How to Enable Hyper-V in Windows 11 to Run Virtual Machines

Hyper-V is Microsoft’s native hardware virtualization product. It allows you to create and run software versions of computers, known as virtual machines (VMs), inside your physical Windows 11 host. Each virtual machine acts like a completely separate computer running its own operating system (like Ubuntu Linux, an older version of Windows, or an isolated testing environment) without interfering with your primary system. While third-party tools like VirtualBox exist, Hyper-V is deeply integrated into the Windows kernel, offering superior performance and stability. However, it is turned off by default and must be explicitly enabled.

Prerequisites for Enabling Hyper-V

Before you begin, you must ensure your computer meets two critical hardware requirements. First, your PC must be running Windows 11 Pro, Enterprise, or Education. The standard Windows 11 Home edition does not include the Hyper-V hypervisor. Second, your computer’s motherboard CPU must support hardware virtualization (Intel VT-x or AMD-V), and this feature must be enabled in the computer’s BIOS/UEFI settings. On most modern PCs, virtualization is enabled at the factory, but if you encounter errors later in this process, you may need to restart your computer and enter the BIOS to switch it on.

How to Enable Hyper-V via Windows Settings

The most straightforward way to install the Hyper-V feature is through the optional Windows features menu.

1. Click the Start button and type Turn Windows features on or off.
2. Select the matching control panel result. A small window listing all optional Windows components will appear.
3. Scroll down the list until you find the folder labelled Hyper-V.
4. Click the small plus (+) sign next to the Hyper-V folder to expand it.
5. Ensure that both sub-boxes are checked: Hyper-V Management Tools and Hyper-V Platform. (If “Hyper-V Platform” is greyed out, your CPU virtualization is disabled in the BIOS).
6. Click the OK button.

Windows will now search for the required system files and apply the changes. This process usually takes a minute or two. Once complete, you will be prompted to restart your computer. You must reboot for the hypervisor to load into the kernel successfully.

How to Enable Hyper-V via PowerShell

If you prefer using the command line or need to automate the installation across multiple machines, you can enable Hyper-V using a single PowerShell command.

1. Right-click the Start button and select Terminal (Admin) or Windows PowerShell (Admin).
2. If prompted by User Account Control, click Yes to allow administrative access.
3. Type the following command exactly as written and press Enter: Enable-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online -FeatureName Microsoft-Hyper-V -All
4. Wait for the progress bar to complete.

The terminal will ask if you want to restart your computer now. Type Y and press Enter to initiate the reboot.

Accessing the Hyper-V Manager

After your PC has finished rebooting, the Hyper-V hypervisor will be running silently in the background. To actually create your first virtual machine, you need to use the management interface.

1. Click the Start button.
2. Type Hyper-V Manager.
3. Click on the application icon to launch it.

From the Hyper-V Manager console, you can click on your computer’s name in the left pane, and then select Action > New > Virtual Machine from the menu bar to begin installing a guest operating system.