Configuration Files

Configure WinGet to match your preferences and workflow by editing the settings.json file. This guide covers all available settings and common configuration patterns.

Accessing Settings

Opening the Settings File

Quickly open settings in your default JSON editor:

winget settings

If no JSON editor is configured, Windows will prompt you to select one. Notepad works fine for basic editing.

File Locations

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

Creating a New Settings File

If creating from scratch, always include the schema reference:

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

Settings files without the $schema property may not provide IntelliSense or validation in your editor.

Source Settings

Auto-Update Interval

Control how frequently WinGet checks for source updates:

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

Configuration Options

Positive integer: Update interval in minutes (checked only when source is used)
0: Disable automatic updates
Default: 15 minutes

Manual updates are always available:

winget source update

Visual Settings

Progress Bar Style

Customize the appearance of progress indicators:

{
  "visual": {
    "progressBar": "accent"
  }
}

Available Styles

Value	Description	Version
`accent`	Uses Windows accent color (default)	1.0
`retro`	Uses current terminal foreground color	1.0
`rainbow`	Cycles through rainbow colors	1.0
`sixel`	Uses sixel images (requires Windows Terminal 1.22.2362+)	1.9
`disabled`	No progress display	1.9

All styles except disabled send Virtual Terminal progress updates that supporting terminals can display.

Disable progress for a single command:

winget install --id Contoso.App --no-progress

Anonymize Paths

Replace known folder paths with environment variables in output:

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

Example: C:\Users\JohnDoe\AppData becomes %LOCALAPPDATA%

Enable Sixels

Enable sixel image output in supported contexts:

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

Install Behavior

Installation Notes

Control whether installation notes appear after successful installs:

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

Portable Package Locations

Customize where portable packages are installed:

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

Paths must be absolute. Defaults:

User: %LOCALAPPDATA%/Microsoft/WinGet/Packages/
Machine: %PROGRAMFILES%/WinGet/Packages/

Dependency Handling

Skip installing package dependencies by default:

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

Archive Extraction Method

Choose how installer archives are extracted:

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

Available Methods

tar: Use tar.exe for extraction
shellApi: Use Windows Shell API (default)

Preferences and Requirements

Preferences affect sorting/selection priority. Requirements filter options, potentially causing installation to fail if unmet.

Scope Preference

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

Preference: Tries user scope first, falls back to machine
Requirement: Only accepts user scope installers

Locale Preference

Prefer specific installer locales:

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

Architecture Preferences

Prioritize specific architectures:

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

Only architectures compatible with your system can be selected.

Installer Type Priority

Define preferred installer types in order:

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

Supported Installer Types

appx, burn, exe, font, inno, msi, msix, msstore, nullsoft, portable, wix, zip

The first matching type in your list will be preferred. Without this setting, WinGet uses the first type listed in the manifest.

Default Install Root

Set default location for packages requiring install paths:

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

The package ID is automatically appended to this path.

Maximum Resumes

Configure automatic command resume attempts:

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

Requires the resume experimental feature to be enabled.

Uninstall Behavior

Purge Portable Packages

Remove all files when uninstalling portable packages:

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

Behavior Details

false (default): Only removes the executable
true: Removes all files and directories related to the portable package

Configure Behavior

Default Module Root

Set where configuration modules are installed:

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

Default: %LOCALAPPDATA%/Microsoft/WinGet/Configuration/Modules

Telemetry

Disable Telemetry

Prevent WinGet from writing ETW events:

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

See the privacy statement for details on data collection.

Logging

Log Level

Control logging verbosity:

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

Available Levels

verbose: Maximum detail
info: Standard information (default)
warning: Warnings and errors only
error: Errors only
critical: Critical issues only

Override with command-line flag:

winget install --id Contoso.App --verbose-logs

Log Channels

Filter which log channels are written:

{
  "logging": {
    "channels": ["CORE", "REPO"]
  }
}

Special Channel Values

default: Default set of channels
all: All available channels

Channel identifiers can be found in log files:

2023-12-06 19:17:07.988 [CORE] WinGet, version [1.7.0-preview]

File Management

Configure automatic log file cleanup:

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

Setting Details

Setting	Description	Default
`ageLimitInDays`	Maximum age of log files	7 days
`totalSizeLimitInMB`	Maximum total size of all logs	128 MB
`countLimit`	Maximum number of log files (0 = disabled)	0
`individualSizeLimitInMB`	Max size per file before wrapping	16 MB

Set any limit to 0 to disable that constraint. Cleanup happens at process start.

Network Settings

Downloader Selection

Choose which download engine to use:

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

Downloader Options

default: WinGet decides (recommended)
wininet: Windows WinINet APIs
do: Delivery Optimization service

Timeout Settings:

doProgressTimeoutInSeconds: Seconds to wait without progress before fallback
Range: 1-600 seconds
Default: 60 seconds

Interactivity

Disable Interactive Prompts

Prevent all interactive prompts from WinGet:

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

This only affects WinGet prompts, not installer UIs. Use --silent for installer control.

Experimental Features

Enable preview features for testing:

{
  "experimentalFeatures": {
    "directMSI": true,
    "resume": true,
    "fonts": true,
    "sourcePriority": true
  }
}

Direct MSI Installation

Install MSI packages using MSI APIs instead of msiexec:

{
  "experimentalFeatures": {
    "directMSI": true
  }
}

Already in effect for silent installations requiring elevation.

Resume Support

Enable command resumption after failures:

{
  "experimentalFeatures": {
    "resume": true
  }
}

Configure in conjunction with installBehavior.maxResumes.

Font Package Support

Enable font family management:

{
  "experimentalFeatures": {
    "fonts": true
  }
}

List installed fonts:

winget font list

Source Priority

Assign priority values to sources:

{
  "experimentalFeatures": {
    "sourcePriority": true
  }
}

Higher priority sources appear earlier in search results. Match quality and field matching still take precedence.

Complete Configuration Example

A comprehensive settings file combining common configurations:

{
  "$schema": "https://aka.ms/winget-settings.schema.json",
  
  "source": {
    "autoUpdateIntervalInMinutes": 30
  },
  
  "visual": {
    "progressBar": "accent",
    "anonymizeDisplayedPaths": true
  },
  
  "installBehavior": {
    "disableInstallNotes": false,
    "portablePackageUserRoot": "C:/Users/Developer/Apps",
    "skipDependencies": false,
    "preferences": {
      "scope": "user",
      "locale": ["en-US"],
      "architectures": ["x64", "x86"],
      "installerTypes": ["msix", "msi", "exe"]
    },
    "defaultInstallRoot": "C:/CustomApps",
    "maxResumes": 3
  },
  
  "uninstallBehavior": {
    "purgePortablePackage": false
  },
  
  "telemetry": {
    "disable": false
  },
  
  "logging": {
    "level": "info",
    "channels": ["default"],
    "file": {
      "ageLimitInDays": 14,
      "totalSizeLimitInMB": 256,
      "individualSizeLimitInMB": 32
    }
  },
  
  "network": {
    "downloader": "default",
    "doProgressTimeoutInSeconds": 90
  },
  
  "interactivity": {
    "disable": false
  },
  
  "experimentalFeatures": {
    "directMSI": false,
    "resume": true,
    "fonts": false,
    "sourcePriority": true
  }
}

Configuration Scenarios

Developer Workstation

{
  "$schema": "https://aka.ms/winget-settings.schema.json",
  "installBehavior": {
    "preferences": {
      "scope": "user",
      "installerTypes": ["portable", "msix", "msi"]
    },
    "portablePackageUserRoot": "C:/Dev/Tools"
  },
  "logging": {
    "level": "verbose"
  },
  "experimentalFeatures": {
    "resume": true,
    "sourcePriority": true
  }
}

Enterprise Deployment

{
  "$schema": "https://aka.ms/winget-settings.schema.json",
  "source": {
    "autoUpdateIntervalInMinutes": 60
  },
  "installBehavior": {
    "preferences": {
      "scope": "machine"
    },
    "disableInstallNotes": true
  },
  "telemetry": {
    "disable": true
  },
  "interactivity": {
    "disable": true
  }
}

Minimal Resource Usage

{
  "$schema": "https://aka.ms/winget-settings.schema.json",
  "visual": {
    "progressBar": "disabled"
  },
  "logging": {
    "level": "error",
    "file": {
      "ageLimitInDays": 3,
      "totalSizeLimitInMB": 32,
      "individualSizeLimitInMB": 8
    }
  },
  "source": {
    "autoUpdateIntervalInMinutes": 1440
  },
  "telemetry": {
    "disable": true
  }
}

Validation and Testing

Verify Settings

After editing, test that settings are valid:

winget --version

If settings are invalid, WinGet will display an error.

IntelliSense Support

Use VS Code or editors with JSON schema support:

Open settings.json in VS Code
Verify schema line is present
Get autocomplete suggestions as you type

Schema Validation

Your editor should validate against the schema automatically. Look for:

Red squiggly underlines for errors
Yellow highlights for warnings
Hover tooltips for field descriptions

Troubleshooting

Settings Not Taking Effect

Verify file location matches your WinGet installation type
Check JSON syntax is valid (no trailing commas, proper quotes)
Restart terminal/command prompt
Check for Group Policy overrides (see Group Policy Guide)

Settings File Corruption

Delete or rename the file and run:

winget settings

This creates a fresh file with schema reference.

Permission Errors

Ensure your user account has write access to the settings directory. For packaged versions, this should be automatic.

Best Practices

Always Include Schema

The $schema property enables validation and autocomplete in editors.

Start Small

Begin with a few settings and add more as needed. Don’t copy entire example configs blindly.

Use Comments Sparingly

JSON doesn’t support comments. Use external documentation instead.

Test Changes

Always test setting changes with simple commands before automation.

Package Management

Learn installation and upgrade workflows

Group Policy

Understand policy overrides for settings

Private Sources

Configure custom package sources

Get Started

Core Concepts

Guides

Configuration

Advanced

​Configuration Files

​Accessing Settings

​Opening the Settings File

​File Locations

​Creating a New Settings File

​Source Settings

​Auto-Update Interval

​Visual Settings

​Progress Bar Style

​Anonymize Paths

​Enable Sixels

​Install Behavior

​Installation Notes

​Portable Package Locations

​Dependency Handling

​Archive Extraction Method

​Preferences and Requirements

​Scope Preference

​Locale Preference

​Architecture Preferences

​Installer Type Priority

​Default Install Root

​Maximum Resumes

​Uninstall Behavior

​Purge Portable Packages

​Configure Behavior

​Default Module Root

​Telemetry

​Disable Telemetry

​Logging

​Log Level

​Log Channels

​File Management

​Network Settings

​Downloader Selection

​Interactivity

​Disable Interactive Prompts

​Experimental Features

​Direct MSI Installation

​Resume Support

​Font Package Support

​Source Priority

​Complete Configuration Example

​Configuration Scenarios

​Validation and Testing

​Verify Settings

​IntelliSense Support

​Schema Validation

​Troubleshooting

​Best Practices

Always Include Schema

Start Small

Use Comments Sparingly

Test Changes

​Related Resources

Package Management

Group Policy

Private Sources

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Configuration Files

Accessing Settings

Opening the Settings File

File Locations

Creating a New Settings File

Source Settings

Auto-Update Interval

Visual Settings

Progress Bar Style

Anonymize Paths

Enable Sixels

Install Behavior

Installation Notes

Portable Package Locations

Dependency Handling

Archive Extraction Method

Preferences and Requirements

Scope Preference

Locale Preference

Architecture Preferences

Installer Type Priority

Default Install Root

Maximum Resumes

Uninstall Behavior

Purge Portable Packages

Configure Behavior

Default Module Root

Telemetry

Disable Telemetry

Logging

Log Level

Log Channels

File Management

Network Settings

Downloader Selection

Interactivity

Disable Interactive Prompts

Experimental Features

Direct MSI Installation

Resume Support

Font Package Support

Source Priority

Complete Configuration Example

Configuration Scenarios

Validation and Testing

Verify Settings

IntelliSense Support

Schema Validation

Troubleshooting

Best Practices

Related Resources