Learn how the new Winget tool from Microsoft simplifies and expands package management in the Windows 10 and 11 operating system! Source: https://adamtheautomator.com/winget/ --- ATA Learning Tap to hide [ ATA Learning ](/) * [Home](/) * [Tutorials](/tutorials/) * [Instructors](/author/) * [Advertising](/advertising/) * [Recommended Resources](/resources/) * [About Adam](/about-adam/) Search for: * [](https://twitter.com/adbertram) * [](https://github.com/Adam-the-Automator) * [](https://www.linkedin.com/company/adam-the-automator-llc) * [](/feed/) ![Install & Manage Applications with the Powerful Winget Tool](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Install-Manage-Applications-with-the-Powerful-Winget-Tool.jpg) # Install & Manage Applications with the Powerful Winget Tool [![](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/2788bb1a3f735603f81eca51d68daec56a9d97e805a10268fb2c20afcc76b81b?s=192&d=mm&r=g)Nicholas Xuan Nguyen](https://adamtheautomator.com/author/nicholas-xuan-nguyen/)6 July 20225 min. read Categories: [IT Ops](/category/it-ops/) Tags:[Windows](/tag/windows/)[Windows 10](/tag/windows-10/)[Winget](/tag/winget/) Table of Contents * [Prerequisites](#prerequisites) * [Installing Winget on Windows](#installing-winget-on-windows) * [Installing via the Microsoft Store](#installing-via-the-microsoft-store) * [Installing via GitHub Releases](#installing-via-github-releases) * [Installing and Uninstalling Software Using Winget](#installing-and-uninstalling-software-using-winget) * [Updating Existing Software with Winget](#updating-existing-software-with-winget) * [Managing Software Repositories](#managing-software-repositories) * [Conclusion](#conclusion) An aptitude for handling one’s packages is an attribute that any good systems administrator should have. With the recent release of Microsoft’s new Winget tool, package management on Windows has never been easier. In this tutorial, you’ll learn how to install and manage applications on your Windows system with Winget. Ready? Read on and start managing software like a pro! ## Prerequisites This tutorial will be a hands-on demonstration. If you’d like to follow along, be sure you have a Windows 10 system. This tutorial uses Windows 10 21h2 19044, but other versions (Windows 10 1709 (build 16299)) or later will also work. ## **Installing Winget on Windows** Winget is a powerful command-line package manager for Windows. Like `apt` on Ubuntu, `yum` on Fedora, and `Homebrew` on macOS, Winget allows you to search for, install, and uninstall packages from a command-line environment. But before you can use Winget, you first need to check if Winget is already installed on your Windows system. Open [PowerShell](https://adamtheautomator.com/powershell-run-as-administrator/) [](https://adamtheautomator.com/powershell-run-as-administrator/)[as administrator](https://adamtheautomator.com/powershell-run-as-administrator/), and run the `winget` command below to check if Winget is already installed on your system. ```powershell winget ``` If you get an error saying Winget is not recognized as a cmdlet, as shown below, you’ll first have to install it. ![Checking if Winget is already installed](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/image-1018.png) Checking if Winget is already installed Related:[Getting Started with PowerShell and the PSWindowsUpdate Module](https://adamtheautomator.com/pswindowsupdate/) ### **Installing via the Microsoft Store** This tutorial covers installing Winget via Microsoft Store and GitHub releases. But if you want a quick way to install Winget, the Microsoft Store is the way to go. Since Winget is a Windows Package Manager, you can just search for it in the Microsoft Store. 1\. Open the **Microsoft Store**. 2\. Search for winget at the search bar, and choose App Installer from the list, as shown below. ![Searching for Winget in Microsoft Store](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/image-1019.png) Searching for Winget in Microsoft Store 3\. Now, click on Get in the left panel to install Winget. ![Initializing Installing Winget](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/image-1020.png) Initializing Installing Winget Microsoft Store downloads and installs the core Winget package and dependencies to your machine, which may take a few minutes to complete. ![Downloading and Installing Winget](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/image-1021.png) Downloading and Installing Winget Once the installation completes, you’ll see the following screen. ![Verifying Winget Installation](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/image-1022.png) Verifying Winget Installation 4\. Finally, run the winget command to check Winget’s installed version. The version installed is Windows Package Manager v1.2.10941, as shown below, but yours might be different. > _This tutorial uses PowerShell 7+ for running winget commands._ Related:[How to Walk Through a PowerShell 7 Upgrade](https://adamtheautomator.com/powershell-7-upgrade/) ```powershell winget ``` ![Verifying installed Winget version](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/image-1023.png) Verifying installed Winget version ### Installing via GitHub Releases If you want more control over the installation process, you can download and install Winget manually from GitHub. With this method, you’ll get the latest version of Winget. 1\. Navigate the Winget’s releases page on [GitHub](https://github.com/microsoft/winget-cli). 2\. Click on the arrow button beside Assets to expand it, and download the file ends in the .msixbundle extension, as shown below. A .msixbundle file is a new file type introduced in Windows 10, used to package multiple apps. Each app in the bundle is compatible with distinct versions of Windows and system architecture (x86, x64, or ARM). ![Downloading Winget’s installation package (.msixbundle).](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/image-1024.png) Downloading Winget’s installation package (.msixbundle). 3\. Double-click on the .msixbundle file you downloaded in step two to install Winget. If you have an older version of Winget installed, click on the Update button to update Winget to the latest version. ![Opening Winget’s Installer](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/image-1025.png) Opening Winget’s Installer The update process will take a few minutes to complete. ![Viewing Update Progress](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/image-1026.png) Viewing Update Progress 4\. Finally, rerun the winget command, but this time, append the -v option to display only the installed version of Winget. ```powershell winget -v ``` Below, you can see the Winget’s version installed is v1.3.1391-preview, which is a preview release as of this writing. ![Checking Winget version](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/image-1027.png) Checking Winget version ## **Installing and Uninstalling Software Using Winget** Winget is installed, so it’s time to test it by running `winget` commands, and you’ll need a software package to install. Don’t have one at the moment? No worries! Windows Package Manager has a comprehensive list of packages available, and Winget lets you search through that list. 1\. Run the following winget command to search for your desired software to install, VLC for this example. ```powershell winget search vlc ``` Type Y and press Enter when prompted, as shown below. As you can see, there are multiple related results, where you can see each software’s Name, ID, Version, and the Source of the software. Take note of the ID (VideoLAN.VLC) of the software you want to install. ![Finding a Software (VLC media player) using winget Command](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/image-1028.png) Finding a Software (VLC media player) using winget Command 2\. Next, run the following command to install your target software, in this case, VLC. The command below takes one parameter: the ID of the software (VideoLAN.VLC) you noted in step one. The unique ID helps avoid ambiguity so you can install the correct software. > _In some cases, if there is any ambiguity. You will be prompted to select the correct software you want to install_ ```powershell winget install VideoLAN.VLC ``` ![Installing the VLC media player](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/image-1029.png) Installing the VLC media player > _Many software gets updated frequently. So you may want to install a specific version of the software. Winget allows you to do so by appending the -v or –version parameter like the command below: winget install VideoLAN.VLC -v 3.0.8_ > _Perhaps you plan to install multiple software at once. If so, pass in multiple IDs as parameters in the winget install command separated by a semicolon (;), as shown below: winget install VideoLAN.VLC; Streamlink.Streamlink_ 3\. Lastly, run the following command to uninstall a software (VideoLAN.VLC) you’re not planning to use anymore. ```powershell winget uninstall VideoLAN.VLC ``` ![Uninstalling the VLC media player](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/image-1030.png) Uninstalling the VLC media player ## Updating Existing Software with Winget Software gets updated frequently, and it’s always a good idea to keep your software up to date. Luckily, Winget allows you to update your software using the `winget upgrade` command. But first, you must find the list of outdated software in your system. Run the `winget upgrade` command below to see the list of available software updates. ```powershell winget upgrade ``` Note the ID of the software you’d like to update. ![Finding Outdated Software](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/image-1031.png) Finding Outdated Software Now, run the same `winget upgrade` command below. But this time, append the ID (`Docker.DockerDesktop`) of the software to uninstall. ```powershell winget upgrade Docker.DockerDesktop ``` ![Updating a Software (Docker.DockerDesktop)](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/image-1032.png) Updating a Software (Docker.DockerDesktop) > _Perhaps you want to update all your software at once. If so, pass the –all parameter to the winget upgrade, as shown below. This command is truly a lifesaver if you have the time to wait until all the updates are complete. winget upgrade –all_ ## **Managing Software Repositories** Winget fetches its software from a central repository, and taking a look at the repositories now and then is crucial to ensure everything is in order. Winget gets its software from two repositories: * msstore – The official Microsoft Store. * winget – The Community-Driven Repository managed by the Microsoft Winget team. The first step in managing software repositories is checking which repositories are available: 1\. Run the below command to see the available repositories list (source list). ```powershell winget source list ``` As you can see from the output below, only the msstore and winget repositories are enabled by default. ![Listing Available Repositories](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/image-1033.png) Listing Available Repositories > _You can add a third-party repository to your list, but that is out of scope for this guide._ 2\. Next, run the command below to update your repositories, which is good practice. ```powershell winget source update ``` ![Updating Available Repositories](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/image-1034.png) Updating Available Repositories 3\. After updating, run the winget list command below to list all available software in the winget repository. ```powershell winget list ``` The output is truncated in the following screenshot since it’s a long list. ![Listing Available Software in the Winget Repository](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/image-1035.png) Listing Available Software in the Winget Repository 4\. Finally, run the following command to revert the changes you made to your repositories. This command will reset the repositories to their default state forcefully (–force), which is helpful if you accidentally make any changes. ```powershell winget source reset --force ``` ![Resetting Repositories](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/image-1036.png) Resetting Repositories ## Conclusion Winget is a powerful tool that lets you install, uninstall and update software easily. And this tutorial showed you the basics of using Winget. You can now confidently use Winget to manage software on your Windows system. Don’t forget to update your repositories regularly and check for updates often. Your software will thank you for it. Now, why not explore more about Winget and contribute to the [Windows Package Manager Community Repository](https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/learn/modules/explore-windows-package-manager-tool/5-discuss-repository)? Or write a PowerShell script to automate updating repositories and software on your system? Related:[How to Run a PowerShell Script From the Command Line and More](https://adamtheautomator.com/run-powershell-script/) Share this article [Share on X](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?url=https%3A%2F%2Fadamtheautomator.com%2Fwinget%2F&text=Install%20%26%20Manage%20Applications%20with%20the%20Powerful%20Winget%20Tool)[Share on Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fadamtheautomator.com%2Fwinget%2F)[Share on LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/sharing/share-offsite/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fadamtheautomator.com%2Fwinget%2F) ## Related Posts ![](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/How-To-Secure-Your-Operating-System-via-Windows-10-Applocker.jpg) ### [How To Secure Your Operating System via Windows 10 Applocker](/windows-10-applocker/) Learn how to secure your system via Windows 10 Applocker and save the day from malicious files and programs in this ATA Learning tutorial! ![](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/idfix.jpg) ### [Solve Azure AD Connect Errors via the Microsoft IdFix Tool](/idfix/) Fix Azure AD Connect errors fast with the Microsoft IdFix tool—your go-to solution for seamless synchronization and efficient directory management! ![](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/sandboxie.jpg) ### [How to Install Sandboxie on Windows](/sandboxie/) Secure your Windows system with Sandboxie. 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