Install Laravel on Windows

Requirements

• PHP
• Composer

Step 1: Install PHP

1. Download the Windows build of PHP (a zip file, "Thread Safe" x64) from the PHP website.

   

2. Extract it to a folder such as C:\php. Copy php.ini-development to php.ini. In php.ini, remove the ; before the extensions Laravel needs: extension=curl, extension=fileinfo, extension=mbstring, extension=openssl, extension=pdo_mysql and extension=zip.
3. Add PHP to the PATH. Open the environment variables:

   

   

4. Select Path, click Edit and add C:\php.

   

   

5. Open a new Command Prompt and check:

php --version

Step 2: Install Composer

1. Download Composer-Setup.exe from the Composer website.

   

2. Run it. Let it find your php.exe.

   

   

3. Open a new Command Prompt and check with composer -V.

Step 3: Create a Laravel project

Go to the folder where you want to keep your projects and run:

composer create-project --prefer-dist laravel/laravel app-name

You can name a version, for example Laravel 11:

composer create-project laravel/laravel:^11.0 example-app
cd example-app

Step 4: Add a test route

Open routes/web.php and change it to:

<?php

use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Route;

Route::get('/', function () {
    return 'Hello, World!';
});

Step 5: Start the server

php artisan serve

Open http://127.0.0.1:8000 in your browser. You see "Hello, World!".

Why use Laravel on Windows

• Easy local development without a Linux machine.
• Fast start with Composer and Artisan.
• A rich framework: routing, Eloquent ORM, Blade templates, queues and more.
• You can later deploy the same project to a Linux server.

Quick recap

• Install PHP and Composer.
• composer create-project laravel/laravel app-name.
• php artisan serve starts the site.