One of the new features of Windows 8 was the Windows App Store, the Microsoft Store. This store, although it had a bad start, has gradually improved (especially in the last years of Windows 10 and the first years of Windows 11) until it became an excellent alternative to download and install programs in Windows. But Microsoft was not entirely happy, and missed the Linux “APT” command in its operating system. For this reason, 4 years ago, it launched “WinGet”.
WinGet, or Windows Package Manager, is a package manager that allows us to Download and install applications from PowerShellMicrosoft has a large software repository, connected to the Microsoft Store, and with this command we can search for programs, download them, install them and even update them.
Now, Microsoft has given this tool an extra push. With the new version 1.8 of WinGet, we will be able to do something that we have been waiting for for a long time.
Download and save apps from the Microsoft Store
The new WinGet 1.8 has introduced the possibility of downloading the installer of the programs, and saving it on the computer instead of deleting it once the program is installed. In this way, we will be able to save a copy of the installers of all our programs to, for example, make sure that we always have them at hand or if for some reason we want to return to a specific version of the tool.
To save a program’s installer, we first need to make sure that we have downloaded and installed this version. And, once installed, run the following command:
winget download app -s msstore
We need to replace “app” with the name of the package, or application, that we want to download. We need to pay attention to the “-s” parameter in the command. This command is what will tell WinGet that we want to save the installer.
To install the program later without using WinGet, we can do it in two ways. Either by double-clicking on the program (as this will open the Windows package manager), or by using the command “Add-AppxPackage -Path”, followed by the path to the .appx file that you downloaded in the previous point, to install it from PowerShell.
It is also possible to install other types of programs using WinGet, such as EXE, ZIP, INNO, NULLSOFT, MSI, MSIX and portable programs.
Install WinGet
To use WinGet, all you have to do is download and install this program. It is an open source tool, completely free, which you can download from its GitHub repository at this link.
The program will be downloaded in a file with the extension “msixbundle”. Therefore, to install it we just have to double-click on it and follow the steps that will be indicated. This program works on both Windows 10 and Windows 11, so we can use it on either of these two systems.
Microsoft has confirmed that, starting with the next version, WinGet 1.9, users will be able to easily activate the experimental functions that are arriving to the tool. We are sure to have more than one surprise once this version of the program arrives, although for now we have to wait.