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Installing Claude Code on Windows Using WSL

This beginner-friendly guide walks you through installing Claude Code on Windows using the Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL). Although you can install Claude Code directly on Windows, it works better under Linux because it relies heavily on Bash commands as tools. With WSL, Claude Code runs in a Linux environment, while you keep using your preferred Windows editors and applications to view and edit files or test your code.

Overview

  1. Install WSL (Windows Subsystem for Linux)
  2. Set up Ubuntu Linux
  3. Install Node.js (optional)
  4. Install Claude Code
  5. Log in with your Claude account or API key
  6. Start using Claude Code!

What You’ll Need

  • A Windows 10 (version 2004 or higher) or Windows 11 computer
  • An internet connection
  • Administrator access on your computer
  • A paid Claude subscription (Pro, Max, Team, or Enterprise) or API access, e.g., through Microsoft Foundry on Azure. The free Claude plan does not include Claude Code.

Step 1: Check if Virtualization Is Enabled

WSL requires virtualization, so first verify that it is enabled on your computer.

  1. Right-click the taskbar (the bar at the bottom of your screen).
  2. Click Task Manager.
  3. If Task Manager opens in a small window, click More details at the bottom.
  4. Click the Performance tab.
  5. Click CPU in the left sidebar.
  6. In the bottom-right section of the window, find the line Virtualization: and check whether it says Enabled.

If it says “Enabled”: Great! Continue to Step 2.

If it says “Disabled”: Enable virtualization in your computer’s BIOS settings:

  1. Restart your computer.
  2. During startup, press the BIOS key (usually F2, F10, Del, or Esc, depending on your computer’s manufacturer).
  3. Look for settings named “Virtualization Technology”, “Intel VT-x”, “AMD-V”, or “SVM Mode”.
  4. Enable these settings.
  5. Save and exit the BIOS (usually F10). Your computer will restart normally.

Step 2: Open PowerShell as Administrator

  1. Click the Windows Start button.
  2. Type PowerShell in the search box.
  3. In the search results, right-click Windows PowerShell.
  4. Click Run as administrator.
  5. When asked “Do you want to allow this app to make changes to your device?”, click Yes.

A window will open—this is PowerShell running as administrator.

Step 3: Install WSL

  1. In the PowerShell window, type the following and press Enter:

    wsl --install
  2. Windows will download and install WSL. This may take 5–15 minutes, depending on your internet speed. You might see messages like “Installing: Windows Subsystem for Linux” and “Installing: Ubuntu”.
  3. When the installation is complete, restart your computer: click the Windows Start button, then the Power icon, then Restart.

Why a restart is needed: It lets Windows enable the WSL and Virtual Machine Platform features that were just installed. WSL won’t work properly until you restart.

What happens after the restart: After you log back into Windows, an Ubuntu terminal window should appear automatically within 2–5 minutes to finish the setup. If it doesn’t, open Ubuntu manually (see Step 4).

Note: If you get an error saying the command is not recognized, your Windows version might be too old. Make sure you have Windows 10 version 2004 or higher, or Windows 11, and run Windows Update to get the latest version.

Step 4: Set Up Ubuntu (First Time Only)

If the Ubuntu window did NOT open automatically:

  1. Click the Windows Start button.
  2. Type Ubuntu in the search box.
  3. Click Ubuntu (a circular orange icon). The Ubuntu terminal will open and continue the setup.

Complete the first-time setup:

  1. Wait for the prompt Enter new UNIX username:.
  2. Type a username using only lowercase letters and numbers, with no spaces (for example, myname or john123), and press Enter.
  3. At New password:, type a password and press Enter. You won’t see the characters as you type; this is normal.
  4. At Retype new password:, type the same password again and press Enter.
  5. Wait for the setup to complete. You’ll see a message like Installation successful!

Important: Remember this username and password—you’ll need them later.

Step 5: Update Ubuntu

  1. In the Ubuntu terminal, type the following and press Enter:

    sudo apt update
  2. Type your password (the one you just created) and press Enter. Again, you won’t see the characters as you type.
  3. Wait for the update to complete (1–3 minutes).

  4. Next, type the following and press Enter:

    sudo apt upgrade -y
  5. Wait for all packages to upgrade (this may take 5–10 minutes).

Step 6: Install Node.js (Optional)

The native Claude Code installer in Step 7 does not need Node.js, so you can skip this step. Node.js is still useful for many coding projects, and it is required only if you prefer to install Claude Code with npm (which needs Node.js 22 or later).

  1. Download and run the nvm (Node Version Manager) installer:

    curl -o- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nvm-sh/nvm/v0.40.3/install.sh | bash

  2. Load nvm:

    \. "$HOME/.nvm/nvm.sh"

  3. Install Node.js version 24 (this takes 2–5 minutes):

    nvm install 24

  4. Verify the installation:

    node --version

    You should see something like v24.x.x (the exact numbers may vary).

Step 7: Install Claude Code

  1. In the Ubuntu terminal, type:

    curl -fsSL https://claude.ai/install.sh | bash
  2. Wait for Claude Code to install (2–5 minutes). The installer shows little progress while it downloads.

  3. When the installation is complete, close and reopen the Ubuntu terminal, then verify by typing:

    claude --version

    You should see the version number of Claude Code. For a more detailed check, run claude doctor.

Step 8: Log In

Option A: Use Your Claude Subscription

  1. In the Ubuntu terminal, type:

    claude
  2. Claude Code tries to open a browser. If it can’t, hold Ctrl and click the long URL to open it in a browser, or copy the URL and paste it into a browser.
  3. Log in to your Claude.ai account (this may happen automatically if you’re already logged in).
  4. Click Authorize.
  5. When a long code appears, click Copy Code.
  6. Go back to the terminal window and paste the code: right-click and select Paste (or press Ctrl+Shift+V).
  7. Press Enter. You should see a success message.
  8. Follow the instructions to complete the setup.

Option B: Use Claude via Microsoft Foundry (Azure)

In the terminal window, paste this code to define the environment variables, then press Enter:

# Enable Microsoft Foundry integration
export CLAUDE_CODE_USE_FOUNDRY=1
# Azure resource name
export ANTHROPIC_FOUNDRY_RESOURCE=XXXXX-eastus2
# Set models to your resource's deployment names
export ANTHROPIC_DEFAULT_OPUS_MODEL=claude-opus-4-5
export ANTHROPIC_DEFAULT_SONNET_MODEL=claude-sonnet-4-5
export ANTHROPIC_FOUNDRY_API_KEY=your_api_key

Replace XXXXX-eastus2 with your Foundry resource name (just the name, not the entire URL), and replace your_api_key with your complete API key from the Azure portal. You can now use Claude Code with your Azure-deployed Claude models.

Note: These variables last only for the current terminal session. To keep them, add the same lines to the end of your ~/.bashrc file.

Step 9: Start Using Claude Code

You’re all set!

  1. In the Ubuntu terminal, type claude and press Enter.
  2. You can now chat with Claude! To check that it works, ask a general question such as “Explain quantum computing.”

Step 10: Navigate to Your Project

  1. Your Windows drives are available under /mnt. To open a project in your Windows folders, type:

    cd /mnt/c/Users/Username/Documents/YourProject

    Replace Username with your Windows username and YourProject with your project folder.

  2. Start Claude:

    claude
  3. Start by asking Claude to explain the codebase to you.
  4. Ask Claude to make changes.
  5. Test your code in your preferred IDE.

How to Open the Ubuntu Terminal Again

  1. Click the Windows Start button.
  2. Type Ubuntu in the search box.
  3. Click Ubuntu (a circular orange icon).

Troubleshooting

“Please enable the Virtual Machine Platform Windows feature and ensure virtualization is enabled in the BIOS”

This error means virtualization is not enabled:

  1. Go back to Step 1 and check in Task Manager whether virtualization is enabled.
  2. If it is disabled, enable it in your computer’s BIOS (see Step 1).
  3. Restart your computer and run wsl --install again.

wsl --install doesn’t work

  • Make sure you’re running PowerShell as Administrator.
  • Make sure you have Windows 10 version 2004+ or Windows 11.
  • Try running wsl --update first, then wsl --install again.

Ubuntu window doesn’t open after restart

Open it manually: click Start, type Ubuntu, and click the Ubuntu app.

“sudo: apt: command not found”

Your WSL installation might be broken. In PowerShell (as Administrator), run wsl --unregister Ubuntu, then run wsl --install again. Note that unregistering deletes everything stored inside that Ubuntu installation.

Node.js installation fails

  • Make sure you ran sudo apt update first.
  • Try the installation command again.

“claude: command not found”

  • Make sure the installation completed successfully.
  • Close and reopen the Ubuntu terminal.

  • The installer puts claude in ~/.local/bin. If that folder isn’t on your PATH, add it:

    echo 'export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"' >> ~/.bashrc
source ~/.bashrc
  • Try running the installation command again: curl -fsSL https://claude.ai/install.sh | bash

Need Help?

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