How to Install PowerShell Core 6.0 in Windows 10

PowerShell version that comes pre-installed with the Windows 10 computers is usually version 5.1 but now you can enjoy using the PowerShell Core 6.0 on your Windows 10 PC. This is not an upgrade of the version 5.1 to version 6.0, but it is rather a side-by-side installation of both the versions. In fact the PowerShell 5.1 installed in Windows 10 is included with .NET framework. While the PowerShell Core 6.0 is a separate version of PowerShell based on the .NET version 2.0. The PowerShell Core 6.0 is open-source and can be downloaded from the GitHub website.

Here is how you can download and install PowerShell Core 6.0 in your Windows 10 PC:

  1. Visit https://github.com/PowerShell/PowerShell/releases and find a download file appropriate for your system. Most people will pick the PowerShell-6.0.0-win-x64.msi file for download. If you are using 32-bit of Windows 10, then you can download PowerShell-6.0.0-win-x86.msi file. If you have an ARM processor based device (usually tablets and 2-in-1 devices) then there are other downloads for you.Install PowerShell Core 6.0
  2. Launch the installer by double-clicking on the MSI file and follow on-screen instructions. Make sure you do not choose a conflicting installation folder for the PowerShell Core.
  3. After the installation is finished, you can launch it from the Start Menu by looking up “PowerShell Core 6.0”. You can check the version by using the familiar command Get-Host | Select-Object Version.Install PowerShell Core 6.0

The PowerShell Core does not replace or upgrade the already installed Windows PowerShell. They both work side-by-side on the same PC. The Windows PowerShell has the executable powershell.exe while the PowerShell Core has the executable pwsh.exe so that you can use them both at the same time. You will be able to perhaps upgrade the Windows PowerShell to new version when Microsoft released a new version of .NET Framework.

For further information, you can find the Microsoft’s own blog about installing PowerShell Core 6.0 in Windows and explaining the difference between Windows PowerShell and PowerShell Core at https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/scripting/setup/Installing-PowerShell-Core-on-Windows?view=powershell-6.

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