Installing PowerShell on Windows 7 (32bit)

There are multiple ways to install PowerShell in Windows. Each install method is designed to support different scenarios and workflows. Choose the method that best suits your needs.

• MSI package – Best choice for Windows Servers and enterprise deployment scenarios
• ZIP package – Easiest way to "side load" or install multiple versions

Note

The installation commands in this article are for the latest stable release of PowerShell. To install a different version of PowerShell, adjust the command to match the version you need. The following links direct you to the release page for each version in the PowerShell repository on GitHub.

Installing the MSI package

To install PowerShell on Windows, use the following links to download the install package from GitHub.

• PowerShell-6.2.4-win-x86.msi
• PowerShell-6.2.4-win-x86.zip

Once downloaded, double-click the installer file and follow the prompts.

The installer creates a shortcut in the Windows Start Menu.

• By default the package is installed to $Env:ProgramFiles\\PowerShell\\<version>
• You can launch PowerShell via the Start Menu or $Env:ProgramFiles\\PowerShell\\<version>\\pwsh.exe

Note

PowerShell v6.2.4 installs to a new directory and runs side-by-side with Windows PowerShell 5.1. PowerShell v6.2.4 is an in-place upgrade that removes previous versions of PowerShell v6. Preview versions of PowerShell can be installed side-by-side with other versions of PowerShell.

• PowerShell v6.2.4 is installed to $Env:ProgramFiles\\PowerShell\\6
• The $Env:ProgramFiles\\PowerShell\\6 folder is added to $Env:PATH

If you need to run PowerShell v6.2.4 side-by-side with other versions, use the ZIP install method to install the other version to a different folder.

The PowerShell MSI package includes following command-line options:

• USE_MU – This property has two possible values:
  • 1 (default) – Opts into updating through Microsoft Update, WSUS, or Configuration Manager
  • 0 – Don't opt into updating through Microsoft Update, WSUS, or Configuration Manager
• ENABLE_MU
  • 1 (default) – Opts into using Microsoft Update for Automatic Updates
  • 0 – Don't opt into using Microsoft Update

Note

Enabling updates may have been set in a previous installation or manual configuration. Using ENABLE_MU=0 doesn't remove the existing settings. Also, this setting can be overruled by Group Policy settings controlled by your administrator.

Install the MSI package from the command line

MSI packages can be installed from the command line allowing administrators to deploy packages without user interaction. The MSI package includes the following properties to control the installation options:

• ADD\_EXPLORER\_CONTEXT\_MENU\_OPENPOWERSHELL – This property controls the option for adding the Open PowerShell item to the context menu in Windows Explorer.
• ADD\_FILE\_CONTEXT\_MENU\_RUNPOWERSHELL – This property controls the option for adding the Run with PowerShell item to the context menu in Windows Explorer.
• ENABLE_PSREMOTING – This property controls the option for enabling PowerShell remoting during installation.
• REGISTER_MANIFEST – This property controls the option for registering the Windows Event Logging manifest.
• ADD_PATH – This property controls the option for adding PowerShell to the Windows PATH environment variable.
• DISABLE_TELEMETRY – This property controls the option for disabling PowerShell's telemetry by setting the POWERSHELL\_TELEMETRY\_OPTOUT environment variable.
• INSTALLFOLDER – This property controls the installation directory. The default is $Env:ProgramFiles\\PowerShell\. This is the location where the installer creates the versioned subfolder. You can't change the name of the versioned subfolder.
  • For current releases, the versioned subfolder is 6
  • For preview releases, the versioned subfolder is 6-preview

The following example shows how to silently install PowerShell with all the install options enabled.

msiexec.exe /package PowerShell-6.2.4-win-x32.msi /quiet ADD_EXPLORER_CONTEXT_MENU_OPENPOWERSHELL=1 ADD_FILE_CONTEXT_MENU_RUNPOWERSHELL=1 ENABLE_PSREMOTING=1 REGISTER_MANIFEST=1 USE_MU=1 ENABLE_MU=1 ADD_PATH=1

For a full list of command-line options for Msiexec.exe, see Command line options.

Installing the ZIP package

PowerShell binary ZIP archives are provided to enable advanced deployment scenarios. Download one of the following ZIP archives from the PowerShell-6.2.4-win-x86.zip

Depending on how you download the file you may need to unblock the file using the Unblock-File cmdlet. Unzip the contents to the location of your choice and run pwsh.exe from there. Unlike installing the MSI packages, installing the ZIP archive doesn't check for prerequisites. For remoting over WSMan to work properly, ensure that you've met the prerequisites.

Use this method to install the ARM-based version of PowerShell on computers like the Microsoft Surface Pro X. For best results, install PowerShell to the to $Env:ProgramFiles\\PowerShell\\6 folder.

If you already have the .NET Core SDK installed, you can install PowerShell as a .NET Global tool.

dotnet tool install --global PowerShell

The dotnet tool installer adds $HOME\\.dotnet\\tools to your $Env:PATH environment variable. However, the currently running shell doesn't have the updated $Env:PATH. You can start PowerShell from a new shell by typing pwsh.