Installing programs on Windows has been the same repetitive process of finding the official website, downloading an installer, running it, installing the program, and then clearing up all the junk. It’s not nearly as sleek as something like apt-get on Linux, which does everything for you in one command.
Thankfully, Microsoft has finally given us a package manager for Windows. It’s called Winget, and lets you install even 20 Windows apps in one command. If you’re still using installers, you’re missing out on the best way of installing programs on Windows.
Why Winget beats traditional installers
Forget setup wizards, do this instead
If you’ve ever set up a new Windows PC or reinstalled Windows on your existing one, you know getting all your programs back is a big chore. Additionally, for every website you visit, there’s a chance you might visit an extremely believable fake, download a malware-infected installer, and get yourself in trouble. Installers work fine for one-off installations, but they’re a clunky, old way of installing programs that other OSes ditched ages ago.
Winget, on the other hand, is an app store that lives in your command line. Microsoft introduced it in 2020 as the official package manager for Windows 10 and 11.
Winget pulls from a curated repository of thousands of packages, all verified and maintained by the community. When you install something through Winget, you’re getting the official version directly from the publisher.
Additionally, since it’s a command-line tool, it makes it easy to integrate it into scripts or write single commands that bulk install apps. This saves you the hassle of individually downloading dozens of installers and clicking through installation wizards, which can save a ton of time.
Using Winget is far easier than you think
A faster, cleaner way to get your favorite software
For those of you who are worried about using a command-line app because you’ve never used one before, Winget can easily be your first. For example, installing Google Chrome is as easy as running this command:
winget install Google.Chrome
That’s it. No browser tabs, no ads, and no “Next” buttons to mash. Winget handles the download, runs the installer, and gets out of your way. Even better, once the app is installed, it’s registered with Windows like any other program. This means you can update it through Winget later, or even through traditional methods if you want.
You don’t need to memorize tons of commands to use Winget easily, either. These basic commands will cover just about everything you’d need from Winget.
|
Action |
Command |
Description |
|---|---|---|
|
Searching for apps |
winget search [app name] |
Checks the Winget repository to see if an app is available for download. |
|
Installing apps |
winget install [app name] |
Downloads and installs the specified app. |
|
Uninstall apps |
winget uninstall [app name] |
Uninstalls the specified app. |
|
Updating apps |
winget update [app name] |
Updates the specified app. Replacing app name with the –all flag updates all apps installed. |
|
Showing installed apps |
winget list |
Shows all installed apps on your system. |
|
Exporting and importing |
winget export -o apps.json Or winget import -i apps.json |
Exports a list of installed programs to a JSON file or installs programs specified in a JSON file. |
That last command is especially useful as it lets you rebuild your entire Windows setup in minutes. You can easily export a list of installed Windows apps on one PC, give Winget the list on another PC, and you’ll have your essentials moved over without spending hours finding and running installers.
And that’s Winget’s biggest strength. Apart from being an extremely convenient and hassle-free way of installing programs, it’s also an extremely fast, simple, and secure way of installing multiple programs at once.
As mentioned before, you can include it in automated Windows setup scripts that can get an entire Windows machine up and ready for use without constant supervision or intervention. This is extremely helpful if you’re a system admin or developer frequently spinning up new Windows installations. However, even if you have to install just one program, using Winget is far quicker and secure than traditional installers.
And if searching for package names is too much work, there are GUI and web options that can help you breeze through Winget. You can use winstall.app, a website that lets you search for apps and then generates the Winget command you need to run. There’s also UniGetUI, a third-party UI wrapper for Winget that removes the command-line interface entirely.
Winget is official, and it’s staying
Microsoft finally nailed software installs—and it’s built right in
For all its convenience, Winget isn’t perfect. It still has fewer packages than Chocolatey, an older, third-party package manager for Windows. That said, if you don’t find something in Winget, which takes a single command to check, you haven’t lost anything. You can still fall back to other package managers or traditional installers.
Winget is backed by Microsoft and built into Windows 11. The company is serious about making app installation faster and more secure on Windows, meaning Winget’s package library will only increase with time. Additionally, since Winget recognizes apps installed through other methods, you can upgrade apps that were originally installed manually, giving you gradual, flexible adoption.
So if you’re still downloading apps like it’s 2005, Winget deserves your attention. It’s fast, built into your OS, reduces security risks, and makes app management genuinely pleasant.