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.
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:
- Method 1: Install WordPress on Windows Using Local WP
- Method 2: Install WordPress on Windows Using WampServer
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.
After that, a popup window will appear where you’ll need to select your platform.
Go ahead and choose ‘Windows’ from the dropdown menu.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
After that, the setup wizard will show information about the WampServer installation.
You can simply click the ‘Next’ button to continue.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
You’ve now successfully installed WampServer on your Windows device.
Simply click the ‘Finish’ button to exit 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Syed Balkhi says
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Every month, our top blog commenters will win HUGE rewards, including premium WordPress plugin licenses and cash prizes.
You can get more details about the contest from here.
Start sharing your thoughts below to stand a chance to win!
mike says
installed wamp Apache/2.4.9 (Win32) PHP/5.5.12, downloaded wordpress, configured wp-config nothing, absolutely nothing happens.
Any thoughts?
Villi says
Hey. So everything worked great and i have been playing around practicing. Now i am going to make another website but keep the practice website also, but i need them to be completely independent from each other since i dont want my “messing around” to affect the new one
Should i install wordpress again and follow the same instructions (extract the wordpress folder to C:\wamp\www etc.) and make another database ?
In short, should i follow exactly the same process as before, except i would not need to download wamp again obviously.
Thank you
WPBeginner Support says
Yes, you need to follow the same instructions.
Admin
Wayne says
Great article. I have managed to get everything up and running. But have not got stuck when I try to upload a Theme I have purchased. I have a personal live site using WordPress. But wanted to build one offline for my workplace, hence I am using phpAdmin. Any ideas please how I can work on purchased themes on a localhost?
WPBeginner Support says
Installing a purchased theme is no different on a localhost site than on a live site. Simply go to Appearance > Themes on your localhost site. Click on the Add New button and then click on the Upload button. Click on the choose file button to locate the Theme Zip file from your computer and then upload it.
Admin
Manoj says
Hi
I had installed everything as per the guide here and my site was working fine. Today, however, i tried to loginto localhost and it gives an error. It says this webpage is not available. ERR_CONNECTION_REFUSED
Kindly help
naveenraj says
hi sir,
The icon says in orange colour and i getting blank pages when i go for localhost/phpmyadmin/ page, Please help t resolve this.
WPBeginner Support says
Please see WAMP documentation and support forums.
Admin
bella says
“Go to C:\wamp\www and paste wordpress folder there.”
I can’t seem to find anywhere that accepts my wordpress folder. Does anybody have more detailed description to do this step for me? Thank you very much for all you sharing people
Ayesha says
Hi,
Once you go to wordpress.org and install wp, you will have a wordpress zip folder, extract its contents and it would create a wordpress folder, open this folder and copy the folder named wordpress. Now goto your wampserver folder and then open www folder that lies insides wampserver folder, paste the folder wordpress over there i.e. inside www folder.
You just have to copy your wordpress folder and paste it in the www folder of wampserver.
Hope that helps!
Kush Singh says
Really it’s very helpful site for installing wordpress.
Nice work guys keep it up…
Satish Shihani says
Superb….. I really like this
On my first attempt only, i done all installation without any error
Thank you so much for this tutorial
Amir says
Smooth and fun, worked like a charm. I had only one problem which was resolved by shutting down a certain Microsoft product…
Thank you.
Paul says
Great tutorial glad I found it as I am just learning how to use wamp and my local server to build wordpress sites. I would also like to copy a live wordpress site to my local server so I could modify a theme, then reload it to the remote server and was wondering if there was a tutorial on how to do that? I have found and read the tutorial on uploading a site from my local server to the remote one but nothing on copying a live site to the local server and getting it to work. Is this possible and if so, do you have a tutorial on how to achieve it successfully? Thanks in advance.
Kvaibahv01 says
Hey there,
I had created a WordPress blog earlier this month and my WAMP server was uninstalled due to some reasons….I reinstalled it>did all the same steps> named the ‘wordpress’ folder to ‘site’> opened localhost/site/wp-admin which says :
Welcome to WordPress. Before getting started,………………………….before proceeding.
Database name
Database username
Database password
Database host
Table prefix (if you want to run more than one WordPress in a single database)
We’re going…………We got it.
In all …………… all ready…
I clicked ‘Let’s go’ button which opened ‘Setup config.File’ entered my DB name ‘site’> ‘username’ and ‘password’ I edited on ‘wp-config-sample.php’ and changed username to blank and same with password too> Click next and now it shows me an error “Can’t select database”:
We ………………. database.
Are you sure it exists?
Does the user have permission to use the site database?
On some systems the name of your database is prefixed with your username, so it would be like username_site. Could that be the problem?
If you don’t know how to set up a database you should contact your host. If all else fails you may find help at the WordPress Support Forums.
Please help!
WPBeginner Support says
Visit localhost/phpmyadmin to confirm that the database name you entered is correct.
Admin
Geraldine says
Hello. I hope you can help me with this. After I created the test site, how can I share this to my friend via online?
Rhian Williams says
thank you so much for this I have been battling with localhost software all day and this worked first time for me
moneytechnicals says
Ive installed WAMP in windows 7 32 bit. And want to use wordpress. But its not showing to create configuration file. Its showing an error like this-
Warning:
require(C:wampwwwwordpress-trunk/wp-blog-header.php): failed to open
stream: No such file or directory in
C:wampwwwwordpress-trunkindex.php on line 18
Please help me to get out of this. Thank you in advance.
Campbell Sinclair says
Hello and to anyone who googles this error and is stuck like I was on this,
You likely downloaded the zip installer and extracted them, maybe cancelled it some point because the extraction / transfer of the folder inside was slow. I’m not sure what happened, not the point either.
This error occurs when not all the files are present. Try and hunt down wp-blog-header in your WordPress folder directory with a simple search. The index page (one that is first loaded by a browser when it opens a directory) is only asking for this file but it simply won’t be there with it in the directory. Index.php is asking for wp-blog-header and everyone else said I’m not the file you’re looking for.
I downloaded the version prior and it was complete because I had the installation page as expected. This is the quickest and certain fix. If you do this, you will should be able to upgrade to the latest once you have installed as well.
WPBeginner Staff says
Yes you can.
ArtaGene says
Since I didn’t see any specs listed, not sure my old computer will have enough memory…can I install on a portable drive (connects with USB) and use that way ?
WPBeginner Staff says
Seems like WAMP didn’t install correctly on your computer. Try installing again or try XAMP.
jerry says
I get this error right at the end of the installation.
httpd.exe – system error
The program can’t start because MSVCR110.dll is missing from your computer. Try reinstalling the program to fix this
problem
nikhil says
i have install wamp server but when i am going to phpMyAdmin it is showing error like this:-
Forbidden
You don’t have permission to access /phpmyadmin/ on this server.
Roshan Bagdiya says
error
#1045 – Access denied for user ‘root’@’localhost’ (using password: NO)
while accesing phpmyadmin
how to resolve it
WPBeginner Staff says
Please make sure that the Wamp server icon in your taskbar turns Green before you click on phpMyAdmin. You can also try manually accessing phpMyAdmin by typing this URL in your browser’s address bar http://localhost/phpmyadmin/
Diviya says
Followed your procedure step wise. Now when I try to setup database for WordPress, when I click on phpMyadmin I get error ‘HTTP Error 404. The requested resource is not found’
Syed Balkhi says
Done – thanks for the suggestion.
Carrie says
FYI, the “Skype” error also happens with a similar program called Team Viewer. A similar simple fix, going in to the program and changing the checkbox regarding ports 80 and 443. I agree with others, if nothing else you should put a link to the troubleshooting info in the article right after the WAMP installation. I got frustrated that I kept getting an error, and decided to look through the comments until I found a solution.
Anand Upadhyay says
Suggested edit. Please replace
C:wampwww
with
C:wampwww
Aditya Pranav says
Done all thing , but when I click on phpMyadmin the an error page will open in browser and that is :-
HTTP Error 404.0 – Not Found
The resource you are looking for has been removed, had its name changed, or is temporarily unavailable.
Derick says
Howe about adding a tutorial that continues from this one on how to add multiple websites to be worked on offline like the above one.
Vijay says
Thanks so much for this. It worked for me.
My only complaint is that the skype error should have been right after the WAMP installation part. I spent a lot of time figuring out how to get the WAMP icon to go green instead of orange. Ultimately found out that IIS 8.5 was using port 80 and that I had to stop WWW publishing services from Services.msc and restart the Apache on WAMP to get it to work.
M♥ηyαηє Ramołło™ says
Great tutorial
Jim says
Great tutorial. Big thanks. Only you should post the info on Skype port before in the beginning, as I did everything by myself and changed the port number in wamp folder. Then here I found out that there was easier way doing it on Skype
lobsterhands says
Great tutorials. Thank you for being so clear and concise.
Lis says
Fab article! I’m all installed and working. However, any additional pages I am creating over and above the home page don’t work. I am creating the page in WordPress, but when following the ‘View’ link, I get a 404. Any idea?
pramod says
Downloaded everything. when i write on web http://localhost/mysite/ but display error
The requested URL /mysite/ was not found on this server.
Monica says
Very helpful thanks.
St. Buzo of C.O.B. ® says
Bingo..!! this was so helpful.!! Phase one done i have installed..!!
anbu says
dear sir,
this blog is very usefull to me..as per your instruction i create a website locally. but when i try to open the same site from different machine in tha same lan i can’t.please guide me.
i tried via this following method in another computer
1.http://192.168.1.88/(sitename).
2.http://localhost/(sitename)
the site is not opening
anbu says
dear sir,
this blog is very usefull to me..as per your instruction i create a website locally. but when i try to open the same site from different machine in tha same lan i can’t.please guide me.
i tried via this following method in another computer
1.http://192.168.1.88/(sitename).
2.http://localhost/(sitename)
Lyle Denman says
http://forum.wampserver.com/read.php?2,121118
This should answer many of your questions. Know that you will also have to update your database’s options (from localhost/phpmyadmin/). wp_options > siteurl and wp_options > home should be changed from http://localhost/database_name to http://your_local_ip_address/database_name (for example http://192.168.0.11/coolsite/).
Make sure you open c:/wamp/bin/apache/apache2.4.9/conf/httpd.conf
In that file, after the line reading: # onlineoffline tag – don’t remove, add the following 2 lines:
Require all granted
Require ip 192.168.0 (or whatever the first 3 groupings of your local ipv4 address is)
Then, in the same file, find the line reading: #Include conf/extra/httpd-vhosts.conf and remove the # from the beginning of that line.
Then, open the file c:/wamp/bin/apache/apache2.4.9/conf/extra/httpd-vhosts.conf and comment out the code that is there (just to keep defaults around) and past the following:
ServerName localhost
DocumentRoot c:/wamp/www
AllowOverride All
Save those files, restart all WAMP services and enjoy your LAN development.
Lina says
This post was VERY helpful!! Thank you very much!
WPBeginner Staff says
First you need to uninstall wampserver completely from your computer. Then download a fresh copy and try to reinstall. If this does not work out, then we will recommend you to use XAMPP which is an alternate software with nearly the same software (Apache, php, mysql).
Jokerman says
I tried EasyPhP too but that didn’t work either. Have just installed Xampp and that appears to be working. Thanks very much for the advice.
Jokerman says
I have downloaded and attempted an install. It didn’t work as I was missing a dll file. Have downloaded the necessary software from MS and this time the install appeared to have gone well…no error messages and the Wampserver icon has appeared on my desktop as requested. However when I click on the Wampserver icon it asks: Do you want to the following program from an unknown publisher to make changes to your computer? (Program name: wampmanager.exe) Clicking on Yes causes that window to close then nothing happens. Do you have any clues as to what to try next please? Thank you
cmills says
The latest version of wamp uses PHP 5.5.12 which isn’t compatible with WordPress!
WPBeginner Staff says
That’r probably because your site is served at 127.0.01 which is a local loop address while the other ip address is your lan address. They are two different things.
To enable sharing you need to add this line to your httpd.conf file Listen 192.168.1.4:80 make sure your computer is using static ip and it is set to use the ip address you enter in apache configuration file.
You will also need to make sure that WordPress saves your IP address as your sites URL not localhost. To achieve this you would need to install wordpress from 192.168.1.4/mysite instead of localhost/mysite
Naresh says
Thank you very much.
archetypechris says
Hello, and thank you for the amazing guide! I have a small
problem. Everything worked find when I followed the guide and my site loads up
fine, but when I try to connect to it from another computer in my house with
address: 192.168.1.4/mysite, it says I don’t have permission to view the page.
Does anyone know how to fix this? Thank
you!
WPBeginner Staff says
You can use the Duplicator plugin or BackupBuddy for site transfers.
Anji says
It is my first time creating a website in WP and his post was easy and it worked like a charm! Thank you so much!
WPBeginner Staff says
George,
The WordPress you install on your local computer is only available on that computer.
There are specialized software that allow you to install Wampserver on a USB stick which you can then carry with you to work.
George says
Thanks for the speedy reply,
Today I installed Wamp on my work laptop and using phpadmin exported my sql database from my home computer and imported it to my work laptop.
I tried mirroring the process above on my work laptop and named the database the same thing. I was able to get into my site on my work laptop but is seems my plugins and theme haven’t transferred. Am I missing a step? Must I transfer another folder?
I was planning on working on a local server doing this transfer sequence between work and home and was wondering if it can even be done (I heard about url linking problems) A short check list or play by play of what I must do would be very helpful.
Thank you,
-George
rustomQ says
excellent guide!!!!!! got everything up and running the first time!!! thank you oh so much!!!!
George says
This Work wonderfully! I’ve been word pressing for a couple of days and have made some progress over the weekend.
One Problem:
How can I take what I have on my home computer and work on it on my work computer in the office? Can I upload this to wordpress and work on it from anywhere? (I am fine with having a http://www.website.wordpress.com url while I am developing) What are my options to working and showing my development work after following the process above.
I am a complete newbie but willing to learn, a quick tutorial on that process and options would be greatly appreciated. Great work so far and thank you for all the resources you guys provide.
Thomas says
*facepalm* There is a link just above to resolve the problem. Sorry about that! Thanks again for this great tutorial!