How do I install Claude Code on Windows?

Read the video transcript

1. 0:00 SMGP explains. How to install Claude Code on Windows. In about a minute.
2. 0:06 Claude Code runs natively on Windows now.
3. 0:08 No Linux layer required. One command in PowerShell or CMD.
4. 0:14 What you need first.
5. 0:16 Windows 10 or 11.
6. 0:17 A paid Claude plan, or a Console account.
7. 0:19 PowerShell or Command Prompt. Both ship with Windows.
8. 0:20 Know which one you are in. PS at the prompt means PowerShell.
9. 0:26 Install these two first.
10. 0:27 Git for Windows. It gives Claude Code its Bash tool.
11. 0:29 Node.js. It brings npm and npx for the MCP servers.
12. 0:34 In PowerShell, paste one command.
13. 0:37 irm https://claude.ai/install.ps1 | iex
14. 0:39 In CMD, use the curl command from the guide instead.
15. 0:45 Then three checks.
16. 0:46 Open a new terminal window.
17. 0:48 Run claude --version. A version number means it worked.
18. 0:50 A wrong-shell error means you pasted the other command. Swap it.
19. 0:55 Native Windows or WSL?
20. 0:56 Native: the shortest path, for Windows projects and tools.
21. 0:58 WSL 2: Linux tools and sandboxed commands. Install inside the WSL terminal.
22. 1:03 This is where AI engineering starts.
23. 1:06 The install is the easy part. Deciding what to build first is the job.
24. 1:12 SMGP. Embedded GTM engineering and embedded AI engineering. smgp.co

What is Claude Code, in one paragraph?

Claude Code is Anthropic’s agentic coding tool. You describe a task in plain English, and it reads your project, edits the files, runs the commands and shows you the result. It runs in the terminal, inside VS Code and JetBrains editors, in a desktop app, and in the browser at claude.ai/code. This guide covers the terminal install on a Windows PC.

The good news for Windows users is that the install is now native. You run one command in PowerShell or CMD and you are done. The Linux layer called WSL is still available, and we explain below when it is worth using, but it is no longer the only route. The whole process takes about fifteen minutes, including the two tools we put on every Windows PC first.

What do you need before you start?

Check these four things first.

• Windows 10 or 11. Open Settings, then System, then About, to see your version.
• A Claude account on a paid plan. Claude Code needs a Pro, Max, Team or Enterprise subscription, or an Anthropic Console account that bills by usage. The free claude.ai plan does not include it.
• An internet connection. The installer downloads the app, and every session talks to Anthropic’s servers.
• A terminal. Windows ships with two, PowerShell and Command Prompt (CMD). Press the Windows key, type PowerShell or cmd, and press Enter. You do not need to run either one as Administrator.

Know which terminal you are in before you paste anything. The prompt starts with PS C:\ in PowerShell and with plain C:\ in CMD. The install command is different in each, and a common install failure on Windows is pasting one into the other.

That is the full list for the install itself. We still put two tools on every Windows PC before Claude Code, and the next section explains why.

What should you install first, before Claude Code?

The installer needs neither of these. Claude Code does, usually within the first week. Its main command tool is Bash, and on Windows Bash comes from Git for Windows, which includes a program called Git Bash. Most MCP servers, the connectors that let Claude Code operate your other software, start with npx, which comes with Node.js. Put both in place now and the first week has no detours.

1. Install Git for Windows. Download the installer from git-scm.com, run it, and accept the defaults. If you prefer the command line, this does the same from PowerShell or CMD, through winget, the package manager built into Windows.

winget install --id Git.Git -e --source winget

2. Install Node.js. It brings npm and npx with it. The LTS release is the one to pick, and winget installs it in one line. The installer from nodejs.org does the same job if you would rather click.

winget install OpenJS.NodeJS.LTS

3. Close the terminal and open a new one, so it picks up both installs.

4. Check all three. Each command prints a version number.

git --version
node --version
npx --version

With Git for Windows installed, Claude Code uses Git Bash and has its full toolset. Without it, Claude Code falls back to running commands through PowerShell, which works, but many of the scripts and instructions you will find online assume Bash. If Claude Code cannot find Git Bash after the install, point it at the file by adding this to your settings file at ~/.claude/settings.json. Most installs never need it.

{
  "env": {
    "CLAUDE_CODE_GIT_BASH_PATH": "C:\\Program Files\\Git\\bin\\bash.exe"
  }
}

On a Mac the same tools come from Homebrew, and the Mac guide walks through them.

How do you install Claude Code in PowerShell or CMD?

This is the recommended method. It downloads a native app that keeps itself up to date.

1. Open PowerShell or CMD.
2. Paste the command that matches your terminal and press Enter.

In PowerShell:

irm https://claude.ai/install.ps1 | iex

In CMD:

curl -fsSL https://claude.ai/install.cmd -o install.cmd && install.cmd && del install.cmd

3. Wait. The command shows no progress while it downloads, so a quiet window for a minute or two is normal. It prints a message when it finishes.
4. Close the terminal and open a new one. The new window picks up the install location.
5. Run the version check. A working install prints a version number.

claude --version

Two errors tell you that you used the wrong command for your terminal. If you see “The token ’&&’ is not a valid statement separator”, you are in PowerShell and pasted the CMD command. If you see “‘irm’ is not recognized as an internal or external command”, you are in CMD and pasted the PowerShell command. Switch to the matching command and run it again.

If the version check says claude is not recognized, the install directory is not on your PATH yet. A fresh terminal window usually fixes it. If not, the troubleshooting page matches the exact error to a fix.

For a fuller read at any time, the doctor command prints the install health, settings problems and the result of the last update attempt, without starting a session.

claude doctor

Native installs update on their own. You can force one at any time with claude update. Inside a session, /config lets you choose the update channel. “Latest” gets new features the day they ship. “Stable” runs a version about a week old that skips any release with a serious problem.

Are there other ways to install it on Windows?

Three, and none of them updates itself the way the native installer does.

WinGet. If you manage your software with winget, you can install Claude Code from it.

winget install Anthropic.ClaudeCode

WinGet installs do not update themselves, so run this now and then to stay current.

winget upgrade Anthropic.ClaudeCode

No terminal at all. The Claude desktop app for Windows includes Claude Code. Download it from claude.com/download, sign in, and click the Code tab. You get the same tool with a visual view of every change and no command line.

VS Code. The VS Code extension is the other option if you already work in that editor. Open the Extensions view, search for Claude Code, and install it. Both of these need the same paid plan.

Unless you have a strong WinGet habit, we recommend the native installer.

When should you use WSL instead?

WSL, the Windows Subsystem for Linux, runs a real Linux environment inside Windows. Claude Code can run inside it exactly as it does on a Mac or a Linux server.

Choose WSL 2 if your projects depend on Linux tools, or if you want Claude Code’s sandboxed command execution, which is supported inside WSL 2 and not on native Windows. Choose native Windows for Windows-only projects and tools, or if you simply want the shortest path.

To install inside WSL, open your WSL terminal, not PowerShell, and run the Mac and Linux installer there.

curl -fsSL https://claude.ai/install.sh | bash

Then launch claude from inside the WSL terminal. A WSL install does not need Git for Windows, because Linux already has Bash.

How do you log in and start your first session?

Claude Code runs inside a project folder, so move into one first. Any folder works for a test.

1. In your terminal, change into the folder you want to work in. Replace the path with your own.

cd C:\Users\YourName\Documents\your-project

2. Start Claude Code.

claude

3. The first time, Claude Code opens your browser and asks you to log in to your Claude account. Approve it and return to the terminal. If you have an Anthropic API key set in your environment, it asks whether to use that instead and skips the login.
4. You are in an interactive session. Type a request in plain English, such as “explain what this project does”, and press Enter.

Claude Code reads the files, proposes changes and asks permission before it edits a file or runs a command. Say yes to what you understand and no to what you do not.

What should you do in your first ten minutes?

Give it a task you can check. Ask it to explain a project, rename a folder of files, or summarize a spreadsheet. You learn the tool by watching it work on something you understand.

Add a CLAUDE.md file. Claude Code reads a file named CLAUDE.md in the project folder at the start of every session. Put your standing instructions there. It is the single most useful habit in the tool.

Connect your other tools. Claude Code speaks the Model Context Protocol, so it can operate your other software, and most of those servers start with the npx you installed earlier. Run /mcp in a session to see what is connected. The first connection we recommend is your automation platform, n8n, through its MCP server, because that is where the work a business actually runs on lives.

How do you uninstall it?

If you used the native installer, remove the app and its version folder from PowerShell.

Remove-Item -Path "$env:USERPROFILE\.local\bin\claude.exe" -Force
Remove-Item -Path "$env:USERPROFILE\.local\share\claude" -Recurse -Force

If you installed with WinGet, remove the package.

winget uninstall Anthropic.ClaudeCode

Your settings and session history live in ~/.claude and ~/.claude.json. Leave them if you might come back.

Where does this fit in an AI-run company?

AI engineering, the kind we do inside client companies, starts with this install. Claude Code is the tool we use to build the internal software a business runs on: invoicing that sends itself, reports that compute from the systems of record, a company memory that files every call. Putting it on the machine is the easy part. Deciding what to build first is the job, and we describe it on our embedded AI engineering page.

To see what the tool looks like after it has been running a company for a while, our how we run on AI page lists the systems SMGP itself runs on, built with Claude Code and n8n. Install it tonight, give it one real task tomorrow, and the rest of that page will make sense.

Written by Lucas Mack

Lucas is the founder and CEO of SMGP. He has done every job in the company, runs the strategy and the sales, and built every system SMGP runs on, from the outbound engine to the finance software. He writes about what he builds and what he has learned building it.

About LucasLucas on LinkedIn

Share this post on LinkedIn (opens in a new tab)