The Windows Package Manager, known as winget, is a command-line tool developed by Microsoft that enables Windows 10 users to download and install applications directly from the command prompt. Although it's currently in preview, you can test it on any Windows 10 PC by downloading it from the official GitHub repository.

Users running the latest Windows 10 Insider build might already have winget installed on their systems. To verify its presence, open Command Prompt or PowerShell and enter the following command:

winget --version

If you're on a stable release of Windows 10, you'll need to manually download and install winget on your machine. You can obtain it from the official GitHub repository and follow the installation instructions provided there.

This guide will explore the basics of using winget, including how to install applications, search for them, and retrieve detailed information directly from the command line.

The winget CLI tool shares a familiar syntax with popular Linux package managers like apt or dnf. You can use winget from either Command Prompt or Windows PowerShell. The general syntax for winget commands is:

winget <command> <arguments>

To begin, here's how to install an application from the command line using winget.

Winget install app command

Similar to the apt install command on Ubuntu systems, you can use the winget install command to download and install applications on a Windows 10 PC.

winget install <app-name>

For example:
winget install 7zip

When you execute this command, winget will download and automatically install the specified application. If a User Account Control (UAC) prompt appears, click 'Yes' to proceed with the installation.

C:\Users\ATH> winget install 7zip
Found 7Zip [7zip.7zip]
This application is licensed to you by its owner.
Microsoft is not responsible for, nor does it grant any licenses to, third-party packages.
Downloading https://www.7-zip.org/a/7z1900-x64.msi
  ██████████████████████████████  1.66 MB / 1.66 MB
Successfully verified installer hash
Installing ...
Successfully installed!

Winget install usage and flags

Here are all the supported options and flags for the winget install command, as displayed when you run winget install --help:

usage: winget install [[-q] <query>] <options>

The following arguments are available:
  -q,--query        The query used to search for an app

The following options are available:
  -m,--manifest     The path to the manifest of the application
  --id              Filter results by id
  --name            Filter results by name
  --moniker         Filter results by app moniker
  -v,--version      Use the specified version; default is the latest version
  -s,--source       Find app using the specified source
  -e,--exact        Find app using exact match
  -i,--interactive  Request interactive installation; user input may be needed
  -h,--silent       Request silent installation
  -o,--log          Log location (if supported)
  --override        Override arguments to be passed on to the installer
  -l,--location     Location to install to (if supported)

Winget search app command

To find an application, you can use the winget search command.

winget search <app-name>

For example:
winget search 7zip

If a package named '7zip' exists in the repository, the winget search command will display the Package Name, ID, and Version in the output.

C:\Users\ATH> winget search 7zip
Name   Id          Version Matched
------------------------------------
7Zip   7zip.7zip   19.0.0  Moniker: 7zip

Winget search usage and flags

Here are the available options and flags for the winget search command, as shown when you run winget search --help:

usage: winget search [[-q] <query>] <options>

The following arguments are available:
  -q,--query   The query used to search for an app

The following options are available:
  --id         Filter results by id
  --name       Filter results by name
  --moniker    Filter results by app moniker
  --tag        Filter results by tag
  --command    Filter results by command
  -s,--source  Find app using the specified source
  -n,--count   Show no more than specified number of results
  -e,--exact   Find app using exact match

Winget show app command

Although the winget search command provides basic details about an application, you can obtain comprehensive information—including the author, description, license, and more—by using the winget show command.

winget show <app-name>

For example:
winget show 7zip

Running winget show will display all pertinent information about the package, providing you with detailed insights directly from the command line.

C:\Users\ATH> winget show 7zip
Found 7Zip [7zip.7zip]
Version: 19.0.0
Publisher: 7zip
Author: 7zip
AppMoniker: 7zip
Description: Free and open source file archiver with a high compression ratio.
Homepage: https://www.7-zip.org/
License: Copyright (C) 1999-2020 Igor Pavlov. - GNU LGPL
License Url: https://7-zip.org/license.txt
Installer:
  SHA256: a7803233eedb6a4b59b3024ccf9292a6fffb94507dc998aa67c5b745d197a5dc
  Download Url: https://www.7-zip.org/a/7z1900-x64.msi
  Type: Msi

Winget show usage and flags

Below are the options and flags available for the winget show command, as displayed when you run winget show --help:

usage: winget show [[-q] <query>] <options>

The following arguments are available:
  -q,--query     The query used to search for an app

The following options are available:
  -m,--manifest  The path to the manifest of the application
  --id           Filter results by id
  --name         Filter results by name
  --moniker      Filter results by app moniker
  -v,--version   Use the specified version; default is the latest version
  -s,--source    Find app using the specified source
  -e,--exact     Find app using exact match
  --versions     Show available versions of the app

In summary, we've demonstrated how to search for and install applications using the winget package manager on Windows 10, and explored some of its basic commands and usage. The winget package manager has evolved significantly and is now included in stable builds of Windows 10 and Windows 11, providing users with a convenient way to manage applications directly from the command line.