Enable Virtual Machine Platform using CMD & PowerShell

Vigneshwaran Vijayakumar — Thu, 13 Feb 2025 18:08:00 +0000

Enable Virtual Machine Platform using CMD & PowerShell: This feature on Windows 11 provides virtualization capabilities required for running Virtual Machines, and Windows Subsystem Environments such as Windows Subsystem for Linux, etc. On Windows Pro and Enterprise Editions, enabling VMP on Windows 11 enables Windows Sandbox which allows you to run untrusted applications in isolation from your main system. You can enable Virtual Machine Platform using the Windows Features (GUI), however, you can also use Command Line Interface (CMD & PowerShell). The choice is yours!

Virtual Machine Platform Availability on Various Windows Editions

*Windows Editions*	*Availability*
Windows Servers	Yes
Windows 11 Home	Yes
Windows 11 Professional	Yes
Windows 11 Education	Yes
Windows 11 Enterprise	Yes
Windows 11 Pro Education	Yes
Windows 11 SE	No
Windows 11 IoT Enterprise	No

Quick Way to Turn on Virtual Machine Platform on Windows 11 using the Command Prompt

For Clear Understanding, we have provided step by step explanation with clear images. Let’s get Started.

Let’s open the Command Prompt with Administrative Privileges. There are different ways to open CMD with Elevated Permissions. We will use the Run Command. Use the Keyboard Shortcut WinKey + R to open the Run Command.
In the Run, type the command cmd and press CTRL + SHIFT + ENTER.

Type cmd and press ctrl + shift + enter

The User Account Control will confirm and open Command Prompt with Administrative Privileges.
Once the Command Prompt opens, execute the following command in the CMD. dism /online /enable-feature /featurename:VirtualMachinePlatform /all /norestart

Execute the Virtual Machine Platform Command in the CMD

The above command will use the Deployment Image Servicing and Management Tool and enable VMP via the CMD. DISM requires Elevated permissions and that is why we are running CMD with Administrator Rights.

Enabling VMP using DISM via CMD

Once the process is completed, we will get the message “The Operation Completed Successfully“. Virtual Machine Platform is now enabled on your Windows 11. We highly recommend you to save your works and restart your system.

The operation completed successfully

Decoding Virtual Machine Platform Command

Decoding Virtual Machine Platform CMD Command

How to Enable Virtual Machine Platform (VMP) using Windows PowerShell?

This is an alternate method to enable VMP on Windows 11.

Go to the Run Command using WinKey + R.
In the Run, type the command powershell and press CTRL + SHIFT + ENTER.

Type powershell and press ctrl + shift + enter

The system will confirm and open Windows PowerShell with Elevated Permissions.
In the PowerShell, execute the following command. Enable-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online -FeatureName VirtualMachinePlatform -All -NoRestart

Execute the VMP PowerShell Command

The system will enable VMP on Windows 11.
Restart Needed value is true and it suggests to do a Restart right away so that the changes made will reflect.

VMP Enabled on Windows 11 via the PowerShell

Decoding VMP via PowerShell Command

Decoding Virtual Machine Platform POWERSHELL Command

Video Walkthrough – How to Enable Virtual Machine Platform using the Command Prompt & Windows PowerShell?

Video Tutor – Enable Virtual Machine Platform on Windows 11 using CMD & PowerShell

Video Tutorial – Enable VMP on Windows 11 using CMD & PowerShell

Take Away

If you are comfortable with Command Line Interface, then you can follow the above methods to enable Virtual Machine Platform on Windows 11. These methods can be ideal for IT admins for Automations, or Mass Deployment, and for Headless Servers and Remote Sessions. If you have any queries, kindly let us know in the comment section. For more interesting articles, visit Winsides.com. Happy Computing! Peace out!

Virtual Machine Platform – Winsides.com