Install on Windows

Docker Desktop terms

Commercial use of Docker Desktop in larger enterprises (more than 250 employees OR more than $10 million USD in annual revenue) requires a paid subscription.

Welcome to Docker Desktop for Windows. This page contains information about Docker Desktop for Windows system requirements, download URL, instructions to install and update Docker Desktop for Windows.

Download Docker Desktop for Windows

Docker Desktop for Windows

For checksums, see Release notes

System requirements🔗

Your Windows machine must meet the following requirements to successfully install Docker Desktop.

Note

Docker only supports Docker Desktop on Windows for those versions of Windows 10 that are still within Microsoft’s servicing timeline.

Containers and images created with Docker Desktop are shared between all user accounts on machines where it is installed. This is because all Windows accounts use the same VM to build and run containers. Note that it is not possible to share containers and images between user accounts when using the Docker Desktop WSL 2 backend.

Running Docker Desktop inside a VMware ESXi or Azure VM is supported for Docker Business customers. It requires enabling nested virtualization on the hypervisor first. For more information, see Running Docker Desktop in a VM or VDI environment.

About Windows containers🔗

Looking for information on using Windows containers?

• Switch between Windows and Linux containers describes how you can toggle between Linux and Windows containers in Docker Desktop and points you to the tutorial mentioned above.
• Getting Started with Windows Containers (Lab) provides a tutorial on how to set up and run Windows containers on Windows 10, Windows Server 2016 and Windows Server 2019. It shows you how to use a MusicStore application with Windows containers.
• Docker Container Platform for Windows articles and blog posts on the Docker website.

Note

To run Windows containers, you need Windows 10 or Windows 11 Professional or Enterprise edition. Windows Home or Education editions will only allow you to run Linux containers.

Install Docker Desktop on Windows🔗

Install interactively🔗

1. Double-click Docker Desktop Installer.exe to run the installer.

   If you haven’t already downloaded the installer (Docker Desktop Installer.exe), you can get it from Docker Hub. It typically downloads to your Downloads folder, or you can run it from the recent downloads bar at the bottom of your web browser.

2. When prompted, ensure the Use WSL 2 instead of Hyper-V option on the Configuration page is selected or not depending on your choice of backend.

   If your system only supports one of the two options, you will not be able to select which backend to use.

3. Follow the instructions on the installation wizard to authorize the installer and proceed with the install.

4. When the installation is successful, click Close to complete the installation process.

5. If your admin account is different to your user account, you must add the user to the docker-users group. Run Computer Management as an administrator and navigate to Local Users and Groups > Groups > docker-users. Right-click to add the user to the group. Log out and log back in for the changes to take effect.

Install from the command line🔗

After downloading Docker Desktop Installer.exe, run the following command in a terminal to install Docker Desktop:

$ "Docker Desktop Installer.exe" install

If you’re using PowerShell you should run it as:

Start-Process 'Docker Desktop Installer.exe' -Wait install

If using the Windows Command Prompt:

start /w "" "Docker Desktop Installer.exe" install

The install command accepts the following flags:

• --quiet: suppresses information output when running the installer
• --accept-license: accepts the Docker Subscription Service Agreement now, rather than requiring it to be accepted when the application is first run
• --no-windows-containers: disables Windows containers integration
• --allowed-org=<org name>: requires the user to sign in and be part of the specified Docker Hub organization when running the application
• --backend=<backend name>: selects the default backend to use for Docker Desktop, hyper-v, windows or wsl-2 (default)
• --installation-dir=<path>: changes the default installation location (C:\Program Files\Docker\Docker)
• --admin-settings: Automatically creates an admin-settings.json file which is used by admins to control certain Docker Desktop settings on client machines within their organization. For more information, see Settings Management.
  • It must be used together with the --allowed-org=<org name> flag.
  • For example: --allowed-org=<org name> --admin-settings='{"configurationFileVersion": 2, "enhancedContainerIsolation": {"value": true, "locked": false}}'

If your admin account is different to your user account, you must add the user to the docker-users group:

$ net localgroup docker-users <user> /add

Start Docker Desktop🔗

Docker Desktop does not start automatically after installation. To start Docker Desktop:

1. Search for Docker, and select Docker Desktop in the search results.

   

2. The Docker menu () displays the Docker Subscription Service Agreement window.

   Here’s a summary of the key points:

   • Docker Desktop is free for small businesses (fewer than 250 employees AND less than $10 million in annual revenue), personal use, education, and non-commercial open source projects.
   • Otherwise, it requires a paid subscription for professional use.
   • Paid subscriptions are also required for government entities.
   • The Docker Pro, Team, and Business subscriptions include commercial use of Docker Desktop.

3. Select Accept to continue. Docker Desktop starts after you accept the terms.

   Important

   If you do not agree to the terms, the Docker Desktop application will close and you can no longer run Docker Desktop on your machine. You can choose to accept the terms at a later date by opening Docker Desktop.

   For more information, see Docker Desktop Subscription Service Agreement. We recommend that you also read the FAQs.

Where to go next🔗

• Get started with Docker is a tutorial that teaches you how to deploy a multi-service stack.
• Troubleshooting describes common problems, workarounds, and how to get support.
• FAQs provide answers to frequently asked questions.
• Release notes lists component updates, new features, and improvements associated with Docker Desktop releases.
• Back up and restore data provides instructions on backing up and restoring data related to Docker.