Install Go on Windows

Before You Start

• Applies to: Go 1.21+ (examples verified with Go 1.22) · Prerequisites: Get Started · Read time: about 7 min

This guide will help you install Go language on Windows system.

Download Go

First, download the Go installation package suitable for your Windows system from the official website.

Choose the corresponding version based on your system architecture:

• windows-amd64 - 64-bit Windows system
• windows-386 - 32-bit Windows system
• windows-arm64 - 64-bit ARM Windows system

Installation Methods

Method 1: Using MSI Installer (Recommended)

This is the simplest installation method, suitable for most users.

1. Download the installer

Download the .msi installation package from the official website.

2. Run the installer

Double-click the downloaded .msi file and follow the installer's prompts to complete the installation.

The installer will automatically:

• Install Go to C:\Program Files\Go or C:\Program Files (x86)\Go
• Configure the necessary environment variables

3. Verify installation

Open a new command prompt window (cmd) or PowerShell and execute:

go version

If the installation is successful, you should see output similar to:

go version go1.21.3 windows/amd64

Method 2: Using ZIP Archive

This method is suitable for users who need to manage multiple Go versions or install to a custom path.

1. Download the archive package

Download the .zip compressed package from the official website.

2. Extract to specified directory

Extract the downloaded .zip file to a specified directory, for example C:\Go.

3. Configure environment variables

You need to configure the following environment variables:

1. Right-click "This PC" and select "Properties"
2. Click "Advanced system settings"
3. Click "Environment Variables"

Add the following environment variables:

GOROOT (Go installation directory):

C:\Go

GOPATH (Go workspace directory):

C:\Users\YourUsername\go

Add the following to the Path environment variable:

%GOROOT%\bin
%GOPATH%\bin

4. Restart command prompt

Close all command prompt windows and reopen them to make the environment variables take effect.

5. Verify installation

go version

Configure GOPATH

By default, Go uses %USERPROFILE%\go as the workspace directory. If you want to use a different path, you can set the GOPATH environment variable.

The GOPATH directory structure is as follows:

GOPATH/
├── bin/    # Stores compiled executable files
├── pkg/    # Stores compiled package files
└── src/    # Stores source code

Verify Installation

Create a simple Go program to verify that the installation is successful:

1. Create project directory

mkdir C:\Users\YourUsername\hello
cd C:\Users\YourUsername\hello

2. Create Go program file

Create a file named hello.go with the following content:

package main

import "fmt"

func main() {
    fmt.Println("Hello, World!")
}

3. Run the program

go run hello.go

If the output is Hello, World!, it means the installation is successful.

Uninstall

Uninstall MSI Installer Version

If you installed Go using the MSI installer:

1. Open "Control Panel" > "Programs and Features"
2. Find "Go Programming Language" in the program list
3. Right-click and select "Uninstall"

Uninstall ZIP Archive Version

If you installed Go using the ZIP archive:

1. Delete the Go installation directory (e.g., C:\Go)
2. Remove the Go-related environment variables from the environment variables settings

Troubleshooting

Command not found

If the go command is not found, please check:

1. Whether the PATH environment variable is configured correctly
2. Whether the environment variables have taken effect (restart command prompt)
3. Check if the Go installation directory exists

Version mismatch

If the displayed version does not match the installed version, please check:

1. Whether there are multiple Go installations
2. Whether the PATH environment variable points to the correct Go installation directory
3. Execute where go to view the actual path of the go command

Permission denied

If you encounter a permission denied error:

1. Run command prompt as administrator
2. Check if you have write permissions to the installation directory

Module proxy issues

If you encounter issues downloading modules, you can configure a module proxy:

go env -w GOPROXY=https://goproxy.cn,direct

Using PowerShell

It is recommended to use PowerShell instead of cmd, as PowerShell provides better command-line experience.

Check environment variables

$env:GOROOT
$env:GOPATH
$env:PATH

Set environment variables (temporary)

$env:GOROOT = "C:\Go"
$env:GOPATH = "C:\Users\YourUsername\go"
$env:PATH += ";$env:GOROOT\bin;$env:GOPATH\bin"

Set environment variables (permanent)

To permanently set environment variables in PowerShell, you can use the [System.Environment] class:

[System.Environment]::SetEnvironmentVariable("GOROOT", "C:\Go", "User")
[System.Environment]::SetEnvironmentVariable("GOPATH", "C:\Users\YourUsername\go", "User")

Next Steps

After installation is complete, you can:

• Visit Go Getting Started Guide to learn Go language basics
• Visit Official Documentation for more detailed documentation
• Visit Go Tour to learn through interactive tutorials
• Visit Go Playground to run Go code online

Recommended Tools

• IDE: GoLand (paid), Visual Studio Code (free)
• Terminal: Windows Terminal, PowerShell 7+
• Package Manager: Chocolatey, Scoop (can be used to install Go)

Installing Go using Chocolatey

choco install golang

Installing Go using Scoop

scoop install go

Complete Example

After installing, use the program below to verify the toolchain from the command line. Copy it into a file and run go run main.go.

package main

import (
	"fmt"
	"os/exec"
	"runtime"
	"strings"
)

func main() {
	out, err := exec.Command("go", "version").Output()
	fmt.Println("go command found in PATH:", err == nil)
	fmt.Println("version output starts with go:", err == nil && strings.HasPrefix(string(out), "go"))
	fmt.Println("GOROOT is set:", runtime.GOROOT() != "")
}

Expected output:

go command found in PATH: true
version output starts with go: true
GOROOT is set: true

Common Pitfalls

• Open a new terminal after installing. Shells opened before the installer updated PATH cannot find go.
• Check for duplicate installations. Run where.exe go; an old MSI plus a fresh scoop/choco install will shadow each other.
• Uninstall the old version first. Otherwise GOROOT may still point at the previous directory.
• Leave GOROOT alone. The installer sets it correctly; only override it for custom layouts.
• Prefer one package manager. Mixing MSI, Chocolatey and Scoop upgrades creates hard-to-debug conflicts.

Change Log

• 2026-10-14: Added "Before You Start" notes, a complete runnable example with expected output, common pitfalls, and this change log.