Installing, uninstalling, and updating software on Windows has long felt more cumbersome than it should. In a typical case, you search for an app, sort through results crowded with ads and download portals, find the official site, locate the download link, run the installer, and then repeat part of that process whenever an update arrives. Version control is handled either by whatever updater the app provides or by downloading a new installer and installing over the old version.
Linux distributions solved this years ago with package managers. They install, remove, and update software from one interface, and they help keep packages current. Windows now has similar options.
Scoop is a command-line installer and package manager for Windows. It occupies roughly the same role as apt on Linux or Homebrew on macOS. Chocolatey and Microsoft's WinGet are other choices: Chocolatey often requires elevated permissions and presents extra promotional output, while WinGet is still in testing and covers fewer applications. Learning Scoop makes it easier to set up a fresh Windows machine—install the applications you rely on and get a development environment in place without clicking through one installer after another.
Install Scoop
Use PowerShell; administrator rights are not required.
Set-ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned -Scope CurrentUser # Only needed for the first install
irm get.scoop.sh | iex
Change the install location
If you want Scoop somewhere other than its default directory, set the variables below before running the installation command.
$env:SCOOP='D:\Scoop' # Set the Scoop installation directory
[Environment]::SetEnvironmentVariable('SCOOP', $env:SCOOP, 'User') # Set the environment variable
Common commands
Search for an application:
scoop search [软件名]
Install it:
scoop install [软件名]
Remove it:
scoop uninstall [软件名]
Run scoop help for the full command list. It also documents aliases, bucket management, download cache handling, app cleanup, export/import, holding an app back from updates, and other maintenance tasks.
Buckets
Scoop calls its software repositories buckets. The main bucket is available by default and contains many common applications. To see the known buckets, run:
scoop bucket known
If the app you need is not in main, add the bucket that contains it:
scoop bucket add [bucket 名]
Git must be installed before you can add a bucket; otherwise the command fails. Install Git with:
scoop install git
Once a bucket is added, its applications become available through the same search and install commands.