WinGet is a package manager that is built into Windows, which is why I choose to use it over other alternative package managers like Scoop and chocolatey chocolatey.
The WinGet ecosystem seems to be improving gradually over time since its inception in 2019. More and more Windows apps are starting to use WinGet as their preferred method of distribution. I’ve noticed that some tools that I installed manually, like Google Drive, and other software that was automatically pushed to me, like Logitech Options, were actually using WinGet to do the installation, as their entries showed up unexpectedly when I ran winget list
Usage
Ensure WinGet itself is up to date
To fix some initial issues using WinGet on my system, I had to install the latest version of WinGet manually by downloading and running the
msixbundlefrom https://github.com/microsoft/winget-cli/releases
My general strategy using WinGet to install something is to:
- do a
winget search "app name"to see matching entries, - then survey the list to see which package IDs look like the correct or most official version I am after,
- and then I run
winget install -e --id Example.Package.IDinstall the exact package I am after.
To uninstall a package, run winget uninstall Example.Package.ID.
To list all packages that have new updates, run winget update, and to actually install all updates, run winget update --all. After doing this, be on standby for any UAC prompts from Windows, as the installers will be running in the background.
GUI Usage
I’ve discovered UniGetUI which is a graphical utility that covers WinGet, Scoop, chocolatey and a bunch of other package managers. It’s a rapidly evolving piece of software, so it does have its quirks, but it makes managing WinGet packages (e.g. checking for and installing updates) much easier without having to remember all the CLI commands.
Install UniGetUI through WinGet itself by running winget install --exact --id SomePythonThings.WingetUIStore --source winget.
Conserving Resource Usage
UniGetUI likes to run in the background in the system tray, which does consume some resources. If conserving battery power is important, it can be a good idea to fully terminate it from the system tray icon, or turn off the system tray functionally entirely inside the app settings:
Settings > User interface preferences > Show UniGetUI on the system tray