Install optional Windows features (WSL, Hyper-V)

What you will achieve

Install Windows optional features such as WSL 2, Hyper-V, or legacy .NET frameworks through Settings or PowerShell without a full reinstall.

1) Install from Settings

1. Open Settings → Apps → Optional features (Windows 11) or Settings → Apps → Optional features then More Windows features.
2. Click View features, search for Windows Subsystem for Linux, Hyper-V, or Virtual Machine Platform.
3. Check the box, click Next, then Install. Reboot when prompted.

2) Install via PowerShell (Admin)

Open Terminal (Admin) with Win + X:

Get-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online | Where-Object {$_.FeatureName -match 'Hyper|Virtual|WSL'}
Enable-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online -FeatureName Microsoft-Windows-Subsystem-Linux -All
Enable-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online -FeatureName VirtualMachinePlatform -All

3) Complete WSL 2 setup

1. After optional features install, run: wsl --install (downloads the default Linux distro).
2. Set WSL 2 as default: wsl --set-default-version 2.
3. Verify with wsl -l -v — VERSION should show 2.

4) Enable Hyper-V (Pro/Enterprise)

1. Open Windows Features by running optionalfeatures.exe.
2. Tick Hyper-V including Hyper-V Management Tools, click OK, and reboot.
3. After reboot, launch Hyper-V Manager from Start to create virtual machines.

5) Remove optional features cleanly

Disable-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online -FeatureName Microsoft-Windows-Subsystem-Linux

1. Removing WSL does not delete Linux distros immediately — unregister with wsl --unregister <name> first.

6) .NET Framework 3.5 legacy apps

1. optionalfeatures.exe → tick .NET Framework 3.5 (includes .NET 2.0 and 3.0).
2. Windows may pull files from Windows Update if not on the install image — connect to internet during enable.

7) Hyper-V prerequisites checklist

1. 64-bit CPU with SLAT, virtualisation enabled in BIOS, minimum 4 GB RAM free for host + VM.
2. Disable Memory Integrity temporarily if Hyper-V install fails on some builds: Windows Security → Device security → Core isolation.

8) Verify feature state

Get-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online -FeatureName Microsoft-Hyper-V-All

9) Sandbox and Containers

Beyond WSL and Hyper-V, optional features include Windows Sandbox ( lightweight disposable VM) and Containers for Windows Server-style container runtime on Pro/Enterprise.

1. Enable Sandbox: Enable-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online -FeatureName Containers-DisposableClientVM -All then reboot.
2. Launch from Start — each session is clean; no persistence between runs.
3. Hyper-V must be enabled for Sandbox — same virtualisation prerequisites apply.

Related guides

• UEFI vs legacy BIOS boot explained
• Partition disks during Windows setup