How to Add a User Interface to Windows' Winget Utility

Does Windows lack a convenient package manager? UniGetUI is here to help you!

The package manager for Linux systems is very convenient, but Windows systems lack similar tools. However, with a free open source project UniGetUI and Windows built-in command line tool winget, you can get the same functionality on Windows.

The best feature for Windows missing: a convenient package manager

Package Manager allows you to add and remove programs, system libraries, and drivers. You can search for programs almost instantly, retrieve information about them, and adjust settings.

In other words, they are features that Microsoft stores dream of.

Every Linux distribution has some package managers you can use, which are an integral part of every Linux user's life.

Windows does actually have a package manager—winget. However, although winget is very useful, it is often forgotten and overlooked. The main reason is accessibility. The entire Windows experience is built around the graphical user interface rather than the command line, and winget does not have a graphical interface.

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Get the user interface for Winget

The main reason I don't use winget is that it doesn't have a convenient graphical user interface (GUI) like most Windows utilities.

Fortunately, there is an open source project called UniGetUI (formerly WinGetUI) that provides a convenient user interface. Additionally, it matches the normal UI style of Windows 11—it doesn't look out of place at all.

Install UniGetUI

If you want to install UniGetUI, there are many options. They are all equivalent, so which one you use depends on your personal preference.

There are some fake websites that claim to be the official website of UniGetUI (formerly WinGetUI).

Install UniGetUI from Microsoft Store

You can download UniGetUI from the Microsoft Store, which is the method recommended by developers. To do this, open the Microsoft Store, search for UniGetUI, and click on the first result.

Click the "Install" button and wait for the download to complete. You won't be able to launch UniGetUI from the Microsoft Store. If all goes well, you will only see a button that says "installed".

Install UniGetUI from GitHub

I usually avoid using the Microsoft Store, so I downloaded UniGetUI from GitHub.

Scroll down until you see "Download UniGetUI Installer" and click "Click here to download UniGetUI".

After the executable file is downloaded, double-click it to install the program.

Install UniGetUI using Winget

If you are already a big fan of Winget, you can even use Winget to download UniGetUI!

Open the terminal and run the following command:

 <code>winget install --exact --id MartiCliment.UniGetUI --source winget</code>

You may see a normal installation window appear at the same time.

Using UniGetUI is very simple

After you install UniGetUI, you can search and start it like other programs.

The first screen you will see is the Discover Packages tab. Here you can search for the app and filter it by its source. By default, UniGetUI contains other sources besides Winget, such as Chocolatey. I recommend starting with Winget's app.

My favorite tab, however, is "Software Updates". Manually updating all applications can be very tedious, especially since they are not always installed from the same source. Fortunately, Winget (using UniGetUI) can handle updates to most programs you install.

Select the check box next to the program and click "Update Selected Package". Alternatively, you can click on the box in the upper left corner to select and update all applications at the same time.

Typically, when winget runs the update program and prompts you to make a choice (for example, what is downloaded when updated), you will see a series of popups. Additionally, depending on the content of the update program and where it is installed, you may occasionally need to grant certain administrative permissions during the process.

You can also right-click the application almost anywhere to perform various actions, such as skipping updates, uninstalling, and more.

By default, whenever any of your packages need to be updated, UniGetUI displays a small notification, although you can disable this feature by application or completely based on your preferences.

UniGetUI also saves logs of actions you perform, which may help if you are troubleshooting.

Not every Windows command line tool requires a user interface, but winget is too useful to have it. Hopefully, in the future, Microsoft will choose to use UniGetUI (or something like that) as part of an operating system out of the box.

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