Use winget, Microsoft’s package manager, to quickly reinstall all your favorite software on your machine, without having to search all over the web for it and start installing it manually.
Microsoft unveiled last year a preview of a new package manager, winget. This utility, which is inspired by the famous Linux apt-get, allows you to quickly download and install a lot of software on Windows 10, without having to manually download and install it. What to save you precious time when you reinstall essential software for Windows after a clean reinstallation of the Microsoft operating system on your PC for example.
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Devoid of a graphical interface, winget works in command lines. If it turns off more than one at first glance, the use of winget and the mastery of its various commands are not insurmountable, even for a user uncomfortable with this kind of procedure.
1. Download winget
First, download winget on your Windows 10 PC. You should recover a file in .appxbundle format.
Download winget for Windows 10 (Free)
Double-click on it to initiate the installation, then in the window that appears, click Update.
2. Open PowerShell
To use winget on Windows, you need to open the PowerShell command interpreter in administrator mode.
To do this, right-click on the Windows 10 Start menu, and click Windows PowerShell (Admin).
3. Launch winget
To launch winget in PowerShell and get more information about this package manager, just type the winget command and hit enter on your keyboard.
Winget is open and displays the list of usable commands. To execute a winget command, you must always enter winget followed by your command.
4. Display the list of available software
The winget package manager allows you to install software hosted directly on the Microsoft repository. To display the complete list of software available on the Microsoft repository, type winget search and validate by pressing the Enter key on the keyboard.
The list of installable software is long, do not hesitate to go back up to find out about all the programs that interest you. Take this opportunity to write down the names of those you want to install.
You can also manually search for software by running the winget search YourSoftwareName command. Winget will then indicate whether the software is available or not. You can then proceed to the next step to install it directly.
If the desired program is not offered, Winget will display the message No package matches the selected criteria.
5. Install software
Installing software from winget is trivial. To do this, enter the command winget install NameOfYourSoftware and validate, by pressing the Enter key.
The program is instantly downloaded and installed on your machine. You just have to wait a few seconds. Repeat the operation as many times as necessary to install all the software you need.