Installing software on Windows usually goes like this: find the website, find the right download, click through an installer and hope no extra toolbar comes along. And then it all has to stay up to date. Chocolatey is a package manager for Windows that does all of that with one command, the way you know it from Linux or Homebrew on the Mac. Handy for your own PC, and especially for admins who look after dozens of devices.
What is Chocolatey?
Chocolatey takes programs from a central package repository and installs them silently, without questions. A package is a small script that knows where the official installer lives and which options to run it with. The community repository holds thousands of programs, from browsers and 7-Zip to developer tools. Because everything runs from the command line, you can also use it in scripts.
Install Chocolatey
- Go to chocolatey.org/install and copy the install command for PowerShell.
- Open PowerShell as administrator (right-click Start > Terminal (Admin)).
- Paste the command and press Enter. The script installs Chocolatey in
C:\ProgramData\chocolatey. - Close the window, open a new admin window and check with
choco -v.
The key commands
choco search vlc # find a package
choco install googlechrome 7zip vlc -y # several programs at once
choco outdated # what can be updated?
choco upgrade all -y # update everything
choco list # what is installed?
choco uninstall vlc -y # remove a program
choco pin add -n=googlechrome # stop updating a programThe -y option answers yes to every question, so the installation runs without interruption. With choco pin you lock a version, for example when a new version of a program doesn't work with your other software yet.
A new PC in five minutes
Put the programs you always use in a list. choco export creates a packages.config file of everything installed now. On a new PC you install Chocolatey and then the whole list in one go:
choco export C:\backup\packages.config
choco install C:\backup\packages.config -yIdeal after a reinstall, or for a new colleague who needs the same tools.
Keep everything up to date automatically
Outdated software is one of the easiest ways in for attackers. So schedule choco upgrade all -y with Windows Task Scheduler, for example every Monday at noon, with the highest privileges. Your PC then updates itself without you having to think about it. Prefer clicking? The free Chocolatey GUI (choco install chocolateygui) shows all your packages with a button to update them.
Chocolatey or winget?
Windows now also has its own package manager: winget. Both largely do the same:
- winget is built into Windows 10 and 11, uses a repository maintained by Microsoft and the community, and updates everything with
winget upgrade --all. Read using winget. - Chocolatey has been around longer, has a very large repository including many older and niche programs, packages you can customise, and a paid edition for businesses with extra management.
At home winget is often enough. If you need a program it doesn't have, or want real control over packages, Chocolatey is still strong. You can use both side by side, as long as each program is installed by only one of them.
In an organisation
- Packages in the community repository are reviewed, but they do download the installer from the internet. Businesses therefore often set up their own internal source with approved packages.
- For managed PCs, prefer Microsoft Intune: deploy apps as Win32 apps, possibly with a Chocolatey or winget command in the install script. Read deploy Win32 apps with Intune.
- Use PowerShell 7 for your management scripts.