How to Install WinGet on Windows LTSC (IoT) Without The Microsoft Store

Windows Package Manager

In some cases, you cannot use Microsoft Store so, you cannot install or update App Installer. And when you install an app using Windows Package Manager, you get the following error.

Method 1: Install WinGet without Micosoft Store manually

To fix it, we’ll install Windows Package Manager without Microsoft Store. Before you begin, you need install dependencies stuff.

1️⃣ Right click on Windows start icon then select Windows PowerShell Admin or Windows Terminal Admin in Windows 11 and keep it open throughout this guide.

2️⃣ Download the correct VC++ v14 Desktop Framework Package for your architecture. Winget v1.2.10271 introduced a new dependency for Microsoft.UI.Xaml.2.7 and above which you have to install manually.

Add-AppxPackage "https://aka.ms/Microsoft.VCLibs.x64.14.00.Desktop.appx"

3️⃣ Download the latest version of Microsoft.UI.Xaml from Microsoft to the temp folder.

Set-Location "$env:temp"
$uri = 'https://github.com/microsoft/microsoft-ui-xaml/releases/download/v2.8.5/Microsoft.UI.Xaml.2.8.x64.appx'
Invoke-WebRequest -Uri $uri -OutFile 'Microsoft.UI.Xaml.2.8.x64.appx'

4️⃣ Install Microsoft.UI.Xaml with Add-AppxPackage cmdlet.

Add-AppxPackage Microsoft.UI.Xaml.2.8.x64.appx

5️⃣ Download the latest version of WinGet from GitHub. Then using Add-AppxProvisionedPackge command to install the Windows Package Manager.

# Download winget and license file the install it
Write-Host "Installing Windows Package Manager..." -ForegroundColor Green
function getLink($match) {
    $uri = "https://api.github.com/repos/microsoft/winget-cli/releases/latest"
    $get = Invoke-RestMethod -uri $uri -Method Get -ErrorAction stop
    $data = $get[0].assets | Where-Object name -Match $match
    return $data.browser_download_url
}

$url = getLink("msixbundle")
$licenseUrl = getLink("License1.xml")

# Finally, install winget
$fileName = 'winget.msixbundle'
$licenseName = 'license1.xml'

(New-Object Net.WebClient).DownloadFile($url, "$env:temp\$fileName")
(New-Object Net.WebClient).DownloadFile($licenseUrl, "$env:temp\$licenseName")

Add-AppxProvisionedPackage -Online -PackagePath $fileName -LicensePath $licenseName

6️⃣ You can run the below command to verify the Winget is installed successfully.

$packages = @("Microsoft.VCLibs","DesktopAppInstaller","UI.Xaml")
ForEach ($package in $packages){
    Get-AppxPackage -Name *$package* | select Name,Version,Status
}

Name                               Version        Status
----                               -------        ------
Microsoft.VCLibs.140.00.UWPDesktop 14.0.30704.0       Ok
Microsoft.DesktopAppInstaller      1.19.10173.0       Ok
Microsoft.UI.Xaml.2.7              7.2109.13004.0     Ok

7️⃣ Now, open Windows PowerShell or Windows Command Prompt then run the winget command to install an app.

PS C:\Users\admin\Downloads> winget
Windows Package Manager v1.3.2091
Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

The winget command line utility enables installing applications and other packages from the command line.

usage: winget [<command>] [<options>]

The following commands are available:
  install    Installs the given package
  show       Shows information about a package
  source     Manage sources of packages
  search     Find and show basic info of packages
  list       Display installed packages
  upgrade    Shows and performs available upgrades
  uninstall  Uninstalls the given package
  hash       Helper to hash installer files
  validate   Validates a manifest file
  settings   Open settings or set administrator settings
  features   Shows the status of experimental features
  export     Exports a list of the installed packages
  import     Installs all the packages in a file

For more details on a specific command, pass it the help argument. [-?]

The following options are available:
  -v,--version  Display the version of the tool
  --info        Display general info of the tool

More help can be found at: https://aka.ms/winget-command-help

Method 2: Install Windows Package Manager using script

Alternatively, if you don’t need to do it manually. You can use the below script for automatic installation.

Note Note: Please inspect https://www.powershellgallery.com/packages/winget-install prior to running any of these scripts to ensure safety. We already know it's safe, but you should verify the security and contents of any script from the internet you are not familiar with.

1️⃣ Open PowerShell as administrator.

2️⃣ Copy and paste all below code into PowerShell window then hit Enter.