Did you know that you can install WordPress on your own Windows computer for learning and testing? Working with WordPress for Windows is a great way to test plugins, updates, and other website changes before pushing them live to your audience. In this article, we’ll show you how to install WordPress locally using WAMP.
The process of installing WordPress on your personal computer is also known as setting up a local server environment or localhost. Often theme designers and plugin developers install WordPress on a local server environment to speed up their development process.
It’s a good idea to use WordPress for Windows in order to test any major changes to your site. This way you can catch and fix any issues before they affect your audience.
Note: If you install WordPress locally on Windows, then the only person who can see that site is you. If you want to create a WordPress blog 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 install WordPress.
Having that said, let’s take a look at how to install WordPress on localhost using WAMP.
What is WAMP?
WAMP, also called WampServer, is a compilation of Apache web server, PHP and MySQL bundled for Windows computers. You need WAMP to setup your own local server environment and install WordPress on Windows. There are other clients for Windows such as XAMPP, but we use and recommend WAMP. It is free and easy to use.
Installing WampServer on your PC
The first thing you need to do is go to the WampServer website and download the latest WampServer. You will be presented with various options on their download page. Simply choose the one that applies to your Windows (64-bit or 32-bit). When in doubt, select the 32-bit version because it will also work on 64-bit versions of Windows.
Once you have downloaded WampServer, run the installation program and carefully follow on-screen instructions.
At one point during the installation, WampServer will ask for the location of the default web browser.
By default it will use Internet Explorer, but you can change that to Google Chrome or Firefox by locating the browser in Program Files.
Once you are done with the installation, launch WampServer.
Setting Up a Database for WordPress
Next, you’ll need to create a blank MySQL database WordPress can use.
WampServer comes with phpMyAdmin, a web based application to manage MySQL databases. Click on the Wampserver icon in windows taskbar and then click on phpmyadmin.
The phpMyAdmin login screen will open in a new browser window. By default, the Username will be root, and you can leave the password field blank.
Once logged in, click on Databases in phpmMyAdmin to create a new database for WordPress. You will be asked to choose a name for your database (we named ours test_db). After that click on the Create button.
Installing WordPress on Windows with WAMP
The next step is to install WordPress. You will need to download a copy of WordPress from WordPress.org. Go ahead and extract the zip file and copy the wordpress folder.
After that, you need to navigate to the folder where you installed WAMP.
In our tutorial, we installed it in C:\wamp64, so we’ll refer to that folder going forward. But keep in mind, it may be different for you depending on where you installed the program.
Paste the wordpress folder into the C:\wamp64\www folder.
You can rename the wordpress folder to anything you want, such as mysite, wpbeginner, 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 our wordpress directory to mysite.
Now open your web browser and go to http://localhost/mysite/
The WordPress database setup will start automatically. First it will ask you to select your language. After that it will show you some information about setting up your database. Click the Let’s Go button when you’re ready.
On the next screen, you’ll need to provide your database information. The database name will be the one that you entered in the last step. In our case, we called it test_db.
Your default database username will be root and you can leave the password blank.
Next, click on the submit button and WordPress will create a configuration file for you.
After this you will see a screen informing you that WordPress has successfully connected to your database, and you can proceed with the installation.
Go ahead and click the Run the install button.
On the next screen, you can fill out the installation form. You need to provide a title for your website, choose an admin username / password, and provide admin email address.
Once you’re ready, press the Install WordPress button.
WordPress will quickly run the installation and create database tables. Once done, you will see a success message after the installation is complete.
You can then proceed to your WordPress dashboard by clicking on the Log in button.
Congratulations, you have successfully installed WordPress on a windows computer using WAMP.
Below are some additional notes that might help.
Troubleshooting WAMP Skype Error
If you have Skype installed and running, then WampServer may not be able to work properly due to a conflict with Skype. The conflict is caused by both Apache and Skype using the same port 80. There is a simple fix for this problem. Open Skype and go to Tools » Options. Click on Advanced and then Connections. Uncheck the box that says Use port 80 and 443 as alternatives for incoming connections. Save options and restart Skype.
Enabling Pretty Permalinks in WAMP
Pretty permalinks will not work by default on your local server environment. All your URLs will look like localhost/mysite/?p=18. If you go to Settings » Permalinks and use one of the other options, then it will show you “page not found” errors. We have already written about a solution here that will show you how to enable custom permalinks in WAMP.
Migrating from WAMP to Live
We’ve also written a separate guide on how to move WordPress from WAMP local server to a live site. Hopefully you’ll find it helpful when you are ready to deploy your local site to production.
We hope that this article helped you install WordPress on your Windows computer using WAMP. Having a local server environment is great for learning and testing purposes.
Remember, if you want to start a blog for other people to see, then you do not need to install WordPress on your computer. You need to install WordPress on a web hosting provider.
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Thanks for this. but do i need to install wordpress again each time I put on my laptop to edit my site or create a new site? pls reply asap. thanks
The WampServer site has two versions of the software – 32 BITS or 64 BITS. Click on the version you prefer to download.
Click on “download directly,” and you’ll be taken to the website. The download will automatically start in 5 seconds.
Got it working without a hitch! Thank you so much for this. But I have another question:
As a web developer I will be creating multipule websites. If I use local WP to create 1 site, do I have to create a separate DP for each new website? And if I eventually wish to attatch it to a domain/host, is there another tutorial that I can follow that will teach me to do just that? Thank you!!
i changed wordpress name to mysite but it shows below error
Further, I tried pasting http;//localhost/wamp64 in my browser, it gives the error 404. Also, I want to build my website locally before I go live. Please assist me.
Further, I tried pasting http;//localhost/wamp/mysite but shows error. in my browser, it gives the error 404 with below mentioned
The requested URL /mysite/ was not found on this server.
Apache/2.4.23 (Win32) PHP/5.6.25 Server at localhost Port 80
Wow! without any problems Wamp on my pc and after that my website local!
Thank you very much for your time and effort to write this tutorial!
your guideline perfectly worked for me while installing wampserver and wordpress though it was not easy but i combined persistence and trial and error till i see the end.
A million pounds applause there.
but, please, i have no knowledge on web designing, so, what step can i take to design a good looking and professional website?
kind regard
Not able to download wampserver from the link.
It says file has been removed.
Please provide the new link.
Hi Sahil,
The link is working. May be it was a temporary error. Please try again.
Hi, If i want say try out with a Thrive theme and their page builder would it be possible with WAMP?
Hi kym,
Yes you can try it on your local server using WAMP.
Im getting password is wrong.
I need your help guys.
Thanks for this guide, it was smooth sailing…..everything installed perfectly.
Thank for the tutorial. Everything went smooth in the first attempt.
I have a secondary question: If I want to create a second test website (e.g. mysite2), can I do it within same WAMP64\www folder or would I have to repeat the whole process from start on a separate root folder?
Thanks again.
there are two methods one is you can use single wordpress for your second website and the second is repeate the same process but the wordpress folder name should be different and database also…
Hoping this will be my breakthrough
Thanks a lot for this tutorial, it was extremely helpful. I do however have on issue that is causing me a lot of frustration right now. My wordpress installation is moving extremely slow. it takes about 8 – 10 seconds to perform any action in wordpress. I tried everything i found online, I disabled the cgi_module, I changed localhost to 127.0.0.1 in the wp-config file. I also tried anther solution I found online concerning adding additional code to the wp-config file, nothing works. it’s taking me forever to get anything done. I would deeply appreciate any help I can get on this matter.
Thank you for this tutorial, this is very helpful for me. Thank you.
Thanks for this tutorial, the installation process went smoothly but after installation i tried installing some themes and i activate the themes but they wont take effect please does any body know what i can do about this?
Hi!, Wondering what to do with this error.
The program can’t start becauseMSVCR110.dll is missing from your computer. Try reinstalling the program to fix this problem.
been reinstalling several times. Thanks in advance!
FANTASTIC! Went off without a hitch! Had trouble with XAMPP install, so decided to try WAMP instead, and your instructions had me up and running in no time…thanks sooo much!
Hi,
I pasted the wordpress folder into the C:\wamp64\www folder
and renamed the wordpress folder to mysite. I opened the web browser and typed the url on my browser, http://localhost/mysite/.
The browser shows a blank page so I can’t start the wordpress install. I have changed the local host to 8080 via the Wamp tool menu. I can’t seem to go further, can someone advise me. Thanks
If you changed the WAMP (apache) port, you’ll have to include the port number in the URL. ex: localhost:8080/mysite/
Hi Trevor,
Thanks it worked.
Regards
Eddie
Hi Trevor, Thanks it worked.
Regards
Eddie
Can I ask why you would change the port on a local host?
thanks
my local wordpress is settings are for http, while my current online version is set at https. if i use duplicator, will i end up having http and have to force http to https redirect?
WAMP could not fully function on my 2010 hp laptop. It complained of missing file MSVCR120.dll. Only one service in running. Can somebody help me?
Great tutorial, but when I installed WamServer 3.1.0, I get a slightly different tools menu, without phpMyAdmin being listed. The following is what’s on the Tools menu, under the Tools section:
– Restart DNS
– Check httpd.conf syntax
– Check state of services
– Check DNS search order
– Check Compiler VC, compatibility and ini files
– Show VirtualHost examined by Apache
– Show Apache loaded modules
– Delete unused versions
The other sections have to do with assigning port numbers and purging logs.
To access phpMyAdmin, left-click on the WampServer icon in windows taskbar, and you will find it on the list that will appear, but if you right-click on the icon instead, you will get the list you mentioned earlier.
One of the best guide. it works smoothly.
Many thanks – Very easy to follow and worked like a dream
Finally, guys. I got it done. Simple but stylish. Many thanks to our friends in WPbeginner.
sir there was an error ..MSVR.dll what is the solution of this error sir? tnx
It was the same error I got. So what is the solution?
whoa! It was a success. Well detailed. I love this, I had no problem at all, it’s very comprehensive. Thanks a lot.
Excellent article. I could install successfully wordpress following this article.
Thank you.
I’m trying to set up a local copy of an existing site. I have a full backup of the site, I have a copy of the database, but when I create a new database in WAMP and try to import the database copy I have, it tells me the database already exists. If anyone can help me figure out what I’m doing wrong I would be very grateful.
It works perfect!
ok, got it to work, but trying to install a theme and it gives me error message: The uploaded file exceeds the upload_max_filesize directive in php.ini.
Hi Christie,
Please see how to increase maximum upload size limit in WordPress.
I did everything step by step, when opening my local host, it gives me this error message “Error establishing a database connection”. What did I do incorrectly? Thanks!
Excellent tutorial! I am a developer, and totally new to WordPress. And with this tutorial, I was able to set up a complete WordPress test environment on my PC. Thank you!
I can’t thank you enough for this help. It worked and walked me through the steps perfectly. Bravo! Cheers to your success in life.
After installing WAMP, a short-cut icon appears on the desktop. It’s not green, and it doesn’t do anything. The real icon used to open WAMP is in the notification area on the task bar – usually at the far right and sometimes, depending on your setup, you must click the up ^ arrow to access it.
Very helpful article. I installed it and it is running perfect but I am facing an error whenever I Go to Theme/Plugins and click on Add New “An unexpected error occurred. Something may be wrong with WordPress.org or this server’s configuration. If you continue to have problems, please try the support forums.”
or when I go to Setting—>General I see this message on the page “Warning: An unexpected error occurred. Something may be wrong with WordPress.org or this server’s configuration. If you continue to have problems, please try the support forums. (WordPress could not establish a secure connection to WordPress.org. Please contact your server administrator.) in C:\wamp64\www\Ain-Ebel\wp-admin\includes\translation-install.php on line 66”
Can you please assist.
Thanks
The only solution I’ve found is to get a better internet connection. Because This Error is so common when an internet speed is slow.
Hello,
I get this error after selection a language:
“This program can only be installed on Versions of windows designed for the following processor architectures 64x”
But I tried the 32 en 64 bit version… Can you help?
I am getting this error:
“The program can’t start because api-ms-win-crt-runtime-|1-1-0.dll is missing from your computer. Try reinstalling the program to fix this problem.”
Any suggestion?
try installing wamp server version 2.5.
Version 3.0 does not support in some older OS
Such a good explanation. Great Work. Thanks!
great info..what my question is…if I decide to make the website with my computer then upload to local site…will the DB still work the same or is code different now..cause I’m on their data base
Hi Ian,
Once you are done with developing your site on your computer, you can move it to a live website.
Thank you,such precise explanation
Went through all of this and it worked fine. Had WAMP running and localhost site running. Was looking at themes. Closed everything down and restarted and now the MYSQL service won’t start. Apache starts and MariaDB starts but mysql won’t start. I’ve searched with google and tried a few solutions but can’t get the issue resolved. I’ve looked in MYSQL log and it’s blank. I’ve tried reinstalling the service and that doesn’t help.
After renaming wordpress folder and pasting it to the wamp64 folder I get a file 404 error when trying to open browser/ Did I miss a step somewhere? Thanks
Hi
Don’t paste the wordpress folder in the general ‘wamp64 folder’
BUT
paste it in the ‘www’ folder inside the ‘wamp64’ folder.
Simple and Easy , thank you
Great guide, worked like a charm!
Its really helpful for a novice like me . thanks a lot
many thanks it was easy and usefull
What else can I say…? This is so informative, and timely. Last week I was struggling to get WordPress installed on my local machine; now it’s done. Good job guys!
I really appreciate WP beginner. However, am not tech savvy thus a bit slow on grasping what is probably fundamental for most people.
Now, I got as far as installing Wampserver 64 but when I try http: localhost/my site I get Error 404.
What is the problem? I have done all I possibly can but the error message keeps coming on.
Please help.
Thanks in advance.
Ensure there’s no spacing in between local host/mysite
Thanks it is really help full and install the WordPress successfully from above steps.