Part of the benefit of owning a great Windows laptop is the ability to run Microsoft PowerShell, a task-based command-line tool often leveraged for system management and task automation. But did you know that if you own a great Chromebook or even an excellent ChromeOS tablet, you can use PowerShell on it, too?

Using PowerShell on ChromeOS takes some extra work since it requires enabling Linux. But, because PowerShell is cross-platform and open-source, it still works great on a Chromebook. You can get started with it in just a few simple steps.

How to install PowerShell on a Chromebook

To install PowerShell on a Chromebook, you will need to enable Linux app support. If you don't already have it enabled, we've condensed the steps below in steps 1-6. You'll also need to download the installer file for the Linux version of PowerShell from Microsoft's GitHub for the latest version of Linux. It'll be listed as a DEB file. Also note that if you install PowerShell on your Chromebook, you won't get support for Windows-based commands.

  1. Open the Chrome OS Settings app by clicking on the time, then choosing the settings icon.
  2. Choose Advanced in the sidebar.
  3. Choose Developers.
  4. Choose Linux Development Environment and click Turn on.
  5. Follow the steps on your screen and choose a username and size for the Linux environment.
    Setting up Linux apps on ChromeOS
  6. When finished, you'll see a terminal window. Close it.
  7. Go to the PowerShell installation webpage.
  8. Mouse over to Ubuntu 22.04 on the list, and click to download the DEB file listed under stable.
    PowerShell install page
  9. Open the ChromeOS Files App.
  10. Go to Downloads.
  11. Double-click to launch the PowerShell installation file you downloaded.
  12. In the popup that appears, choose the blue Install button.
    Installing PowerShell prompt on ChromeOS
  13. You'll see a Linux Installer prompt at the bottom of your screen. It'll alert you when install is complete.
  14. Open a Linux terminal by searching for Terminal in the ChromeOS launcher and choosing Penguin.
  15. Type out pwsh and then press enter on your keyboard to launch PowerShell.
    PowerShell running in ChromeOS

You can now type out PowerShell commands! There's not much to PowerShell on ChromeOS, as it doesn't overwrite any existing terminal apps like Penguin. If you prefer, you can set it as the default terminal with the code below.

sudo chsh -s /usr/bin/pwsh $USER

Keep in mind, though, that if you go this route, unlike on Windows, updating PowerShell takes some extra effort. You'll have to go through this process again every time a new version is released and manually download it. There's no way to update it automatically.

If you run into issues with PowerShell itself, can remove the app with the command below.

 sudo apt remove powershell 

That's it! This is how you install PowerShell on a Chromebook. We also have guides for running Android apps on a Chromebook and editing photos on a Chromebook if you want to unlock more functionality on your Chromebook.