How to Set Up Hyper-V on Windows 10 Pro

Applies to: Windows 10 Pro and Enterprise. The steps are the same on Windows 11 Pro. Hyper-V cannot be installed on Windows Home. Windows 10 reached end of support on October 14, 2025.

Check the requirements

These are Microsoft’s requirements for Hyper-V on Windows 10 and Windows 11.

Almost every processor from the last ten years meets the processor line. To confirm all four at once, open Command Prompt and run:

systeminfo

Scroll to the end of the output and read the Hyper-V Requirements section:

Hyper-V Requirements:      VM Monitor Mode Extensions: Yes
                           Virtualization Enabled In Firmware: Yes
                           Second Level Address Translation: Yes
                           Data Execution Prevention Available: Yes

Four lines reading Yes mean the PC is ready. If Virtualization Enabled In Firmware says No, go to the next section. If the section instead says a hypervisor has been detected, Hyper-V or a related feature is already on.

About memory: 4 GB is the minimum for Hyper-V to install, not a comfortable amount. The host and each running virtual machine share the PC’s memory. Plan on 16 GB if you want to run a modern Windows or Linux desktop as a guest while still using the host normally.

If the PC has Windows 10 Home, upgrade the edition first: see how to upgrade Windows 10 Home to Pro.

Turn on virtualization in the firmware

1. Open Settings > Update & Security > Recovery and under Advanced startup select Restart now.
2. Select Troubleshoot > Advanced options > UEFI Firmware Settings > Restart.
3. Find the virtualization setting, usually under Advanced, CPU Configuration or Security. It is named Intel Virtualization Technology or VT-x on Intel systems and SVM Mode on AMD systems.
4. Set it to Enabled, save, and exit.

To confirm in Windows, open Task Manager with Ctrl + Shift + Esc, select Performance > CPU, and check that Virtualization reads Enabled.

How to set up Hyper-V on Windows 10 Pro

Microsoft documents three ways. All give the same result.

Option 1: PowerShell

1. Select Start, type PowerShell, right-click Windows PowerShell, and select Run as administrator.
2. Run:

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

3. Type Y and press Enter to restart.

Option 2: DISM

In the same administrator window, run this, wait for “The operation completed successfully”, and restart the PC yourself:

DISM /Online /Enable-Feature /All /FeatureName:Microsoft-Hyper-V

Option 3: Windows Features

1. Select Start, type Turn Windows features on or off, and open it.
2. Tick Hyper-V. Expand it and make sure both Hyper-V Management Tools and Hyper-V Platform are ticked.
3. Select OK, then Restart now.

If Hyper-V Platform is greyed out, virtualization is still off in the firmware.

After the restart, select Start, type Hyper-V Manager, and open it. Your PC’s name appears in the left pane. That confirms Hyper-V is installed.

Create your first virtual machine

You need an installation image (ISO file) for the operating system you want to run. Download it from the publisher: Microsoft for Windows, or the distribution’s own site for Linux.

1. In Hyper-V Manager, select your PC in the left pane.
2. In the Actions pane on the right, select New > Virtual Machine.
3. Name and location: give it a name you will recognize.
4. Generation: choose Generation 2 for 64-bit Windows 10, Windows 11 and current Linux. Choose Generation 1 only for older or 32-bit systems. This cannot be changed later.
5. Memory: enter 4096 MB for a Windows guest or 2048 MB for a light Linux one, and leave Use Dynamic Memory ticked.
6. Networking: choose Default Switch. It gives the virtual machine internet access through the host with no further setup.
7. Virtual hard disk: keep Create a virtual hard disk. The size shown is a maximum; the file grows only as the guest uses space.
8. Installation options: choose Install an operating system from a bootable image file and browse to your ISO.
9. Select Finish.

Install the operating system

1. Right-click the new virtual machine and select Connect.
2. In the window that opens, select Start.
3. If it shows “Press any key to boot from CD or DVD”, click inside the window and press a key straight away.
4. Go through the operating system’s installer as you would on a real PC.

For a Windows 11 guest, turn on the virtual TPM before the first start: right-click the virtual machine, select Settings > Security, and tick Enable Trusted Platform Module. Give it at least 4 GB of memory and 2 virtual processors under Processor.

For a Linux guest on Generation 2, if it will not start from the ISO, open Settings > Security and change the Secure Boot template to Microsoft UEFI Certificate Authority.

Licensing: a virtual machine is a separate computer as far as Windows licensing is concerned. A Windows guest needs its own license; the host’s key does not cover it. Linux guests need none.

Checkpoints and everyday use

Checkpoints are for testing, not for backup. Each one makes the virtual machine’s disk files larger, and a long chain of them slows it down. Delete the ones you no longer need.

If something goes wrong

Related: Windows 11 Home vs Pro lists the other features Pro adds. The keys we sell for Pro: Windows 10 Pro and Windows 11 Pro.