WPBeginner - WordPress Tutorials for Beginners

Beginner's Guide for WordPress / Start your WordPress Blog in minutes

How to Install WordPress on a Windows Computer (2 Methods)

Last updated on by Editorial Staff | Reader DisclosureDisclosure: Our content is reader-supported. This means if you click on some of our links, then we may earn a commission. See how WPBeginner is funded, why it matters, and how you can support us.

Shares 985 Share Facebook Messenger WhatsApp

Do you want to install WordPress on your Windows computer locally?

Working with WordPress on your computer allows you to test new WordPress features, learn how to develop with WordPress, and make websites before migrating them to the live server.

In this article, we will show you how to properly install WordPress on a Windows computer using two different methods. This will work on Windows 8, Windows 10, and other versions of Windows as well.

How to Install WordPress on a Windows computer

Why You Should Install WordPress on Windows?

Installing WordPress locally on your computer gives you a testing environment that doesn’t affect your live website or blog. A WordPress install on your computer is also referred to as a local server or localhost.

Normally, WordPress developers use local WordPress install to develop their WordPress plugins and themes.

Beginner users can also install WordPress on their computers to learn WordPress, test new WordPress themes and plugins, and experiment without affecting a live website.

Note: If you install WordPress locally on Windows, then the only person who can see that site is you.

If you want to make a website that is available to the public, then you need to have a domain name and web hosting. We recommend that you follow this guide on how to start a WordPress blog.

That being said, let’s take a look at how to properly install WordPress on a Windows computer. We’ll show you 2 easy ways, so you can click the link below to jump ahead to any section you’re interested in:

Install WordPress on Windows Using Local WP

Local WP, formerly known as Local by Flywheel, is a local web software that lets you host a website on your computer instead of a staging or live server.

First, you need to download and install the Local WP software on your Windows computer. Simply go to the Local WP website and click the ‘Download for Free’ button.

Download Local by Flywheel

After that, a popup window will appear where you’ll need to select your platform.

Go ahead and choose ‘Windows’ from the dropdown menu.

Choose Windows as your platform

Next, you can enter your details like first and last name, work email address, and phone number to download the software.

Upon entering the details, simply click the ‘Get it Now’ button.

Enter your details

After that, you can download the software on your computer. Once it’s downloaded, go ahead and launch the setup wizard.

Now you’ll need to select whether you’d like to install the software for all users or only you. Once you’ve selected an option, click the ‘Next’ button.

Choose user profiles for software

In the next step, you can select the ‘Destination Folder’ where the software will be installed.

Simply click the ‘Browse’ button to set the path and then click the ‘Install’ button.

Select your installation path

The Local WP software will now install on your Windows computer.

Once it’s done, you can check the ‘Run Local’ checkbox and click the ‘Finish’ button in the setup wizard.

Run local software

The software will now launch on your Windows device.

The next step is to add a new local website. To do that, simply click the plus (+) button at the bottom.

Add a new local site

After that, you can create a site in the Local software.

Go ahead and select the ‘Create a New Site’ option and click the ‘Continue’ button.

Create a new WordPress site

Next, you can enter a name for your local website like wordpresslocalsite.

There are also advanced options where you can enter the local site domain and local site path. If you’re just starting out, then we recommend keeping the default settings.

Once you’re done, simply click the ‘Continue’ button.

Enter a name for your site

After that, you will need to choose an environment for your local website.

You can use the ‘Preferred’ environment where the software will automatically select the PHP version, web server, and MySQL version. On the other hand, you can also select ‘Custom’ and enter the environment details.

For this tutorial, we’ll use the Preferred settings and click the ‘Continue’ button.

Choose an environment

Next, you can enter a WordPress username and password for your local website. Plus, there’s also an option to choose a WordPress email address where you’ll receive all the email notifications.

There’s also an advanced option where the software will ask whether you have a WordPress multisite network.

After entering these details, simply click the ‘Add Site’ button.

Select a username and password

The software will now install WordPress and set up your website.

To launch the local website, go ahead and click the ‘WP Admin’ button in the software.

Open WP admin

Next, you’ll see the WordPress admin login page.

Simply enter the username and password you entered earlier when setting up the local website and then click the ‘Log In’ button.

Login page example

You can now edit your local website on your Windows computer.

When you’re done, don’t forget to stop the website from the Local WP software by clicking the ‘Stop site’ button.

Click the stop site button

Install WordPress on Windows Using WampServer

WampServer or WAMP is a compilation of Apache web server, PHP and MySQL bundled for Windows computers.

All of them are separate open-source software. However, installing them separately is not quite easy even for experienced users. Software like WampServer allows you to easily install them and have a working local environment within minutes.

First, you need to download the WAMP software and install it on your computer. Simply go to the WampServer website and click on the ‘Start Using WampServer’ button.

WampServer site

It will take you to the downloads section. You’ll see two versions here: WampServer 32 bits and WampServer 64 bits.

You need to select the WampServer version that matches the operating system type of your Windows computer.

Select your Windows version

To find out whether you are using a 32 or 64-bit operating system, simply search for ‘Control Panel’ in the search bar in the Start taskbar.

After that, you can go to System and Security » System on your computer. There you will be able to see your System Type.

Check system type

Now that you know your Windows operating system type, simply select the correct WampServer software version.

When you click the download button, a form will open asking for your personal details. If you don’t want to provide this information, go ahead click the ‘you can download it directly’ link.

Download Wamp directly from the link

Once downloaded, you can click on the WampServer execution file to run the installation.

Now select a language from the dropdown menu and click the ‘OK’ button.

Select your language

In the next step, you’ll see the License Agreement.

Go ahead and select the ‘I accept the agreement’ option and click the ‘Next’ button.

Agree to license agreement

After that, the setup wizard will show information about the WampServer installation.

You can simply click the ‘Next’ button to continue.

Read general information and click next

Next, you can select the destination location where the software will be installed.

To change the default location, go ahead and click the ‘Browse’ button and choose your preferred folder. When you’re done, click the ‘Next’ button.

Select your destination folder

The setup wizard will ask you to select different components you’d like to install. These include the PHP versions, MySQL versions, and more.

You can also keep the default options and click the ‘Next’ button to move forward.

Select installation components

Next, you can select a start menu folder. Go ahead and click the ‘Browse’ button to choose a different folder.

Once you’ve selected a folder, click the ‘Next’ button to continue.

Select a start menu folder

The software will now be ready to install. You can see a summary of the destination location, setup type, selected components, and more.

Go ahead and click the ‘Install’ button.

Ready to install

During the installation process, you need to define the location of the web browser. By default, it will be Internet Explorer.

You can change that to Google Chrome or any other web browser by locating it in the Program Files of your computer.

Select a different browser

Similarly, it will also ask if you’d like to use Notepad when using WampServer.

After that, the setup wizard will show information about how WampServer works.

Go ahead and click the ‘Next’ button.

Read information on how to use WampServer

You’ve now successfully installed WampServer on your Windows device.

Simply click the ‘Finish’ button to exit the setup wizard.

Finish the setup wizard

Once installed, you can launch the WampServer from your desktop shortcut or from the destination location where you installed the software.

The next thing you need to do is to create a blank MySQL database.

On launching WampServer, you’ll see a green icon at the bottom right corner of your screen along with other icons. Simply left-click on it and then click on phpMyAdmin (a web-based application to manage MySQL databases).

Note: If the WampServer icon is red or yellow, then it means the services (Apache, MySQL, PHP) are not running. You need to start the services by clicking on the icon before setting up the database.

Open phpmyadmin from the taskbar

It will take you to the phpMyAdmin login screen on your web browser.

Simply enter the username: root and leave the password field blank. These are the default credentials to login into your localhost phpMyAdmin.

Login to your phpmyadmin panel

Click on the ‘Go’ button to continue.

Once logged in, you need to click on Databases in phpmMyAdmin to create a new database for WordPress.

It will ask you to choose a name for your new database (we named ours test_db). After that, click on the ‘Create’ button.

Create a database

Your database is ready which means you can now install WordPress on localhost.

The next thing you need to do is download the latest version of WordPress from the WordPress.org website. It will download as a zip file.

Download WordPress

Next, you need to extract the zip file and copy the ‘wordpress’ folder.

For this tutorial, we are using WinRAR to unzip the file. Simply click the ‘Extract To’ option at the top.

Extract WordPress files

Now you need to navigate to the folder where you installed WAMP.

In this tutorial, we installed WAMP in C:\wamp64, so we’ll refer to that folder going forward. However, keep in mind that it may be different for you depending on where you installed the program.

Paste the ‘wordpress’ folder into the C:\wamp64\www folder.

Paste WordPress folder to Wamp

You can rename the ‘wordpress’ folder to anything you want, such as mysite, testsite, etc. This will be the URL of your local WordPress site, so be sure to choose something you’ll remember easily.

For the sake of this tutorial, we renamed the folder from wordpress to mysite.

Next, you can open the web browser and go to http://localhost/mysite/ and click on ‘wordpress’ folder.

Go to the wordpress folder

First, it’ll ask you to select a language and then show you the database setup information.

After selecting a language, click the ‘Continue’ button.

Select a language

Next, you’ll see a welcome to WordPress notice.

Once you have read it carefully, go ahead and click on the ‘Let’s go’ button to continue.

Welcome to WordPress notice

After that, you need to enter your database details like database name, username, password, host, and table prefix.

The database name will be the one that you entered in the previous step. In our case, we called it ‘test_db’. The username will be ‘root’, and you can leave the password field blank. You can also leave the database host and table prefix as-is.

Enter username and password

Next, click on the ‘Submit’ button and WordPress will create a configuration file for you in the backend.

On the next screen, you will see a success message stating that WordPress is connected to your database, and you can proceed with the installation.

Go ahead and click on the ‘Run the installation’ button to continue.

Click run the installation

It will take you to the welcome screen for WordPress. You need to add a title for your new WordPress website, choose an admin username, enter a strong password, and provide an admin email address.

Once you’re ready, click on the ‘Install WordPress’ button.

Enter login information

After the installation process is complete, you’ll see a success message. In the background, WordPress has created new tables in your database and it’s ready to use.

You can then proceed to your WordPress dashboard by clicking on the ‘Log In’ button.

Log in to your admin panel

Congratulations, you have successfully installed WordPress on a Windows computer using WampServer.

Simply login to your WordPress admin panel and start editing your site in a local environment.

Logging into a local WordPress website

Enabling Pretty Permalinks in WAMP

The new version of WordPress doesn’t break your local site by changing the permalinks setting.

However, if you still see the ‘page not found’ error on your pages after changing the permalinks from Settings » Permalinks in WordPress, then simply follow our guide on how to enable custom permalinks in WAMP.

Bonus: Migrating WordPress from Local to Live

We’ve also written a separate guide on how to move WordPress from local server to a live site. Hopefully, you’ll find it helpful when you are ready to deploy your local site to production.

Having a local server environment is great for learning and testing purposes. However, if you want to start a WordPress blog for other people to see, then you do not need to install WordPress on your computer. You need to install WordPress on a WordPress hosting provider.

We hope this article helped you learn how to install WordPress on a Windows computer. You may also want to see our guide on WordPress SEO and how to start an online store.

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.

Popular on WPBeginner Right Now!

Disclosure: Our content is reader-supported. This means if you click on some of our links, then we may earn a commission. See how WPBeginner is funded, why it matters, and how you can support us.

The Ultimate WordPress Toolkit

Get FREE access to our toolkit – a collection of WordPress related products and resources that every professional should have!

Download Now

Reader Interactions

746 CommentsLeave a Reply

  1. Hi useful article. The only thing I’m aware of not seeing is anything about when to use Local WP and when to use WAMP. Now I’ve got a choice and I don’t know which is better for me.
    Local WP sounds more straightforward and with less to do – but the test doesn’t say whether it also installs Apache, PHP, MySQL (which the WAMP text does say).
    On the other hand, WAMP sounds like you have to do more getting it going (just compare the number of paragraphs it needs) but apart from (possibly) adding choice over Apache, PHP, MySQL, what does it give you that Local WP doesn’t?

    Hope you can answer this easily.

    Reply

    • WAMP has been around longer and was our original recommendation, Local WP was created to make it easier for those just starting out and both will install what is needed to run a WordPress site on your computer.

      Reply

      Admin

  3. I have installed wampserver and have a green light. When I right click I can not find any button called phpadmin. And when I type localhost/phpadmin in my browser I am getting this message.
    The requested URL was not found on this server.

    Apache/2.4.51 (Win64) PHP/7.4.26 Server at localhost Port 80

    Reply

    • You would want to left-click on WAMP’s icon for phpmyadmin, when you go through that route it should show what your URL is set to if it is not properly set under localhost.

      Reply

      Admin

  4. I’ve done this and started work on one pc but this now needs to go for repair and will be away a while. If I am to install this on a second pc, what files do I need to transfer over so I can continue working on the same website on the other pc? Feeling a bit dumb here that I can’t figure it out myself.

    Reply

  5. I installed Wamp Server and C++ Redistributable 2012, 2013 and 2015 but when I try to open it it opens 4 black windows and then it shuts down. What should I do

    Reply

    • You would want to check in the bottom right with your hidden icons, WAMP does not have a window pop up by default but would add an icon there for your options with WAMP

      Reply

      Admin

  6. Straightforward and to the point guide. Followed it and achieved exactly what I wanted. Great and helpful write-up.

    Reply

  7. Thanks for this invaluable guide. The issue of having is with the wamp download. The language is in French and each time i try to change it it goes back to french which i do not understand. i filled all the necessary information but to click on download it changes back to french. pls help me out on this

    Reply

    • They currently have a popup that is French when selecting the file to download but at the end of the first paragraph you should see a link to download directly without having to deal with the popup :)

      Reply

      Admin

  8. hello, i need some help. when i put this localhost/mysite/ in my web browser it responds negatively saying

    “The requested URL was not found on this server.
    Apache/2.4.41 (Win64) PHP/7.3.12 Server at localhost Port 80”

    Reply

    • If you have restarted your computer since installing WAMP you would want to ensure that WAMP is running as that is the most common cause of that specific error.

      Reply

      Admin

    • You would want to ensure you install Visual C++ Pro for the most common solution to that error.

      Reply

      Admin

  12. Hi – I have WAMP installed locally on my Windows 10 machine running PHP version: 7.3.12. I want to upgrade to PHP 7.4 – do I need to reinstall WAMP or can I update PHP separately?

    Reply

    • You would want to click on the WAMP icon, and check under PHP, Version and depending on when you installed WAMP there should be the option to change versions by clicking on the version you want to use.

      Reply

      Admin

  13. Thanks for this article! It is the best and most straight-forward one I’ve come across, it’s very helpful and detailed. Keep up the great work! As a beginner, I really appreciate it.

    Reply

  15. While installing, I got a System error that says ”The code execution cannot proceed because MSVCR120.dll was not found. Reinstalling the program may fix this problem'”

    How can I get this done please

    Reply

  16. I have installed wordpress in wamp and completed my first website. I have got another project now. So for the second website how should I start?Should I install wordpress again in a second “mysite2” folder?

    Reply

    • Unless we hear otherwise, you can install it on Windows 7 still, depending on the error you are running into, you may need to reach out to WAMP’s support.

      Reply

      Admin

  19. Great instructions, thanks.
    Everything installed fine, just have a problem this morning in trying to log into the browser. Every setting I have tried hasn’t worked.
    I know I am being thick but could you confirm what I should be typing in the browser to access the program.
    Thanks

    Reply

    • As we state in the article, it should be something similar to localhost/mysite. You would also want to ensure WAMP is running for the most common reason for that issue.

      Reply

      Admin

  20. I was having similar issue as others. All went well until I got to the point with Apache not running. The issue was with Port 80 it was used by something else (not skype) so I went to Tools > Use other port than 80 I added the port 8080. Then it all worked however then when you want to access your website you can’t use localhost/mysite/ but localhost:8080/mysite/ since you changed the default port.

    I didn’t find this in the comments. Maybe it will help someone.

    Reply

  21. Hi, thanks for the tutorial. I completed it, and it works like a charm. But now my question is: how do I get my “real” live website data in the local test environment? Is there some way to export that and import it into the local test environment?

    Reply

  22. here i have downloaded the wordpress file and done everything according to the given instruction . but lastly stuck in the localhost address bar
    localhost/servername in the internet explore has to be typed to get to wordpress. but what to be type for google ,firefox. pls lhelp me with this its really urgent.

    Reply

    • You should be able to type that same address on any internet browser to see the site on your local computer. If you wanted to have your site found online, you would want to look into a domain and hosting provider.

      Reply

      Admin

  24. Thanks for this useful article. I successfully installed WordPress using Wamp. But, I get this message. “Installation failed: there has been a critical error on your website. Please check your site admin email inbox for instructions. Learn more about debugging in WordPress.”
    Please, how can i fix it ?

    Reply

  25. Dear WPBeginner Support;
    I read your tut very carefully, and didn’t see you mention about VirtualHost in WampServer, so I don’t know if I have to create a Virtual Host for my test site.

    Reply

    • It can make URLs closer to what you would expect from a site but it is not a requirement and can be difficult for beginners to set up.

      Reply

      Admin

  26. Hello,
    Thank you so much for this article!
    You’ve really helped me!
    I’m interested to know now how to login to my site when I go on wordpress.

    Reply

  27. I followed the process accordingly but when i click on the green WAMP icon in order to create a blank MySQL database nothing pops up

    Reply

    • The most common reason for that would be if you didn’t install the C++ redistributable if you have not done that.

      Reply

      Admin

  29. Hi,
    I have installed as per instructions but I am getting an error trying to log into

    ERROR: Failed to set session cookie. Maybe you are using HTTP instead of HTTPS to access phpMyAdmin.

    What am I doing wrong?

    Reply

    • That is likely a hiccup with either your browser cache or a browser addon, we would recommend clearing your cache or trying to use an incognito browser to see if that helps resolve the issue.

      Reply

      Admin

  30. Hi, thank you for the article. when i try to open my local host site i get the following error; There has been a critical error on your website.this is after pasting ‘wordpress’ to www folder. how may i solve this

    Reply

    • You would want to ensure the file is unzipped, if it is you may want to try reading a fresh WordPress download to the folder to see if there was a hiccup with your download.

      Reply

      Admin

  31. Hi, i need your help please, i follow all the steps in your detailed article but i saw a message “can’t select database We were able to connect to the database server (which means your username and password is okay) but not able to select the test_db database and some other that i believe you know”.

    Thanks in advance!

    Reply

    • You may want to ensure there are no typos in the database name you set, it looks like it is not able to find a database with the name given.

      Reply

      Admin

  33. Hi,
    I have installed WAMP and created a WordPress site on my computer – thanks for your excellent guide. I used “mysite” as in your example to stay consistent with you as I built my software kingdom. Now that things are looking good, is it possible to simply rename the “mysite” folder (which is inside “www” to my preferred name, or is it more complicated than that? I’m trying to avoid starting over. Thanks

    Reply

  34. Hi,
    Can I use this system to test a previous back up I did via the server control panel?
    I have a zip file which is a mirror of my directory on the server, including database and WP-admin file.
    I would line to test if the backup I have works fine and possible run it on a precioys version of the WP

    Reply

    • You would want to check with the tool you are using for the specifics but it should allow you to do what you’re wanting.

      Reply

      Admin

  35. Installed WAMP and WordPress – thanks for the wonderfully detailed instructions! So now it’s time to create the web site — is there a guide on wpbeginner for that?

    thank you!

    Reply

  36. First, thank you so much for the guide! It’s working. Second, is there a way wherein after you create the website, would there a way to view the site after you clicked the published button. Sorry for the dumb question.

    Reply

    • If you are logged in, in the top right you should be able to open the dropdown that has your site title, and there you should find a link to view your site.

      Reply

      Admin

  37. Hello,
    If I install WordPress on a localhost based on the content of this blog, will I be able to use plugins like woocommerce, elementor, astra & kadence?
    Thank you.

    Reply

    • Yes, installing locally you would be able to use plugins and page builders like those on your site

      Reply

      Admin

  38. Hi,
    I am at the point where I would put localhost/mysite/ in the browser. I am getting the “404 not found error”.
    I named the copy of wordpress to wamp the same and have double checked the address to see if it’s typed in correctly. This still happens, what am I doing wrong?
    Thanks!

    Reply

    • You would want to ensure you’re not running into the Skype error where it is trying to use port 80 while WAMP is.

      Reply

      Admin

  39. Currently, the WAMP website is down which is why we’ve added a different link and included a note above and are working on updating this article as quickly as we are able :)

    Reply

    Admin

  41. Hi team,
    I followed the guide but when I go to local host/my site/ I have this error: your don’t have permission to access my site on this server.
    Can you please help?
    My folders are in this order: c/wamp/www folder/mysite, is that correct?

    Reply

    • That is the correct location, you would want to ensure WAMP is running when you see that specific error message.

      Reply

      Admin

  42. Our published website was created using an older versions of WP, themes, and plugins. I would like to test against the latest versions of WP, themes, and plugins on a local PC installation.

    If I backup the website data from the live online WP account using UpdraftPLus, can I restore the files on the local installation to test against the latest versions of WP, themes, and plugins?

    If not, what is the most effective method to do so?

    Thank you so much!

    Reply

  43. Hi, the WampServer link (website) has not been working the past few days. Is there an alternative place to get it? Thanks.

    Reply

    • Not that we would recommend at the moment, hopefully, the issues on the site at the moment are resolved and the site starts working again soon.

      Reply

      Admin

  44. I am trying to do the localhost/mysite/ part but every time I search this it says url not found how do I put the WordPress folder with the WAMP folder

    Reply

    • You would go to where you installed WAMP on your computer, and place the mysite folder inside the www folder

      Reply

      Admin

  45. I installed WAMP and able to see a GREEN icon in system tray.
    But i am not able to see anything when i click on that icon.No PHP database nothing at all.I uninstalled and reinstalled but didn’t work.
    Would you please help?
    thank you so much.

    Reply

    • You would normally want to enter localhost in your browser while the green W is in your icon tray to find that

      Reply

      Admin

  46. I installed WampServer, but it wouldn’t run. All I saw was a couple of windows with command prompts briefly appear and then disappear.

    Reply

  47. it happened with me, and solved it like that:
    when entering the database name, and user name,
    you may forgot and left the default password as written “Password”
    (as happened with me)
    without change it to a private password or at least remove the word “Password” and keep the field of password blank,

    Reply

    • Thanks for this. I was having trouble at this point. Have reinstalled everything and couldn’t work out what I was doing wrong.

      Reply

    • Unless the plugin specifies otherwise(mainly plugins that connect to 3rd party services), you would be able to use plugins on a local installation :)

      Reply

      Admin

  49. Hi, I followed this guide a few weeks ago and set up the very beginnings of a test site. I now can’t remember or work out how to get back to editing the site! It’s maddening as I can launch WAMP, go to localhost/testsite/ and view the site I made but please can someone let me know how to enter editing mode!! Many thanks

    Reply

    • You would want to add /wp-admin to be able to log into your local installation of WordPress to be able to start editing it again :)

      Reply

      Admin

Leave A Reply

Thanks for choosing to leave a comment. Please keep in mind that all comments are moderated according to our comment policy, and your email address will NOT be published. Please Do NOT use keywords in the name field. Let's have a personal and meaningful conversation.

Featured in

Copyright © 2009 - 2023 WPBeginner LLC. All Rights Reserved. WPBeginner® is a registered trademark.

Managed by Awesome Motive | WordPress hosting by SiteGround | WordPress Security by Sucuri.

I need help with…

Popular searches:

Starting a
Blog WordPress
SEO WordPress
Performance WordPress
Errors WordPress
Security Building an
Online Store