How to Install Hyper-V on Windows 11 Home

Every major release of Windows has a few different editions or SKUs, each with different features. Windows 11 is no different and will have editions like Home, Pro, etc. One of the big features that is usually reserved for the Pro versions of Windows is Hyper-V, but with a little tinkering, you can actually get it on the Home editions. In today's article, Quantrimang.com will guide you through installing Hyper-V on Windows 11 Home.

How to enable hardware virtualization in Windows 11

Hyper-V is a bare-metal hypervisor and requires Hardware Virtualization enabled in the BIOS to work. Most modern systems support Hardware Virtualization and you can enable it in the BIOS.

The steps below are for HP laptops. Refer to your computer manufacturer's user manual or website for other systems.

To enable hardware virtualization in BIOS:

1. Turn off your PC if it is powered on.
2. Press the power button to turn on your computer and then start pressing the F10 key to enter BIOS . BIOS setup keys vary by manufacturer. So try using F10, F2, F12, F1 , or DEL and see which one works for you.
3. Once in the BIOS Setup utility, open the Configuration tab.
4. Use the down arrow key and highlight Virtualization Technology .
5. Press Enter and select Enabled. Press Enter again to make the selection.
6. Next, press F10 to save changes and exit BIOS.
7. Your PC will restart with Hardware Virtualization enabled. You can now proceed with installing Hyper-V on your system.

How to Install Hyper-V on Windows 11 Home

The next step is to create and run a batch script to install the necessary files to enable Hyper-V in Windows 11 Home.

Before you proceed with the next steps, create a restore point. This will help you restore your computer to its current state if something goes wrong during the process.

To enable Hyper-V in Windows 11 Home:

1. Open a new Notepad file. To do this, press Win + R , type notepad and click OK.

2. In the Notepad file, copy and paste the following script:

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

3. Press Ctrl + S to open the Save dialog box.

4. In the file name field, type hyperv.bat. The .bat extension at the end of the file name is important for executing the script.

5. Next, click the Save as type drop-down menu and select All Files.

6. Click the Save button to save the file.

7. Next, right-click on the hyperv.bat file and select Run as administrator . Click Yes if prompted by User Account Control.

8. The script will start executing in CMD to install Hyper-V. It may take a while, so wait until the process is complete.

9. Once completed, you will see the message Operation completed successfully .

10. Type Y to confirm and restart your PC. Otherwise, type N to exit CMD.

Note that you will need to restart your PC for the changes to take effect. After restarting, you should have Hyper-V installed in Windows 11 Home. Type Hyper-V in Windows search and click Hyper-V Manager to create a new virtual machine.

If it's still not available, you can enable Hyper-V using the Windows Features dialog box, Command Prompt, and Windows PowerShell.

Here's how you can quickly add Hyper-V to Windows 11 using Command Prompt:

1. Press the Win key and type cmd. Then right-click on Command Prompt and select Run as administrator .

2. In the Command Prompt window, type the following command and press Enter :

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

3. The above command uses the Deployment Imaging Service and Management (DISM) tool to enable Microsoft Hyper-V and the necessary dependencies on your Windows computer. The Operation completed successfully message appears, meaning you have successfully enabled Hyper-V.

Good luck!