How to Install PowerShell 7 on Windows 10/11

Today in this tutorial, you will learn how to install PowerShell 7 on Windows 10/11 and Windows Server.

The PowerShell version built into Windows 10 (and later) is called Windows PowerShell (version 5.1). The latest version is called PowerShell Core or simply PowerShell. Both versions can co-exist on the same computer.

You can check the PowerShell version by running the following command:

$PSVersionTable

There are a couple of different ways to install PowerShell 7. One method is to download the MSI installer. Another way is to install PowerShell using the Winget package manager. In this tutorial, we cover both methods.

Installing PowerShell using the MSI Installer

You can download the latest version of the PowerShell installer from the following URL: https://github.com/PowerShell/PowerShell.

Scroll down to the Get PowerShell section, and download the stable version of the MSI package.

Now, complete the MSI wizard with the default options, and you are done.

After the installation is complete, you will find the shortcut to the PowerShell 7 console in the PowerShell folder in the Start menu.

The old version, Windows PowerShell (v5.1), will run side-by-side with PowerShell 7. Both versions will be available in the Windows Terminal app.

To make PowerShell 7 the default version on Windows Terminal, Go to Settings > Startup, choose PowerShell from the Default profile drop-down menu, and click Save.

Installing PowerShell 7 Using the Winget Package Manager

The fastest and easiest way to install PowerShell 7 is to use the Winget package manager. Winget is available on computers with Windows 10 or above; but not on Windows Server.

To install PowerShell 7, open a Command Prompt (CMD or PowerShell) as an Administrator and execute the following command:

winget install --id Microsoft.Powershell --source winget

The above command will install the latest version of PowerShell on your computer.

Remarks

The name of the executable for PowerShell 7 is pwsh.exe. The older version uses the powershell.exe process.

One thing about PowerShell 7 is that there is no ISE (Integrated Scripting Environment); It has been discontinued. From now on, you will use Visual Studio Code for scripting and development.