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.
The Winget command line tool enables users to discover, install, upgrade, remove and configure applications on Windows 10 and Windows 11 computers, like apt on Ubuntu, yum on Fedora, and Homebrew on macOS.
Before you can use Winget, you first need to check if Winget is already installed on your Windows system.
Open PowerShell as administrator, and run the winget command below to check if Winget is already installed on your system.
If you get an error saying Winget is not recognized as a cmdlet, as shown below, you’ll first have to install it.
You can install via the Microsoft Store, just find "App Installer" and install it.
Commands:
➥ Installed version:
winget --version |
➥ Installing and Uninstalling Software:
winget install winrar winget unistall winrar |
➥ Available software updates:
winget upgrade |
➥ Upgrade all software:
winget upgrade --all |
➥ Update Repositories:
winget source update |
➥ See a list of all installed packages:
winget list |
➥ Export your files in a JSON file:
winget export -o "D:\all-my-files.json" |
➥ Import JSON file:
winget import -i "D:\all-my-files.json" |
Bonus:
WingetUI: With this app, you'll be able to easily download, install, update and uninstall any software that's published on the supported package managers — and so much more.
winget install wingetUI |