How to Run a Virtual Machine on Windows 11

To run a virtual machine on Windows 11 Pro, Enterprise, or Education, turn on Hyper-V, open Hyper-V Manager, and create a new virtual machine from an ISO file. Hyper-V isn’t available on Windows 11 Home, so Home users need a free third-party app like Oracle VirtualBox instead. Either way, hardware virtualization has to be turned on in your PC’s firmware.

This guide covers checking your PC, turning on virtualization and Hyper-V, building the virtual machine (VM), meeting Windows 11’s extra requirements if Windows 11 is the guest, and fixing the errors people run into most. The Windows 11 Home route is further down.

What You Need

• Windows 11 Pro, Enterprise, or Education. The Hyper-V role can’t be installed on Windows 11 Home. Check your edition in Settings > System > About under Windows specifications. If you’re on Home, here is how to get Windows 11 Pro.
• A 64-bit processor with virtualization support. Hyper-V also needs Second Level Address Translation (SLAT) and a minimum of 4 GB of memory.
• Spare memory and disk space. The VM borrows both from your PC. A Windows 11 guest needs at least 4 GB of memory and 64 GB of disk space of its own, so a PC with 8 GB or more of RAM is much more comfortable.
• An installation ISO for the operating system you want to run. Microsoft’s Windows 11 download page offers one, and most Linux distributions publish ISOs too.
• An administrator account on the PC.

Step 1: Make Sure Virtualization Is Turned On

1. Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc to open Task Manager.
2. Select Performance, then CPU, and look at the Virtualization line. If it says Enabled, skip to Step 2.

3. If it says Disabled, open Settings > System > Recovery and select Restart now next to Advanced startup.
4. Select Troubleshoot > Advanced options > UEFI Firmware Settings > Restart.
5. Turn on the option named Intel Virtualization Technology (VT-x) or AMD-V / SVM Mode, then save and exit. After Windows restarts, Task Manager shows Virtualization: Enabled.

Menu names vary by manufacturer. Microsoft’s Enable Virtualization on Windows page links to instructions from Acer, Asus, Dell, HP, and Lenovo, and the steps to turn on hardware virtualization have more detail.

Step 2: Turn On Hyper-V

1. Press Windows key + R, type optionalfeatures, and press Enter to open the Windows Features window. (It’s the same window used to install IIS on Windows 11.)
2. Check Hyper-V (both Hyper-V Management Tools and Hyper-V Platform get selected) and select OK.

3. Restart the PC when asked. Hyper-V Manager then appears when you search the Start menu.

Prefer a command? Open PowerShell as an administrator and run the command below, then enter Y to restart. This method, DISM, and Control Panel are all in Microsoft’s Install Hyper-V page, and there’s no separate Hyper-V download.

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

Step 3: Create the Virtual Machine

1. Select Start, type Hyper-V Manager, and open it.
2. Select your PC’s name in the left pane, then select New > Virtual Machine in the Actions pane and select Next.

3. Name the VM. To keep its files on a drive with more room, check Store the virtual machine in a different location and browse to a folder. Select Next.
4. Choose Generation 2. Windows 11 requires it; use Generation 1 only for an old 32-bit operating system. You can’t change the generation later.

5. Enter the startup memory. Use at least 4096 MB for Windows 11. Leaving Use Dynamic Memory checked lets Hyper-V adjust it as needed.
6. Under Configure Networking, choose Default Switch so the VM can reach the internet through your PC.

7. Select Create a virtual hard disk and set the size. Windows 11 needs at least 64 GB.
8. Select Install an operating system from a bootable image file, browse to your ISO, and select Next.
9. Review the summary and select Finish. The new VM appears in the Virtual Machines list with a State of Off.

These steps follow Microsoft’s Create a virtual machine in Hyper-V, which also covers the PowerShell route. As an example, this creates a similar VM with a new 64 GB disk (change the name and path to suit your PC):

New-VM -Name Win11VM -MemoryStartupBytes 4GB -Generation 2 -NewVHDPath "C:\VMs\Win11VM.vhdx" -NewVHDSizeBytes 64GB -SwitchName "Default Switch"

Step 4: Set Up Windows 11 Requirements (Windows 11 Guests Only)

Microsoft’s Windows 11 VM requirements are Generation 2, Secure Boot and TPM enabled, 4 GB of memory, 64 GB of storage, and two or more virtual processors. A new Hyper-V VM gets one processor and no TPM, so change these before the first start:

1. In Hyper-V Manager, right-click the VM and select Settings. The VM must be off.
2. Select Security, make sure Enable Secure Boot is checked, and check Enable Trusted Platform Module.

3. Select Processor and set Number of virtual processors to 2 or more.
4. Select OK. With these settings, the Windows 11 installer won’t stop with a “This PC can’t run Windows 11” message.

The virtual TPM is emulated, so it works whether or not your own PC has a TPM chip.

Step 5: Start the VM and Install the Operating System

1. Right-click the VM and select Connect, then select Start in the window that opens.
2. When you see “Press any key to boot from CD or DVD,” click inside the window and press a key right away. The installer then loads.
3. Follow the installer. For Windows 11, choose your language, select I don’t have a product key if you want to activate later, pick an edition, and install to the virtual disk.
4. When setup finishes, sign in. The guest’s desktop runs inside the VM window, separate from your own files and apps.

A Windows install inside a VM needs its own activation. For your options, here are legal ways to get Windows 11 without buying a product key.

Handy Things to Do After Setup

• Take a checkpoint before you experiment: right-click the VM and select Checkpoint. You can revert to it if something breaks.
• Give it more resources in Settings > Memory or Processor while it’s off, if it feels slow and your PC has room.
• Shut it down from inside the guest (Start > Power > Shut down) rather than turning it off in Hyper-V Manager, which is like pulling the plug.

On Windows 11 Home: Use VirtualBox

Oracle VirtualBox is free and runs on Home. These steps follow the VirtualBox 7.2 New Virtual Machine wizard. Older 7.0 and 7.1 releases use slightly different labels, noted in each step:

1. Download VirtualBox for Windows hosts from virtualbox.org and install it.
2. Open VirtualBox, select Home, then select New. In 7.0 and 7.1, select Machine > New.
3. Enter a Name, pick a VM Folder if you want the VM stored somewhere else, and set ISO Image to your ISO file. VirtualBox detects the operating system type and version from the ISO.

4. If you want to run the installer yourself, turn off Install OS Using Unattended Installation (in 7.0 and 7.1, check Skip Unattended Installation instead), then select Next.
5. On the hardware page, set Base Memory to at least 4096 MB and Processors to 2 or more. For a Windows 11 guest, check Use EFI (Enable EFI (special OSes only) in 7.0 and 7.1).
6. Select Create a Virtual Hard Disk Now, set the size to at least 64 GB, and select Next.
7. Review the summary and select Finish.
8. For a Windows 11 guest, select the VM, open Settings > System > Motherboard, and check that TPM is set to v2.0 and Enable Secure Boot is checked. VirtualBox 7 sets both when it detects Windows 11.

9. Select Start to boot from the ISO and run the installer.

VirtualBox also needs virtualization turned on in the firmware (Step 1). If you only need Linux tools, WSL2 works on Home without a full VM. On Pro and higher, Windows Sandbox gives you a disposable Windows desktop that’s wiped when you close it. Here’s how to use Windows Sandbox in Windows 11 if that’s all you need.

Oracle’s installation guide lists supported hosts. Windows on Arm support is still experimental. To try Linux, download the Ubuntu Desktop ISO and pick it in the New dialog. Ubuntu’s VirtualBox tutorial suggests at least 4 GB of RAM and about 25 GB of disk.

For a single old DOS program, an emulator is lighter than a full VM; here’s how to run Turbo C++ in DOSBox.

Kali Linux also offers a prebuilt VirtualBox image, which is one way to install Kali Linux on Windows 11.

Android emulators such as BlueStacks rely on the same firmware setting, which matters if you want to install an APK on Windows 11.

Troubleshooting

Hyper-V isn’t listed in Windows Features

Your PC is almost certainly running Windows 11 Home. Upgrade to Pro or use VirtualBox.

Hyper-V is listed but grayed out

Virtualization is off in the firmware, or the processor lacks the features Hyper-V needs. Go back to Step 1.

The VM won’t boot from the ISO

You probably missed the “Press any key” prompt. Turn the VM off, start it again, and press a key immediately. If it still fails, open Settings > SCSI Controller > DVD Drive to confirm the ISO is attached, and check that Firmware lists the DVD drive first. For a Linux ISO on Generation 2, try changing the Secure Boot template under Security to Microsoft UEFI Certificate Authority.

“This PC can’t run Windows 11” inside the VM

The TPM, Secure Boot, processor count, or memory isn’t set. Turn the VM off and complete Step 4.

VirtualBox or VMware stopped working after turning on Hyper-V

Third-party virtualization apps may not start or may run unreliably while the Hyper-V hypervisor is running. Update the app, or turn Hyper-V off in Windows Features when you need the other app.

If the error names Device/Credential Guard instead, first check whether Credential Guard is running.

The VM has no internet

Open Settings > Network Adapter and choose Default Switch, then restart the guest.

Frequently Asked Questions