How to install Python on Windows

Installing Python on Windows provides a supported interpreter for scripts, virtual environments, package management, and automation without relying on older manual PATH edits or mixed launcher setups that tend to break later.

Current Python for Windows centers on the Python install manager, which provides the global python, py, and pymanager commands and keeps runtime installation separate from the bootstrap tool that manages them. Using the install manager keeps the default stable CPython runtime easy to install, update, and switch when a project later needs a specific version tag.

Current supported guidance for the install-manager workflow targets Windows 10 and newer. Older Windows releases need older Python branches and the legacy installer path, so the steps below assume Windows 10 or Windows 11 with WinGet available and call out the alias and PATH refresh points that matter when older launcher installs or disabled app execution aliases prevent python or py from resolving cleanly.

1. Open Windows Terminal, PowerShell, or Command Prompt.
2. Check that WinGet is available on the system.

   C:\> winget --version
   v1.12.350

   Python documentation recommends WinGet as the simplest command-line entry point for installing the Python install manager on supported Windows releases.

3. Install the current Python install manager package.

   C:\> winget install 9NQ7512CXL7T -e --accept-package-agreements --disable-interactivity
   Found Python install manager [9NQ7512CXL7T] Version 25.0
   Successfully installed

   Current Python documentation shows the exact-match WinGet install with package-agreement acceptance as the supported programmatic path for the Python install manager on Windows 10 and newer.

   The same install manager is also available from the Microsoft Store app or as the python.org MSIX package when WinGet is not the preferred delivery path.

   An older standalone Python Launcher for Windows can still own the py command. Remove or update that legacy launcher if the next py commands do not resolve to the install-manager workflow.

4. Apply the install manager's recommended configuration changes.

   C:\> py install --configure -y

   This runs the configuration checker non-interactively so the default aliases and global shortcut locations are registered for the current user.

5. Install the default stable Python 3 runtime.

   C:\> py install default
   Installed Python 3.14.3

   The special default tag tracks the current stable CPython release. Use a specific tag such as 3.14 when a project requires a fixed minor version.

6. Confirm that the default python command starts the installed runtime.

   C:\> python --version
   Python 3.14.3

   The install manager also uses py list to show which runtime is currently treated as the default when multiple installs exist.

   If python still opens the Microsoft Store or either command is missing, open Manage app execution aliases and refresh the Python (default) and Python install manager aliases. Systems with a trimmed user PATH also need the default WindowsApps entry restored.

7. Verify that the bundled pip module responds through the same interpreter.

   C:\> python -m pip --version
   pip 26.0.1 from C:\Users\example.user\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python314\Lib\site-packages\pip (python 3.14)

   Using python -m pip keeps package management bound to the same interpreter that answered python --version, which avoids whichever standalone pip.exe appears first in PATH.

   The user-profile path in this example is masked, but the important success signal is a pip version line that points back to the same Python 3.14 install tree.

   If this fails with No module named pip, repair the installed runtime or bootstrap the bundled pip copy before adding packages.

   Related: How to install pip on Windows
   Related: How to install third-party packages in Python using pip
   Related: How to create a virtual environment in Python