How to upgrade PowerShell version

Question

Lately, firing up PowerShell, I noticed that there is a phrase that says:

Install the latest PowerShell for new features and improvements! https://aka.ms/PSWindows

So why not trying it following the actual Microsoft documentation:

I run $PSVersionTable and the version installed is 5.1
I run winget search Microsoft.PowerShell and it says that version 7.2 is available as well as the 7.3 preview version
I run winget install --id Microsoft.Powershell --source winget and version 7.2 is installed
I run $PSVersionTable again and I'm still on 5.1

Let's try to install it through dotnet:

I run dotnet tool install --global PowerShell and the terminal says Tool 'powershell' (version '7.2.6') was successfully installed.
I run $PSVersionTable and I'm still on 5.1

I'm following the current Microsoft documentation, where am I wrong?

score 4 · Accepted Answer · answered Oct 03 '22 at 19:31

4

Powershell 7 (core) is its own application. Search for pwsh.exe and run that

answered Oct 03 '22 at 19:31

Fitzgery

That is true, `pwsh.exe` made the trick. But why I cannot set PowerShell 7 as the default PowerShell? – Francesco Mantovani Oct 03 '22 at 19:34
1

@FrancescoMantovani PS 7 isn't fully compatible with PS 5.1, so it's best to keep both installed in parallel. And why bother, when `pwsh` is even shorter to type than `powershell`. – zett42 Oct 03 '22 at 19:45
Good point, I was just curious. Thank you – Francesco Mantovani Oct 03 '22 at 19:51
@FrancescoMantovani In case you are wondering what the changes from PS 5.1 to PS 7.x are, here is a good overview: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/scripting/whats-new/differences-from-windows-powershell?view=powershell-7.2 – zett42 Oct 04 '22 at 15:15

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Mar 28 '23 at 15:06

You don't need to upgrade it, as the other answer suggests (they should cohabit), but you can default to the newer one in windows terminal.

This blog showed me how, it's very simple:

Thanks, cody!

2 Answers2