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Installing PowerShell

PowerShell 7+ is available on Windows, macOS, and Linux. Choose your platform below.

Windows

  1. Go to the PowerShell releases page
  2. Download the .msi file for your architecture (x64 for most systems)
  3. Run the installer and follow the prompts
  4. Open Windows Terminal or search for PowerShell 7 in the Start menu
winget install Microsoft.PowerShell

scoop install pwsh

choco install powershell-core

Windows PowerShell vs PowerShell 7

Windows still ships with Windows PowerShell 5.1 (powershell.exe). PowerShell 7+ installs alongside it as pwsh.exe — they do not replace each other.

macOS

brew install --cask powershell
pwsh   # launch

Download the .pkg file from the releases page and run it.

Linux

# Register the Microsoft repository
wget -q "https://packages.microsoft.com/config/ubuntu/$(lsb_release -rs)/packages-microsoft-prod.deb"
sudo dpkg -i packages-microsoft-prod.deb

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install -y powershell

pwsh   # launch

sudo rpm --import https://packages.microsoft.com/keys/microsoft.asc
sudo dnf install -y powershell

sudo snap install powershell --classic

docker run -it mcr.microsoft.com/powershell

Verify Your Installation

After installing, confirm the version:

$PSVersionTable

Expected output (version numbers will vary):

Name                           Value
----                           -----
PSVersion                      7.5.0
PSEdition                      Core
GitCommitId                    7.5.0
OS                             Microsoft Windows 10.0.22621
Platform                       Win32NT
PSCompatibleVersions           {1.0, 2.0, 3.0, 4.0…}
PSRemotingProtocolVersion      2.3
SerializationVersion           1.1.0.1
WSManStackVersion              3.0

Setting Up the Execution Policy (Windows)

On Windows, scripts are blocked by default. Allow locally-written scripts to run:

Set-ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned -Scope CurrentUser
Policy What it allows
Restricted No scripts at all (default on Windows)
AllSigned Only code-signed scripts
RemoteSigned Local scripts + signed remote scripts
Unrestricted All scripts (not recommended)
Bypass Nothing blocked — use only in pipelines
Tool Purpose
VS Code + PowerShell Extension Best editor with IntelliSense, debugging, and integrated terminal
Windows Terminal Modern tabbed terminal that works great with pwsh
PSReadLine Included in PS 7 — syntax highlighting and predictive IntelliSense in the console
oh-my-posh Beautiful prompt themes
posh-git Git status in your prompt

Next Step

Your First Commands