Updating Windows applications is important for accessing the latest features and protecting against vulnerabilities. Many users neglect this due to forgetfulness or the time-consuming nature of the process. The Microsoft Store and Windows Update usually provide updates for native Windows applications, but a unified method for updating all programs is lacking.
Windows includes a command called winget (Windows Package Manager) that allows users to update all applications simultaneously via the command line. The command to update all apps is:
winget upgrade --all
This command updates both traditional installers and Microsoft Store apps. Users can also update individual apps by specifying the app ID, for example:
winget upgrade "Chrome"
To view all applications managed by winget, the command is:
winget list
To skip confirmation prompts during updates, users can use:
winget upgrade --all --accept-source-agreements --accept-package-agreements
For complete automation, users can create a task in Task Scheduler to run at startup with the following setup:
1. Open Task Scheduler and create a basic task named "Winget Auto Update."
2. Set the trigger to run when the computer starts.
3. Choose to start a program, entering PLACEHOLDER
216a2cf34dab649d in Program/script and PLACEHOLDERbe861b18048fd836 in Add arguments.
4. Set the task to run with the highest privileges and add a 1-minute delay to ensure network connectivity.
While winget does not cover every Windows application, it effectively manages most mainstream applications.
