How to enable Hyper-V on Windows 11

Q: Where do I find the Hyper-V options in the Windows 11 Settings app?

On supported versions of Windows 11, go to Settings > System > Advanced > Virtual Workspaces. From there, you can enable the Hyper-V Hypervisor, Services, GUI Management Tools, and PowerShell module. This Settings-based option is available starting with the December 2025 security update for Windows 11 25H2.

To enable Hyper-V on Windows 11, first turn on hardware virtualization in the UEFI (BIOS), and then in System > Advanced > Virtual Workspaces, turn on the Hyper-V components.
You can also enable the virtualization feature through the Control Panel, using PowerShell or Command Prompt commands.
This feature is available on Windows 11 Pro and higher editions. For Windows 11 Home, use a script workaround to manually install Hyper-V.

UPDATED 12/15/2025: On Windows 11, to enable the Microsoft Hyper-V feature, you must first enable hardware virtualization in the motherboard’s UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface) before you can turn on the Hyper-V Hypervisor components.

Hyper-V is a feature that includes components for creating and managing virtual machines, allowing you to run additional instances of Windows 11 and earlier versions, such as Windows 10, 8.1, or 7, as well as other platforms like Linux, alongside the main installation.

However, the hypervisor is an optional feature that you must enable manually in the Settings app or Control Panel, or by running PowerShell or Command Prompt commands. The virtualization technology is available on Windows 11 Pro and higher editions. It’s not available on Windows 11 Home. If you have the Home edition of the operating system, you can try another virtual machine platform, such as VirtualBox, or use the workaround outlined in this guide.

In this guide, I will show you how to enable Hyper-V on both Windows 11 Pro and Home editions, using either the Settings app, PowerShell, or the Command Prompt.

Enable Hyper-V on Windows 11 Pro
Enable Hyper-V on Windows 11 Home
FAQs about enabling Hyper-V on Windows 11

Enable Hyper-V on Windows 11 Pro

Before enabling Hyper-V on Windows 11 Pro, Enterprise, and Education, you must enable virtualization in the UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface). If you don’t have this feature enabled, check with your device manufacturer to find the specific details to complete this task.

To determine whether Hyper-V is already enabled, open the “System Information” app from the Start menu. In the “Summary” section, confirm that the “A hypervisor has been detected. Features required for Hyper-V will not be displayed” message at the bottom of the page indicates that the feature has already been configured.

Enable hardware virtualization in UEFI on Windows 11 Pro

To enable UEFI virtualization on your computer, follow these steps:

Open Settings on Windows 11.
Click on System.
Click on Recovery.
Click the Restart now button for the “Advanced startup” setting under the “Recovery options” section.
Click on Troubleshoot.
Click on Advanced options.
Click the “UEFI Firmware Settings” option.
Click the Restart button.
Open the Configuration, Security, or Advanced page (the page’s name will depend on your manufacturer).
Select the “Virtualization Technology,” “Intel Virtual Technology,” or “SVM Mode” option (the feature name may vary depending on your manufacturer).
Enable the virtualization feature for the computer.
Save the UEFI (BIOS) settings (usually pressing the “F10” key).

After you complete the steps, you can enable the Microsoft hypervisor to run virtual machines on Windows 11.

If you have a Dell computer, you will usually need to enable “Virtualization” and “Virtualization for Direct-IO (or VT-d)” from the “Advanced > Virtualization” or “Virtualization Support > Virtualization” tab.

On an HP computer, navigate to the “Configuration” tab and select the “Virtualization Technology” option. In some HP computers, you must enter the “System Security” tab from the “Security” menu and then enable the “Virtualization Technology (VTx)” option.

If you have a desktop computer with a motherboard from ASRock, Gigabyte, ASUS, EVGA, or another manufacturer, you should check the device documentation, as almost every model has a different method for enabling this feature.

Enable Hyper-V using Settings, PowerShell, or Command Prompt

Once virtualization is enabled at the hardware level on your laptop or desktop computer, you can turn on the software-based hypervisor from the Settings app or by using commands in PowerShell and Command Prompt. Here’s how.

Option 1: Enable Hyper-V from Settings

To enable Hyper-V on Windows 11 from Settings, follow these steps:

Open Settings on Windows 11.
Click on System.
Click the Advanced page.
Click the Virtual Workspaces setting.
Turn on the “Hyper-V GUI Management Tools” toggle switch.
Turn on the “Hyper-V Module for Windows PowerShell” toggle switch.
Turn on the “Hyper-V Hypervisor” toggle switch.
Turn on the “Hyper-V Services” toggle switch.
Click the Restart now button.

After you complete the steps, the software virtualization components will be enabled on your computer, allowing you to create and manage virtual machines using the Hyper-V Manager console.

The option to enable the Hyper-V components from the Settings app is available starting with the release of the December 2025 Security Update for Windows 11 25H2.

Option 2: Enable Hyper-V from Control Panel

To enable Hyper-V from the Control Panel (Windows Features), follow these steps:

Open Control Panel.
Click on Program.
Click the Programs and Features page.
Click on “Turn Windows features on or off” under the “Program and Features” section.
Check the Hyper-V option to enable the virtual machine platform on Windows 11.
Click the OK button.
Click the Restart now button.

Once you complete the steps, the Windows 11 virtualization feature will install along with Hyper-V Manager, which allows you to create and run virtual machines.

Configuring virtualization can slightly slow down your computer, but the impact is barely noticeable. However, running virtual machines on top of the host operating system will consume system resources, which could noticeably slow down the device, similar to running any resource-intensive application.

Option 3: Enable Hyper-V from PowerShell

To enable Hyper-V from PowerShell on Windows 11, follow these steps:

Open Start.
Search for PowerShell, right-click the top result, and select the Run as administrator option.
Type the following command in PowerShell to enable Hyper-V on Windows 11 and press Enter:
```
Enable-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online -FeatureName Microsoft-Hyper-V-All
```
Type “Y” to restart your computer.

After you complete the steps, Hyper-V Manager and its additional components will be installed on your computer.

Option 4: Enable Hyper-V from Command Prompt

To enable Hyper-V from the Command Prompt, follow these steps:

Open Start.
Search for Command Prompt, right-click the top result, and select the Run as administrator option.

Type the following command to enable Hyper-V and press Enter:

DISM /Online /Enable-Feature /All /FeatureName:Microsoft-Hyper-V

Command Prompt enable Hyper-V

Type “Y” to restart your computer.

Once you complete the steps, the virtualization components will be installed on your computer.

Turn off Hyper-V on Windows 11

You can use the same methods to disable Hyper-V on your computer as you would to turn the feature on.

Option 1: Disable Hyper-V from Settings

To disable Hyper-V on Windows 11 from Settings, follow these steps:

Open Settings on Windows 11.
Click on System.
Click the Advanced page.
Click the Virtual Workspaces setting.
Turn off the “Hyper-V GUI Management Tools” toggle switch.
Turn off the “Hyper-V Module for Windows PowerShell” toggle switch.
Turn off the “Hyper-V Hypervisor” toggle switch.
Turn off the “Hyper-V Services” toggle switch.
Click the Restart now button.

After you complete the steps, the virtualization components will be disabled on your computer.

Option 2: Disable Hyper-V from Settings

To disable Hyper-V on Windows 11, follow these steps:

Open Settings.
Click on Apps.
Click the Optional features tab.
Click the “More Windows features” setting under the “Related settings” section.
Clear the Hyper-V option from the list.
Click the OK button.
Click the Restart now button.

Once you complete the steps, Microsoft Hyper-V will be disabled on your installation.

Option 3: Disable Hyper-V from PowerShell

To disable Hyper-V from PowerShell on Windows 11, follow these steps:

Open Start.
Search for PowerShell, right-click the top result, and select the Run as administrator option.

Type the following command to disable Hyper-V and press Enter:

Disable-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online -FeatureName Microsoft-Hyper-V-All

PowerShell disable Hyper-V

Type “Y” to restart your computer.

After you complete the steps, the Hyper-V Manager and its additional components will be disabled on Windows 11.

Option 4: Disable Hyper-V from Command Prompt

To disable Hyper-V from the Command Prompt, follow these steps:

Open Start.
Search for Command Prompt, right-click the top result, and select the Run as administrator option.
Type the following command to disable Hyper-V and press Enter:
```
DISM /Online /Disable-Feature:Microsoft-Hyper-V
```
Type “Y” to restart your computer.

Once you complete the steps, Hyper-V, alongside its additional components, will be removed from the system.

Enable Hyper-V on Windows 11 Home

Before enabling Hyper-V on the Home edition of Windows 11, the device must have virtualization support enabled on the UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface). If you don’t have this feature enabled, check with your manufacturer for specific details on how to complete this task.

Enable hardware virtualization in UEFI on Windows 11 Home

To enable virtualization on Windows 11 Home, follow these steps:

Open Settings.
Click on System.
Click on Recovery.
Click the Restart now button for the “Advanced startup” setting under the “Recovery options” section.
Click on Troubleshoot.
Click on Advanced options.
Click the “UEFI Firmware Settings” option.
Click the Restart button.
Open the Configuration, Security, or Advanced page (the page’s name will depend on your manufacturer).
Select the “Virtualization Technology,” “Intel Virtual Technology,” or “SVM Mode” option (the feature name will depend on your manufacturer).
Enable the virtualization feature.
Save the UEFI (BIOS) settings (usually press F10).

After completing the steps, you can enable the Microsoft hypervisor to run virtual machines on Windows 11.

Install Hyper-V on Windows 11 Home

Since the Home edition doesn’t include virtualization, you must install the required components manually before enabling it. Although the script works as intended, you should always create a full backup of your device before modifying system files, as Microsoft doesn’t support such changes.

To install Hyper-V on Windows 11 Home, follow these steps:

Open Start.
Search for Notepad and click the top result to open the app.

Copy and paste the following script into the text file:

pushd "%~dp0"
dir /b %SystemRoot%\servicing\Packages\*Hyper-V*.mum >hv-home.txt
for /f %%i in ('findstr /i . hv-home.txt 2^>nul') do dism /online /norestart /add-package:"%SystemRoot%\servicing\Packages\%%i"
del hv-home.txt
Dism /online /enable-feature /featurename:Microsoft-Hyper-V -All /LimitAccess /ALL
pause

Windows 11 Home script install Hyper-V

Click on “File” and select the “Save as” option.
Confirm a name and use the “.bat” extension. For example, hyperv-home.bat.
Click the Save button.
Right-click the hyperv-home.bat file and select the Run as administrator option.
Press the “Y” key to restart the computer.

After completing the steps, the Hyper-V Management Tool and Platform will be installed on your Home edition of Windows 11.

Disable Hyper-V on Windows 11 Home

Once you have installed the virtualization feature, you can enable or disable it from the system feature settings, like on Windows 11 Pro.

To disable Hyper-V on Windows 11 Home, follow these steps:

Open Settings.
Click on Apps.
Click the Optional features tab.
Under the “Related settings” section, click the “More Windows features” setting.
Clear the Hyper-V option from the list.
Click the OK button.
Click the Restart now button.

Once you complete the steps, Microsoft Hyper-V will be disabled on Windows 11 Home.

FAQs about enabling Hyper-V on Windows 11

Here’s a list of frequently asked questions (FAQs) and answers about enabling virtualization on Windows 11.

What is Hyper-V on Windows 11?

Hyper-V is Microsoft’s built-in virtualization platform that lets you create and run virtual machines on Windows 11. It allows you to install additional operating systems, including Windows and Linux distributions, alongside your main installation without dual booting.

Which editions of Windows 11 support Hyper-V?

Hyper-V is officially supported on Windows 11 Pro, Enterprise, and Education. Windows 11 Home does not include Hyper-V by default, but it can be installed using an unsupported script-based workaround.

Do I need to enable hardware virtualization before turning on Hyper-V?

Yes. Hardware virtualization must be enabled in the motherboard UEFI (BIOS) before Hyper-V can be turned on in Windows. If virtualization is disabled at the firmware level, Hyper-V options will not work even if they are enabled in Settings or Control Panel.

How can I check if Hyper-V is already enabled?

You can confirm this by opening the System Information app and checking the bottom of the Summary section. If you see the message “A hypervisor has been detected. Features required for Hyper-V will not be displayed.” Hyper-V is already enabled.

Where do I find the Hyper-V options in the Windows 11 Settings app?

On supported versions of Windows 11, go to Settings > System > Advanced > Virtual Workspaces. From there, you can enable the Hyper-V Hypervisor, Services, GUI Management Tools, and PowerShell module. This Settings-based option is available starting with the December 2025 security update for Windows 11 25H2.

Can I enable Hyper-V using the Control Panel instead?

Yes. You can enable Hyper-V from the Control Panel by opening Programs and Features > Turn Windows features on or off, and then selecting the Hyper-V option. This installs both the Hyper-V platform and Hyper-V Manager.

Is it better to enable Hyper-V using Settings, Control Panel, or PowerShell?

All methods enable the same components. The Settings app is the simplest for most users, the Control Panel works on older builds, and PowerShell or Command Prompt are best for automation, remote management, or troubleshooting scenarios.

Does enabling Hyper-V slow down Windows 11?

Enabling Hyper-V alone has little to no noticeable performance impact. However, running virtual machines consumes processor, memory, and storage resources, which can slow down the system depending on the workload and hardware capabilities.

Why can’t I enable Hyper-V on Windows 11 Home?

Windows 11 Home does not include Hyper-V components by design. Microsoft restricts the feature to higher editions. To enable virtualization at home, you must either use third-party solutions such as VirtualBox or run an unsupported script to install Hyper-V manually.

Is the Hyper-V script for Windows 11 Home safe to use?

The script generally works, but it is not officially supported by Microsoft. You should always create a full system backup before running it, as it modifies system packages and features that are not intended to be exposed on the Home edition.

After installing Hyper-V on Windows 11 Home, can I manage it as if I had Pro?

Yes. Once installed, Hyper-V on Windows 11 Home behaves similarly to Pro. You can enable or disable it from Windows Features and manage virtual machines using Hyper-V Manager.

Can I disable Hyper-V after enabling it?

Yes. Hyper-V can be disabled at any time using the Settings app, Control Panel, PowerShell, or Command Prompt. Disabling the feature removes the hypervisor and related components and requires a system restart.

Will disabling Hyper-V remove my virtual machines?

Disabling Hyper-V does not automatically delete virtual machine files. However, you cannot run or manage them until Hyper-V is enabled again.

Can Hyper-V conflict with other virtualization software?

Yes. Hyper-V can conflict with certain third-party virtualization platforms that require direct hardware access for virtualization. Many modern tools support coexistence, but performance or compatibility issues can still occur depending on the software and configuration.

Do I need Hyper-V to use WSL or other Windows virtualization features?

Some of the operating system features, such as WSL 2, Virtual Machine Platform, and Windows Sandbox, rely on Hyper-V components. Even if you do not use Hyper-V Manager directly, parts of the hypervisor may still be active when these features are enabled.

Is Hyper-V suitable for everyday users?

Hyper-V is ideal for developers, network administrators, testers, and power users who need isolated environments. Casual users who only need occasional virtualization may find third-party tools easier to use, especially on Windows 11 Home.

Update December 15, 2025: The contents of this guide have been updated to ensure accuracy and include additional steps.