How to Check WSL Version (Windows Subsystem for Linux)

To check the WSL version, you can run the wsl --version command.

wsl --version

The command will show the version of the Windows Subsystem for Linux installed on your computer. If you see command options instead of the WSL version, it means that either WSL is not installed or you are running WSL version 1.

In that case, run the wsl -l -v command, which will display the installed distributions and their WSL versions.

If you see command options instead of the distributions, it means the Windows Subsystem for Linux is not installed.

WSL 2 is the latest version of the Windows Subsystem for Linux. To install WSL 2, you can run the wsl --install command.

wsl --install

To update WSL, run the wsl wsl --update command.

wsl --update

Another command you can run is wsl --status, which shows the default WSL version, whether it is WSL 2 or WSL 1.

If you want to learn more about the wsl command, click the link below.

WSL Command: Master Windows Subsystem for Linux with These Essential Commands