Beginning with PowerShell 7.7-preview.1 (April 2026), the MSIX package will be the primary installation method for PowerShell on Windows. We will no longer ship the MSI installer package for new PowerShell releases.
For existing releases, including PowerShell 7.6, we will continue to provide MSI packages. However, MSI isn’t planned for future releases, including PowerShell 7.7 GA and beyond.
Why we’re making this change
MSIX provides a modern installation and servicing model and is supported by Windows deployment tools. It uses a declarative model that’s more predictable and reliable than MSI, which relies on custom actions and scripts that can lead to inconsistent behavior. MSIX supports built-in update mechanisms with differential updates. Microsoft is investing in improving MSIX.
MSI is a legacy technology. Servicing MSI installations requires external tooling and often results in full reinstalls. MSI doesn’t meet modern accessibility requirements, particularly for screen reader scenarios. To be accessible, MSI must present predictable tab stops and accurate announcements for screen readers, which it doesn’t. Accessibility is a core requirement for PowerShell.
This decision isn’t just about modernizing packaging for its own sake. It’s about ensuring that PowerShell installations are modern and accessible for all users, now and in the future.
Looking forward
Our goal is to provide a fully accessible, reliable, and enterprise-ready installation experience. At this time, MSIX doesn’t support all use case scenarios that MSI enabled, such as remoting and execution by system-level services (like Task Scheduler). We recognize this gap and are actively working to address it.
As part of this work, we’re investing in:
- Improving MSIX support for system-level and enterprise deployment scenarios
- Ensuring accessibility requirements are fully met across all installation paths
- Providing clearer guidance and tooling for deployment at scale
We will continue to share updates as this work progresses.
Closing
We understand this change may require adjustments, especially in environments that rely heavily on MSI-based deployment. We appreciate your patience as we make this transition.
Our focus is to ensure PowerShell remains accessible, predictable, and practical for all users.
— The PowerShell Team
Here’s the PR that was merged for removing MSI:
https://github.com/PowerShell/PowerShell/pull/27213
We should make our voices heard there (and/or create a new issue for this) that we do not want this change
Already approved, closed, and merged looks like. I went ahead and threw out a discussion thread if anyone wants to add on their own concerns
https://github.com/PowerShell/PowerShell/discussions/27292
Sorry Jason, but “We are taking away something you rely on and know how to work with and replacing it with something you did not ask for” is always bad.
The platitudes in the “closing” part do not reflect well on you, and probably make people who find this frustrating even more cross.
I’m so glad I’m moving to MacOS and Linux… This is a terrible idea and yet another indication Microsoft gives zero effs about customers.
MSIX is a total charlie foxtrot and should have been dropped with Windows 8.
Windows server?
Windows Server CORE?
Very bad decision. MSIX is blocked in huge enterprises.
Back to PS 5.1
Most organizations will just uninstall PowerShell > 5.1 that’s caked into the OS, I’m going to be honest with you. This feels like a decision that was made without talking any enterprise I.T. teams.
Well, that means some apps, particularly our own Powerbuilder and C++ apps will to be repackaged…
We needed to create an alternative to ClickOnce that we have been using for years. We thought that MSIX was the way to go, being the “modern” solution, but it had so many limitations that we had to choose using MSI instead. Does it feel good? Not at all! Try to get any help about how to implement something using MSIX and you will only get information from the Advanced Installer guys. As if nobody else cares about MSIX.
MSIX and Powershell absolutely do not mix.
Why does Microsoft like per-user stuff on apps obviously designed for Enterprises? This constantly burns us. Just think of the Notepad RCE or the 3D viewer RCE several years back:
1) User A signs in and gets the (soon-to-be) bad version installed in their profile.
2) User B signs in and gets the (soon-to-be) bad version installed in their profile.
3) An RCE is detected on the app. User A is the primary user of the device and the app updates.
4) User B had only logged on once and never...
It is because they just don't care... The develop in production slop they are developing will continue as it is cheaper and Millions of enterprise customers can't move away from Microslop... So money come in and we just have to eat the dog crap and hope it doesn't get stuck in our teeth to badly.
The idea of 'we are working to fix that massive limitation of the new product in the future (with no time frame)', but in the mean time, let me just take away any and all alternative options.
My most recent one was multi-app kiosks,...
Wish I could give this a million up-votes. I so hate “modern apps” – they cause so many problems. And wasn’t a big part of the driver for them all down to the develop-once-for-multiple-environments paradigm – i.e. PC, XBox and … umm … Windows Phone? The latter was always going to fail as it was so obviously way too little way too late, and PCs vs XBox are totally different environments anyway. Come back Windows 7, all is forgiven!
We have need in our environment to do our golden image installs on an offline image. Can MSIX installs be done offline same as MSI? And how will updates work on images like Server Core without any Microsoft Store components?