how to update all installed apps

Do you have a large amount of applications installed on your PC and want to make sure they are all updated? No need to consult the website of each software one by one: this little tool integrated into Windows allows you to check if updates to your favorite applications exist, to download and install them automatically.

When we tend to install a host of applications under Windows 10 or Windows 11it is not easy to follow their evolution and find your way in their update. Certainly, some software does its own update as soon as you launch the operating system (an update tool works in the background), or as soon as you run the software in question. But this is not the case for all applications.

And the more software you install under Windows 10, the more you will need to remember to update it regularly. A tedious operation, and yet so necessary to benefit from new features and the latest security updates. Fortunately, Microsoft has developed a small utility that can do all the work for you. Here’s how to use Winget : this tool distributed free of charge by Microsoft allows, among other things, to automatically update the applications installed on your PC.

How to Quickly Update Installed Apps on Windows

First of all, start by making sure that the Winget application is present on your PC:

1. To do this, open a command prompt from the Windows 10 or Windows 11 Start menu, or simply enter orders (or even cmd if you’re in a hurry) from the search box on the taskbar. In the window that appears, simply enter Winget. If a list of commands is displayed, the application is installed on your PC.
2. Otherwise, you should find Winget in the Microsoft Store (the simplest option) or on Github, at this address: https://github.com/microsoft/winget-cli. On the right side, click Releases > Windows Package Manager. You should find a file there with the extension msixbundle. It is this executable that you will need to download and install to obtain Winget.
3. Once the application is installed, you will first have to accept the conditions of the source contracts by pressing the Y key.
4. From the Command Prompt that appears, you can easily view the list of all the applications already installed on your PC that require an update. To do this, enter the following command:
   winget list –upgrade-available
5. To automatically download and install any of the apps in the list above, simply enter the following command:
   winget upgrade
   Instead of the term , simply enter the name of the application as it appears in the left column (the one represented by a red box in the screenshot above). For example, in the case that concerns us, we launched an update of the Teamviewer application by entering the command winget upgrade teamviewer.
6. If the name of the application is composed of several terms separated by a space, do not hesitate to use quotation marks. For example, enter the command winget upgrade “OpenVPN Connect” to update OpenVPN VPN.
7. Last little tip: rather than updating each application one by one, you can carry out the operation all at once. To do this, enter the following command:
   winget upgrade –all

Creating a small file with the extension .bat and inserting this last command line, you have a tool capable of updating all your applications with a single click. Run it from time to time (no need to do it every day), and the applications on your PC are updated automatically and as easily as possible.

Why update your applications on Windows?

Regardless of the operating system, regularly updating your applications is fundamental. An update can give you new featuresAll by fixing bugs discovered from the previous version(s) of the application. But an update is also essential sincea security vulnerability has been discovered.

Apart from Winget, it is also possible to update Windows 10 and Windows 11 applications via the Microsoft Store. To do this, launch the Microsoft Store application accessible from the Start menu then, from the left bar, go to the Library button, then click on the button Get updates. Note, however, that the list of applications that can benefit from an update differs from that offered by Winget. And this is normal, since the Microsoft Store focuses on its own applications, while Winget relies on software identified by the community.

Other functions of Winget

If until now we have used the Windows 11 Command Prompt to use Winget, know that the application also works with Windows PowerShell.

The app is packed with features. Since the 23H2 update of Windows 11, Winget allows you toinstall application packages, always via a simple command line (exactly like Linux has done for decades). But before installing them, you still need to know if this software is available. The good news is that Winget includes its own search engine. For example, the command Winget search VLC allows you to view the different available packages of the VLC application. The command Winget install VLC will then allow you to install the software in question.

Many other functions are also accessible from Winget. Just enter the command Winget for a detailed description or go to the Microsoft website at https://learn.microsoft.com/fr-fr/windows/package-manager/winget/.