How to Install PHP on Windows 11
Tags: windows11, php
Published: 2024-03-18 04:44:11

Hello, dev 👋

In this tutorial, I will share a tutorial on how to install PHP on Windows 11.

## Download PHP

First of all, you need to prepare the PHP module for the Windows. You can download it at the link [https://windows.php.net/download/](https://windows.php.net/download/)

Then you can choose the PHP version according to your needs. There are PHP 8.3, PHP 8.2, PHP 8.1 PHP 8.0, and PHP 7.4. I recommend just using the latest one, PHP 8.3.

Then there are x64 and x86 options. If your computer is 64-bit CPU, use x64, if 32-bit CPU, use x86.

There are the **Non Thread Safe** and **Thread Safe** options. If you are confused, I suggest just downloading the **Thread Safe** one.

## Install PHP

After the PHP that we chose earlier has been downloaded, it’s time for us to install PHP on Windows.

Create a folder called **php** on drive C. Then unzip or extract the contents of the php zip file that you have to **C:\php**.

![PHP Windows 11](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/a00zf5s9saivuk7bwo3c.png)

Make sure all php files are successfully extracted to **C:\php** as shown above

## Set Environment Variables

After we have prepared all the necessary files in the C:\php folder, we need to set the path to the **Windows environment variable**.

The step is to go to **System’s Properties** -> click **Advanced System Properties** -> select the **Advanced** tab. Click the **Environment Variables** button at the bottom.

Then in the **System Variables** section, look for a variable with the name **Path**, and click edit. Then click the **New** button, and enter **C:\php**. Then click OK to save, click OK again, and continue until the window exits.


![Environment Variables Windows 11](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/xpf1kcfzcedyznpn16n8.png)

Environment Variables Windows 11

Test PHP
--------

To check whether PHP can be used, run the **php -v** command to check the version of PHP we are using.

Open the Windows terminal application, run the command php -v

```
PS C:\Users\dhimaskirana> php -v
PHP 8.3.3 (cli) (built: Feb 13 2024 23:17:12) (ZTS Visual C++ 2019 x64)
Copyright (c) The PHP Group
Zend Engine v4.3.3, Copyright (c) Zend Technologies
PS C:\Users\dhimaskirana>
```

It should appear as above, showing the PHP version that we are using.

## WordPress Requirement

We need to know that the PHP that we have installed is PHP by default, so the PHP extension has not been loaded automatically.We need a little configuration if we want to use PHP for WordPress.

According to sources from [WordPress.org](https://make.wordpress.org/hosting/handbook/server-environment/), to run WordPress properly there are several PHP extensions that WordPress recommends activating, there are:

*   json
*   mysqli atau mysqlnd
*   curl
*   dom
*   exif
*   fileinfo
*   hash
*   imagick
*   mbstring
*   openssl
*   pcre
*   xml
*   zip
*   memcached
*   opcache
*   redis

For example, we want to activate the MySQL extension so that PHP can communicate with the MySQL server.

Reopen C:\php where your PHP files are located. Look for a file with the name **php.ini-development**. Duplicate the file, then change the name of the duplicated file to **php.ini**.

Open the php.ini file using a text editor such as Notepad or VS Code.


![PHP.ini WordPress Windows](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/oo1u0g7hpao2tava27ou.png)

Then uncomment or remove ; (semicolon) in front of some of the extensions that you need. Don’t forget to save the php.ini file again

Good luck 🍻