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Introduction
On March 18, 2026, Microsoft released PowerShell 7.6.0, the newest Long-Term Support (LTS) version of the cross-platform automation shell. Built on .NET 10 — itself an LTS release — PowerShell 7.6 is the recommended version for production automation environments, carrying three years of critical security updates and servicing fixes from Microsoft. For IT administrators, DevOps engineers, and infrastructure professionals who rely on PowerShell for daily automation, Windows Server management, Active Directory administration, and cloud operations, this release is a meaningful quality-of-life upgrade. The headline themes are a dramatically improved interactive shell experience — particularly tab completion — several practical new command parameters, four experimental features graduating to mainstream, two new experimental features, and a small but important set of breaking changes that warrant pre-deployment testing
LTS Lifecycle: Support Windows for PowerShell 7.6
Understanding the support lifecycle is essential before deciding when to migrate production systems to PowerShell 7.6. Microsoft follows the Modern Lifecycle Policy for PowerShell, with support timelines tied to the .NET version each release targets.
| PowerShell Version | Type | .NET Version | Support End Date | Status |
| PowerShell 7.6.0 | LTS (Current) | .NET 10 (LTS) | November 10, 2028 | Current — Recommended for Production |
| PowerShell 7.4.x | LTS (Previous) | .NET 8 (LTS) | November 10, 2026 | Supported — Still receiving security updates |
| PowerShell 7.5.x | Stable | .NET 9 | May 12, 2026 | Supported — Short-term, upgrade recommended |
| PowerShell 7.2.x | LTS (EOL) | .NET 6 | November 8, 2024 | End of Life — No longer supported |
| Windows PowerShell 5.1 | Built-in | .NET Framework 4.x | Indefinite (Windows lifecycle) | Maintained — Not actively developed |
How to Install PowerShell 7.6 on Windows
PowerShell 7.6 can be installed on Windows using winget (the recommended method on Windows 11 and Windows Server 2025), the MSI installer for direct download, or via ZIP archive for portable/advanced deployments.
Install via winget (Recommended — Windows 11 and Windows Server 2025)
winget is the Windows Package Manager built into Windows 11 and Windows Server 2025 (Desktop Experience only). It is the fastest install method and supports automatic updates.
# Check available PowerShell versions via winget
winget search Microsoft.PowerShell
# Install PowerShell 7.6.0 stable
winget install --id Microsoft.PowerShell --source winget
# Verify installed version
pwsh --version
Install via MSI Installer (All Windows Versions)
Download the MSI installer directly from the official PowerShell GitHub releases page:
# Direct download URL for PowerShell 7.6.0 x64 MSI
https://github.com/PowerShell/PowerShell/releases/download/v7.6.0/PowerShell-7.6.0-win-x64.msi
For silent, unattended installation — suitable for GPO deployment or scripted provisioning
# Silent MSI install with recommended options
msiexec.exe /package PowerShell-7.6.0-win-x64.msi /quiet `
ADD_EXPLORER_CONTEXT_MENU_OPENPOWERSHELL=1 `
ADD_FILE_CONTEXT_MENU_RUNPOWERSHELL=1 `
ENABLE_PSREMOTING=1 `
REGISTER_MANIFEST=1 `
USE_MU=1 `
ENABLE_MU=1 `
ADD_PATH=1
| MSI Property | Value | Effect |
| ADD_EXPLORER_CONTEXT_MENU_OPENPOWERSHELL | 1 | Adds ‘Open PowerShell here’ to Windows Explorer right-click context menu |
| ADD_FILE_CONTEXT_MENU_RUNPOWERSHELL | 1 | Adds ‘Run with PowerShell 7’ to .ps1 file right-click context menu |
| ENABLE_PSREMOTING | 1 | Enables PowerShell remoting (WinRM) during installation |
| REGISTER_MANIFEST | 1 | Registers the PowerShell event log manifest for event logging |
| ADD_PATH | 1 | Adds pwsh.exe to the system PATH environment variable |
Install on Linux (Ubuntu / Debian)
# Install via .deb package on Ubuntu/Debian
wget https://github.com/PowerShell/PowerShell/releases/download/v7.6.0/powershell_7.6.0-1.deb_amd64.deb
sudo dpkg -i powershell_7.6.0-1.deb_amd64.deb
sudo apt-get install -f
# Verify
pwsh --version
Install on Linux (RHEL / RPM-based
# Install via RPM on RHEL/CentOS/Fedora
sudo rpm -i https://github.com/PowerShell/PowerShell/releases/download/v7.6.0/powershell-7.6.0-1.rh.x86_64.rpm
# Verify
pwsh --version
How to Upgrade from an Earlier PowerShell Version
PowerShell 7.6 installs side-by-side with Windows PowerShell 5.1 and any earlier PowerShell 7.x version. Upgrading does not remove or replace any existing installation.
Upgrade via winget (From Any PowerShell 7.x)
If you installed a previous PowerShell 7.x via winget, upgrading is a single command:
# Upgrade PowerShell to the latest stable version
winget upgrade Microsoft.PowerShell
# Or specify the exact version
winget upgrade --id Microsoft.PowerShell --version 7.6.0.0
Upgrade via MSI (From Any Version)
Download the PowerShell 7.6 MSI and run it over your existing installation. The installer detects the current version and upgrades in-place, preserving your profile, modules, and settings:
# Silent upgrade — same command as a fresh install, MSI handles detection
msiexec.exe /package PowerShell-7.6.0-win-x64.msi /quiet ADD_PATH=1
Verify the Upgrade
# Open a new terminal and verify the version
pwsh --version
# Expected output: PowerShell 7.6.0
# Check .NET runtime version
$PSVersionTable
# PSVersion should show 7.6.0, PSEdition: Core, .NET 10.x
What’s New in PowerShell 7.6 — Overview
The PowerShell team organized improvements in this release into five main areas. Each is covered in detail in the sections that follow.
| Area | Summary of Changes |
| Module Updates | PSReadLine, Microsoft.PowerShell.PSResourceGet, and Microsoft.PowerShell.ThreadJob (renamed from ThreadJob) all updated |
| Tab Completion | Dozens of improvements — registry paths, certificate store, file path special chars, provider variables, parameter values |
| New Command Parameters | -Delimiter for Get-Clipboard, -NativeFallback for Register-ArgumentCompleter, -ExcludeModule for Get-Command, and more |
| Engine Improvements | PSForEach()/PSWhere() aliases, NO_COLOR support, X509 DNS name improvements, SystemPolicy Unix no-op |
| Experimental Features Graduated | PSFeedbackProvider, PSNativeWindowsTildeExpansion, PSRedirectToVariable, PSSubsystemPluginModel now mainstream |
| New Experimental Features | PSSerializeJSONLongEnumAsNumber, PSProfileDSCResource |
| Breaking Changes | Join-Path -ChildPath now string[], WildcardPattern.Escape lone backtick fix, GetHelpCommand trace name trailing space removed, alias resolution fix |
Module Updates
PSReadLine
PSReadLine is the module that powers the interactive command-line editing experience in PowerShell — history search, syntax highlighting, multi-line editing, and predictive IntelliSense. The updated version included in PowerShell 7.6 brings bug fixes and stability improvements to the interactive experience, particularly benefiting users who rely on predictive completions based on command history or AI-powered suggestions.
Microsoft.PowerShell.PSResourceGet
PSResourceGet is the modern replacement for PowerShellGet, providing faster, more reliable installation and management of modules and scripts from the PowerShell Gallery. The updated version included with 7.6 adds stability improvements and preview feature enhancements. Note that the module is named Microsoft.PowerShell.PSResourceGet — if your scripts reference the older PowerShellGet module, they continue to work but you should evaluate migrating to PSResourceGet for new automation.
Microsoft.PowerShell.ThreadJob (Renamed from ThreadJob)
The ThreadJob module has been officially renamed to Microsoft.PowerShell.ThreadJob in this release. The functionality is identical — ThreadJob provides lightweight, thread-based background jobs as an alternative to heavyweight Process-based jobs for parallel processing. For backward compatibility, the old ThreadJob v2.1.0 package remains available as a proxy module pointing to Microsoft.PowerShell.ThreadJob v2.2.0.
Conclusion
PowerShell 7.6 LTS, released March 18, 2026, is a focused quality-of-life release built on the solid foundation of .NET 10 LTS. It does not introduce sweeping architectural changes, but it delivers exactly what production administrators and developers need most: a more reliable interactive shell, cleaner syntax for common operations, and four experimental features that have been battle-tested across multiple preview releases now promoted to always-on status.
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