Learn how to search, find, and install apps using Winget.
WinGet is a built-in command-line package manager for Windows that lets you search, install, update, and uninstall apps. Compared to the traditional way of downloading the executable file (exe) of the application you want to use and following the installation wizard, a single command does everything for you. No need to download the exe file and follow a generic wizard manually. The best thing is that you can even install multiple apps at once.
In this quick and simple tutorial, let us learn how to search & find your favorite apps and install them using the winget. This tutorial works in both Windows 11 and Windows 10. Let’s get started.
Tutorial Series: WinGet Command-Line Basics
- Search and install apps using winget (this tutorial)
- Update apps using winget
- Uninstall apps using winget
Search and Install Apps Using Winget
- Right-click the “Windows” icon on the taskbar.
- Select “Terminal“.
- Type
winget search "AppName"while replacing “AppName” with the name of the app you want to search, and press “Enter“. - Copy the ID of the app you want to install.
- Type
winget install "AppID"while replacing the “AppID” with the ID you copied in the previous step, and press “Enter“. - That’s it. WinGet downloads and installs the app.
Detailed Steps (With Screenshots)
First, we must open the terminal window. To do that, right-click the “Windows” icon on the taskbar and select the “Terminal” option. Windows 10 users can select “Windows PowerShell”.
In the terminal window, run the following command while replacing “AppName” with the name of the app you want to install. For example, I want to install Neovim. So, I searched for it.
winget search "AppName"
As soon as you search, you might see multiple apps depending on the app name. Identify the app you want to install and copy its App ID from the “ID” column. For example, since I want to install Neovim, I copied “Neovim.Neovim”.
Once you have the app ID, run the following command while replacing “AppID” with the ID you copied earlier.
winget install "AppID"
Note: We are using app ID instead of app name because IDs are unique and there’s less confusion.
Since I want to install Neovim, this is what my command looks like.
winget install "Neovim.Neovim"
To install multiple apps, you just chain the command multiple times, separated by ;. Don’t forget to replace the dummy AppIDs with the actual IDs of the apps you want to install.
winget install "AppID-1" ; winget install "AppID-2"
That is all. As soon as you run the command, winget downloads the application from its repository and installs it automatically. Keep in mind that while installation is automatic, if the program requires administrative privileges, you have to accept the UAC prompt manually. You can skip this by opening the terminal as an administrator.
If you have any questions or need help, comment below. I’ll be happy to assist.
