How To Update Powershell On Windows 11

By default, Windows 11 comes with the latest Powershell 5.1 preinstalled. But you’d be surprised that Microsoft has also released a cross-platform Powershell Core (version 7.x) with extensive features.

Indeed, Powershell is popular among developers, system administrators, and even beginners, thanks to its easy-to-learn lightweight cmdlets. Thus, if you prefer this command-line interface, you’d definitely want to get your hands on its latest version.

Updating or installing the latest Powershell version is relatively easy. You can do it using the MSI package, Zip package, command lines, or even from the Microsoft Store!

Table of Contents

Updating Powershell on Windows

Updating or migrating Powershell to 7.x requires manual installation. Once you’ve migrated to the core version, it runs side-by-side with the built-in Windows Powershell.

The open-source software holds features that might be lacking in the 5.1 version, like Automatic Pipeline Parallelization, Null conditional operators, and more. It also supports Docker containers, Defaults to UTF-8 encoding, Powershell Remoting over SSH, etc.

The product works only on those computers running Windows 10 version 17763.0 and higher. So, if you’re running an older Windows generation, it’s only possible to update your Windows Powershell to 5.1.

Now, without further delay, let’s jump into the four different ways to update Powershell on Windows 11.

From Microsoft Store

Microsoft Store is the gateway to installing Windows applications and programs on your computer. Therefore, this platform is the simplest method to get the latest version, 7.3. Kindly follow the below instructions on how to update Powershell from the Microsoft Store:

Press the Start button, search for Microsoft Store, and launch it.
In the search bar, type Powershell.
From the list of programs, select the topmost one developed by Microsoft Corporation.
Click on Get or Install, and wait until the installation is complete.
Now, you can press the Open button in the Microsoft Store window to launch the utility.

Note: Usually, Powershell Core gets updated automatically. If, for some reason, there’s a pending update, you can open the Microsoft Store app and hit the Update button to complete it.

Download & Install MSI Package

Another way you can update Powershell is by downloading and installing the MSI Package from the official Microsoft website. Go through the following steps to do just that:

Get to the Installing the MSI package section on the website.
Click on either of the two links, depending on your computer’s bit version.
Wait until the setup file is downloaded, and launch it once done.
Proceed with the on-screen instruction to complete the installation.
In the last window, check the Launch Powershell and hit Finish. This will open the latest version on your device.

You can also install the MSI package or a zip folder from Github. All you have to do is navigate to the Assets section and download the latest version available (7.3.0).

Using the winget Cmdlet

Also, you can directly update or install Powershell Core from the command line interface. This way, you do not have to visit any online page to download the latest version on Windows. Regarding the same, here’s a quick guide that should help you:

Firstly, press Windows + R and execute the following command to open Powershell:
powershell
Alternatively, you can launch Command Prompt instead of Powershell to perform the update.
In the interface, run the below cmdlet to check available versions:
winget search PowerShell
Check the version and Id columns. For example, the latest version here shows 7.3.101.0, and its Id is Microsoft.PowerShell.Preview.
Now, copy and paste the below command line to install or update Powershell to version 7.3.101.0:
winget install Microsoft.PowerShell.Preview
If yours is different, kindly replace Microsoft.PowerShell.Preview with the appropriate ID.
Wait until the necessary files are downloaded from GitHub. Upon completion, the setup window should appear.
In the User Account Control prompt, hit the Yes button.
Again, wait for the installation to complete.
Now, you can open the Run utility and execute the pwsh command to launch the Powershell Core application.

Note: To run Powershell 7.x on Windows Powershell, kindly execute the pwsh cmdlet. To get back to the 5.1 version, simply run the exit command. However, as discussed above, you need to have the version installed on your PC.

Make Powershell Your Default Terminal

One of the easiest ways to launch Windows Powershell is from the Quick Link menu. Simply picking the Windows Terminal would open the utility.

Certainly, you want the updated version (Powershell Core) to get open instead of the classic Windows Powershell. To make this change, you’re required to make the version 7 interface your default terminal:

Use the Windows + E hotkey to open File Explorer.
Now, paste the following path on the address bar and hit Enter:
C:\Users\[YourUserProfile]\AppData\Local\Packages
Here, find and open Microsoft.WindowsTerminal_[Profile] folder.
Then, move to the LocalState folder.
Next, open the settings JSON source file on any text editor.
Now, copy the “guid” value of Powershell core.
Paste it in the "defaultProfile" section as shown below, and save it.
Finally, press Windows + X and select Windows Terminal from the list. This should open the Powershell Core interface, which is now your default Windows terminal.