Settings Configuration

You can configure WinGet by editing the settings.json file. Running winget settings will open the file in the default JSON editor.

File Location

The settings file is located at: Packaged version (Microsoft Store):

%LOCALAPPDATA%\Packages\Microsoft.DesktopAppInstaller_8wekyb3d8bbwe\LocalState\settings.json

Non-packaged version (built from source):

%LOCALAPPDATA%\Microsoft\WinGet\Settings\settings.json

When creating a settings file from scratch, include the schema reference:

{
  "$schema": "https://aka.ms/winget-settings.schema.json"
}

Opening Settings

Use the winget settings command to open the settings file in your default JSON editor:

winget settings

Source Settings

Control how WinGet updates package source repositories.

Auto Update Interval

source.autoUpdateIntervalInMinutes

integer

default:"15"

Update interval for package sources in minutes. Set to 0 to disable automatic updates.

{
  "source": {
    "autoUpdateIntervalInMinutes": 3
  }
}

Source updates only happen when a source is used. To manually update sources, use winget source update.

Visual Settings

Customize the visual appearance of WinGet output.

Progress Bar

visual.progressBar

string

default:"accent"

Style of the progress bar displayed during operations.

Available values:

Value	Description	Version
`accent`	Use Windows Accent color	1.0+
`retro`	Use current foreground terminal color	1.0+
`rainbow`	Progress through rainbow colors	1.0+
`sixel`	Use sixel images (requires compatible terminal)	1.9+
`disabled`	No progress display	1.9+

{
  "visual": {
    "progressBar": "rainbow"
  }
}

You can disable progress for a single command using the --no-progress flag, which overrides this setting.

Path Anonymization

visual.anonymizeDisplayedPaths

boolean

default:"true"

Replace known folder paths with environment variables in output.

{
  "visual": {
    "anonymizeDisplayedPaths": true
  }
}

Sixel Images

visual.enableSixels

boolean

default:"false"

Enable output of sixel images in certain contexts.

{
  "visual": {
    "enableSixels": true
  }
}

Install Behavior

Configure default installation behavior for packages.

Install Notes

installBehavior.disableInstallNotes

boolean

default:"false"

Disable display of installation notes after successful installation.

{
  "installBehavior": {
    "disableInstallNotes": true
  }
}

Portable Package Directories

installBehavior.portablePackageUserRoot

string

default:"%LOCALAPPDATA%/Microsoft/WinGet/Packages/"

Root directory for portable packages installed under User scope.

installBehavior.portablePackageMachineRoot

string

default:"%PROGRAMFILES%/WinGet/Packages/"

Root directory for portable packages installed under Machine scope.

These paths must be absolute paths.

{
  "installBehavior": {
    "portablePackageUserRoot": "C:/Users/MyUser/Packages",
    "portablePackageMachineRoot": "C:/Program Files/Packages/Portable"
  }
}

Dependencies

installBehavior.skipDependencies

boolean

default:"false"

Skip installation of package dependencies.

{
  "installBehavior": {
    "skipDependencies": true
  }
}

Archive Extraction

installBehavior.archiveExtractionMethod

string

default:"shellApi"

Method used to extract installer archives.

Available values:

shellApi - Use Windows Shell API
tar - Use tar executable (tar.exe)

{
  "installBehavior": {
    "archiveExtractionMethod": "tar"
  }
}

Preferences and Requirements

Understanding Preferences vs Requirements

Preferences affect how available options are sorted when choosing installers. For example, preferring user scope but falling back to machine scope if unavailable.Requirements filter options and may result in installation failure if no matching installer is found.Command-line arguments override matching requirement settings for that command.

These settings only apply to winget install command, not winget configure or other commands.

Scope Preference

installBehavior.preferences.scope

string

default:"user"

Preferred installation scope.

{
  "installBehavior": {
    "preferences": {
      "scope": "user"
    },
    "requirements": {
      "scope": "machine"
    }
  }
}

Locale Preference

installBehavior.preferences.locale

array

Preferred installer locales using BCP47 language tags.

{
  "installBehavior": {
    "preferences": {
      "locale": ["en-US", "fr-FR"]
    }
  }
}

Architecture Preference

installBehavior.preferences.architectures

array

Preferred architectures for package installation. Only compatible architectures can be selected.

{
  "installBehavior": {
    "preferences": {
      "architectures": ["x64", "arm64"]
    }
  }
}

Installer Type Preference

installBehavior.preferences.installerTypes

array

Preferred installer types in priority order.

Available installer types: appx, burn, exe, font, inno, msi, msix, msstore, nullsoft, portable, wix, zip

{
  "installBehavior": {
    "preferences": {
      "installerTypes": ["msi", "msix"]
    }
  }
}

Default Install Root

installBehavior.defaultInstallRoot

string

Default installation location for packages that require one.

{
  "installBehavior": {
    "defaultInstallRoot": "C:/installRoot"
  }
}

This setting is only used when a package manifest includes InstallLocationRequired. The package ID is appended to this root path.

Maximum Resumes

installBehavior.maxResumes

integer

default:"3"

Maximum number of automatic command resumes.

{
  "installBehavior": {
    "maxResumes": 3
  }
}

The resume behavior requires the experimental resume feature to be enabled.

Uninstall Behavior

Purge Portable Packages

uninstallBehavior.purgePortablePackage

boolean

default:"false"

Remove all files and directories when uninstalling portable packages.

{
  "uninstallBehavior": {
    "purgePortablePackage": true
  }
}

Configure Behavior

Settings for configuration file processing.

Default Module Root

configureBehavior.defaultModuleRoot

string

Root directory where PowerShell modules are installed when applying configurations.

This must be an absolute path.

{
  "configureBehavior": {
    "defaultModuleRoot": "C:/Program Files/Modules/"
  }
}

Telemetry

Control telemetry data collection.

telemetry.disable

boolean

default:"false"

Disable all telemetry event writing.

{
  "telemetry": {
    "disable": true
  }
}

Logging

Configure logging behavior and log file management.

Log Level

logging.level

string

default:"info"

Logging detail level.

Available levels: verbose, info, warning, error, critical

{
  "logging": {
    "level": "verbose"
  }
}

The --verbose-logs command flag overrides this setting and always creates verbose logs.

Log Channels

logging.channels

array

default:"[\"default\"]"

Specific logging channels to enable.

Available channels: fail, cli, sql, repo, yaml, core, test, config, default, all

{
  "logging": {
    "channels": ["default"]
  }
}

Log File Management

logging.file.ageLimitInDays

integer

default:"7"

Maximum age in days before log files are deleted. Set to 0 to disable.

logging.file.totalSizeLimitInMB

integer

default:"128"

Maximum total size in MB for all log files. Oldest files deleted first. Set to 0 to disable.

logging.file.countLimit

integer

default:"0"

Maximum number of log files to retain. Oldest files deleted first. Set to 0 to disable (default).

logging.file.individualSizeLimitInMB

integer

default:"16"

Maximum size in MB for individual log files. Logs wrap when exceeded. Set to 0 to disable.

{
  "logging": {
    "file": {
      "ageLimitInDays": 7,
      "totalSizeLimitInMB": 128,
      "countLimit": 0,
      "individualSizeLimitInMB": 16
    }
  }
}

Automatic cleanup happens at the beginning of each WinGet process and only applies to the default log location.

Network Settings

Configure network behavior for package downloads.

Downloader

network.downloader

string

default:"default"

Download implementation to use.

Available options:

default - Automatically chosen by WinGet
wininet - Use WinINet APIs
do - Use Delivery Optimization service

network.doProgressTimeoutInSeconds

integer

default:"60"

Seconds to wait without progress before fallback (1-600).

{
  "network": {
    "downloader": "do",
    "doProgressTimeoutInSeconds": 60
  }
}

Interactivity

Control interactive prompts from WinGet.

interactivity.disable

boolean

default:"false"

Prevent all interactive prompts from WinGet itself (not package installers).

{
  "interactivity": {
    "disable": true
  }
}

This only affects prompts from WinGet, not from package installers.

Complete Example

Here’s a complete settings.json file with commonly used options:

{
  "$schema": "https://aka.ms/winget-settings.schema.json",
  "source": {
    "autoUpdateIntervalInMinutes": 15
  },
  "visual": {
    "progressBar": "accent",
    "anonymizeDisplayedPaths": true
  },
  "installBehavior": {
    "preferences": {
      "scope": "user",
      "locale": ["en-US"],
      "architectures": ["x64"]
    },
    "disableInstallNotes": false,
    "skipDependencies": false
  },
  "uninstallBehavior": {
    "purgePortablePackage": false
  },
  "telemetry": {
    "disable": false
  },
  "network": {
    "downloader": "default",
    "doProgressTimeoutInSeconds": 60
  },
  "logging": {
    "level": "info",
    "channels": ["default"]
  },
  "experimentalFeatures": {
    "directMSI": false,
    "fonts": false,
    "sourcePriority": false
  }
}

Get Started

Core Concepts

Guides

Configuration

Advanced

​Settings Configuration

​File Location

​Opening Settings

​Source Settings

​Auto Update Interval

​Visual Settings

​Progress Bar

​Path Anonymization

​Sixel Images

​Install Behavior

​Install Notes

​Portable Package Directories

​Dependencies

​Archive Extraction

​Preferences and Requirements

​Scope Preference

​Locale Preference

​Architecture Preference

​Installer Type Preference

​Default Install Root

​Maximum Resumes

​Uninstall Behavior

​Purge Portable Packages

​Configure Behavior

​Default Module Root

​Telemetry

​Logging

​Log Level

​Log Channels

​Log File Management

​Network Settings

​Downloader

​Interactivity

​Complete Example

​See Also

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Settings Configuration

File Location

Opening Settings

Source Settings

Auto Update Interval

Visual Settings

Progress Bar

Path Anonymization

Sixel Images

Install Behavior

Install Notes

Portable Package Directories

Dependencies

Archive Extraction

Preferences and Requirements

Scope Preference

Locale Preference

Architecture Preference

Installer Type Preference

Default Install Root

Maximum Resumes

Uninstall Behavior

Purge Portable Packages

Configure Behavior

Default Module Root

Telemetry

Logging

Log Level

Log Channels

Log File Management

Network Settings

Downloader

Interactivity

Complete Example

See Also