Best way to install curl?

[sliekens]

Windows has curl built in now, but it is an older version and it is compiled without a bunch of features. The WinGet version is much more up to date. However, typing curl into command prompt will give you the one from System32 instead of the WinGet version.

> curl -V
curl 8.14.1 (Windows) libcurl/8.14.1 Schannel zlib/1.3.1 WinIDN
Release-Date: 2025-06-09
Protocols: dict file ftp ftps http https imap imaps ipfs ipns mqtt pop3 pop3s smb smbs smtp smtps telnet tftp ws wss
Features: alt-svc AsynchDNS HSTS HTTPS-proxy IDN IPv6 Kerberos Largefile libz NTLM SPNEGO SSL SSPI threadsafe Unicode UnixSockets

> C:\Users\Steven\AppData\Local\Microsoft\WinGet\Links\curl.exe -V
curl 8.16.0 (x86_64-w64-mingw32) libcurl/8.16.0 LibreSSL/4.1.0 zlib/1.3.1.zlib-ng brotli/1.1.0 zstd/1.5.7 WinIDN libpsl/0.21.5 libssh2/1.11.1 nghttp2/1.67.1 ngtcp2/1.15.1 nghttp3/1.11.0
Release-Date: 2025-09-10
Protocols: dict file ftp ftps gopher gophers http https imap imaps ipfs ipns ldap ldaps mqtt pop3 pop3s rtsp scp sftp smb smbs smtp smtps telnet tftp ws wss
Features: alt-svc AsynchDNS brotli CAcert HSTS HTTP2 HTTP3 HTTPS-proxy IDN IPv6 Kerberos Largefile libz NTLM PSL SPNEGO SSL SSLS-EXPORT SSPI threadsafe UnixSockets zstd

> where.exe curl
C:\Windows\System32\curl.exe
C:\Users\Steven\AppData\Local\Microsoft\WinGet\Links\curl.exe

So, what is the best way to make curl point to the WinGet version without introducing security risks to my machine? I understand that the issue is that the System32 PATH takes precedence over the LocalAppData path, and I guess it should be kept that way to avoid potential code substitution attacks.

[LeverageAISMBs]

I wish I had the answer brother- I came across this question looking myself. -- figuring out this CLI business was the bain of my existence - and it still kind of is - but realizing half the time the commands fail for almost everyone made me feel better about myself, lol.

[LeverageAISMBs]

https://winget.ragerworks.com/package/cURL.cURL

I bet there's stuff on stack overflow as well.

[ViktorVoloshko]

winget installs curl in C:\Users\%USERNAME%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\WinGet\Packages
PATH search happens until first match, so all you really have to do is to put winget curl higher than that packaged by Windows. That one is located in C:\Windows\System32 so you'll have to edit system PATH.
The only problem is that every update path to directory that should be put in PATH changes:
for this version it's C:\Users\%USERNAME%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\WinGet\Packages\cURL.cURL_Microsoft.Winget.Source_8wekyb3d8bbwe\curl-8.20.0_3-win64-mingw\bin for some next version it's gonna be C:\Users\%USERNAME%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\WinGet\Packages\cURL.cURL_Microsoft.Winget.Source_8wekyb3d8bbwe\curl-8.20.0_4-win64-mingw\bin, etc.

But winget maintains it's own directory with links in C:\Users\%USERNAME%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\WinGet\Links so you can put that in PATH above %SystemRoot%\system32. Downside is, the rest of stuff in \bin won't be accessible (such as wcurl.bat and trurl.exe), but that's on maintainers since they could've put that in that links directory too.

If you need those to be on PATH too, the only workarounds for you is to either update path to it in PATH on each update by winget or install cURL manually from https://curl.se/windows/ (or wherever) and update it manually, but at least path would be the same. Whatever is easier/more convenient for you.