How to Update All Windows Apps with winget upgrade

If you've installed a dozen apps with winget, you don't want to update them one at a time. The good news: one command updates everything. Here's how winget upgrade --all actually works, plus the flags that turn it into a proper auto-updater.

TL;DR

winget upgrade --all --include-unknown --accept-package-agreements --accept-source-agreements

Open Terminal as Administrator and paste that. winget will compare every installed app against the catalog, download fresh installers, and silently update each one. Typical time: 2–10 minutes depending on how many apps and your bandwidth.

Step 1 — See what's outdated

Before updating, peek at what needs an upgrade:

winget upgrade

You'll get a table:

Name                          Id                            Version    Available
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Microsoft Visual Studio Code  Microsoft.VisualStudioCode    1.118.0    1.121.0
Google Chrome                 Google.Chrome                 138.0.7204 139.0.7258
Git                           Git.Git                       2.53.0     2.54.0

The Available column = newer version winget can install. If the column is empty, you're up to date.

Step 2 — Update everything in one command

winget upgrade --all

Add these flags to skip prompts (great for unattended runs):

winget upgrade --all --accept-package-agreements --accept-source-agreements

What happens:

1. winget reads the catalog index
2. For each installed app, compares your version vs latest
3. Downloads the new installer from the publisher's URL (not Microsoft's CDN)
4. Verifies SHA-256 hash
5. Runs the installer silently

You'll see a progress bar per app. Failed ones get reported at the end so you can re-run or fix manually.

The --include-unknown flag (most useful flag people miss)

By default winget only upgrades apps it installed. If you installed Chrome via the website 6 months ago, winget knows Chrome is on your machine (via Add/Remove Programs) but won't upgrade it.

Add --include-unknown and winget will try to match those manually-installed apps to catalog manifests:

winget upgrade --all --include-unknown

This can take over and start managing 10–20 extra apps for you. The risk: occasionally winget guesses wrong and tries to upgrade with a different installer variant. If that happens, run winget uninstall <id> and reinstall via winget cleanly.

Step 3 — Exclude specific apps

Pinning prevents winget from auto-upgrading a specific app — useful for versions you've intentionally frozen (LTS Node, specific Python, legacy IDE):

winget pin add --id OpenJS.NodeJS.LTS

Now winget upgrade --all skips that ID. List pinned apps with:

winget pin list

Remove a pin:

winget pin remove --id OpenJS.NodeJS.LTS

Step 4 — Schedule weekly auto-updates

Open Task Scheduler (taskschd.msc) and create a Basic Task:

• Trigger: Weekly, Sunday 03:00
• Action: Start a program
• Program: pwsh.exe (or powershell.exe)
• Arguments:

-NoProfile -Command "winget upgrade --all --include-unknown --accept-package-agreements --accept-source-agreements --silent --disable-interactivity"

• Run with highest privileges: ✅
• Wake the computer: off (let it pick up next time you're on)

Log output to a file:

-NoProfile -Command "winget upgrade --all --silent | Out-File C:\winget-update.log -Append"

Common errors and fixes

"No applicable update found"

You're already up to date. Re-run winget upgrade (no --all) — if the table is empty, all good.

"Installer hash does not match"

The publisher pushed a new installer but the winget manifest wasn't updated yet. Wait a day or use --force:

winget upgrade --id Some.App --force

Force-installing skips the hash check — only do this if you trust the publisher URL.

"Access denied" / "Administrator privileges required"

You ran in a non-elevated Terminal. Right-click Terminal → Run as administrator and try again.

"Multiple installer matches"

The app has both x64 and x86 installers and winget can't tell which you have. Specify architecture:

winget upgrade --id Some.App --architecture x64

Update keeps failing for one specific app

Some installers reject the silent flag winget sends. Uninstall and reinstall — winget will pick the correct flags from the latest manifest:

winget uninstall --id Bad.App
winget install --id Bad.App -e

How to know what changed

After updating, check what got bumped:

winget list --upgrade-available

(empty = nothing left to update)

Or check version history of a specific app:

winget show --id Microsoft.VisualStudioCode --versions

What's next?

• How to install Windows apps with winget → — beginner guide
• Winget commands cheatsheet → — every command in one page
• Set up a new Windows machine in 5 minutes → — winget import workflow
• Pre-made bundles → — Developer, Gaming, Office starter packs