pin command (winget)

The winget pin command allows you to limit the Windows Package Manager from upgrading a package to specific ranges of versions, or it can prevent it from upgrading a package altogether. A pinned package may still upgrade on its own and be upgraded from outside the Windows Package Manager.

Pin Types

WinGet supports three types of package pins:

• Pinning: The package is excluded from winget upgrade --all but allows winget upgrade <package>. You can use the --include-pinned argument to let winget upgrade --all include pinned packages.

• Blocking: The package is blocked from winget upgrade --all or winget upgrade <package>, you will have to unpin the package to let WinGet perform an upgrade. The --force option can be used to override the pin's behavior.

• Gating: The package is pinned to a specific version or version range. You can specify an exact version you want a package to be pinned to or you can utilize the wildcard character * as the last version part to specify a version range. For example, if a package is pinned to version 1.2.*, any version between 1.2.0 to 1.2.x is considered valid. The --force option can be used to override the pin's behavior.

Usage

winget pin <subcommand> <options>

Options

The following options are available.

Option	Description
-?, --help	Gets additional help on this command.
--wait	Prompts the user to press any key before exiting.
--logs,--open-logs	Open the default logs location.
--verbose, --verbose-logs	Used to override the logging setting and create a verbose log.
--disable-interactivity	Disable interactive prompts.

Subcommands

The pin command supports the following subcommands.

Subcommand	Description
add	Add a new pin.
remove	Remove a package pin.
list	List current pins.
reset	Reset pins

add

The add subcommand adds a new pin. This subcommand requires that you specify the exact package to pin. If there is any ambiguity, you will be prompted to further filter the add subcommand to an exact application.

Usage:

winget pin add [[-q] <query>] [<options>]

Arguments

Argument	Description
-q,--query	The query used to search for an app.

Options

The options allow you to customize adding pins to meet your needs.

Option	Description
--id	Limits the search to the ID of the application.
--name	Limits the search to the name of the application.
--moniker	Limits the search to the moniker listed for the application.
--tag	Limits the search to the tag listed for the application.
--cmd, --command	Limits the search to the command of the application.
-v, --version	Enables you to specify an exact version to pin. The wildcard * can be used as the last version part. Changes pin behavior to be gating.
-s, --source	Restricts the search to the source name provided. Must be followed by the source name.
-e, --exact	Uses the exact string in the query, including checking for case-sensitivity. It will not use the default behavior of a substring.
--force	Direct run the command and continue with non security related issues.
--blocking	Block from upgrading until the pin is removed, preventing override arguments. Changes pin behavior to be blocking.
--installed	Pin a specific installed version
--accept-source-agreements	Used to accept the source license agreement, and avoid the prompt.
--header	Optional Windows-Package-Manager REST source HTTP header.
-?, --help	Get additional help on this command.
--wait	Prompts the user to press any key before exiting
--logs, --open-logs	Open the default logs location.
--verbose, --verbose-logs	Used to override the logging setting and create a verbose log.
--disable-interactivity	Disable interactive prompts.

Examples

The following example adds a pin for an application. Adding this pin will prevent this package from being upgraded when calling winget upgrade --all. Use the --include-pinned argument with winget upgrade --all to include any pinned packages.

winget pin add powertoys

The following example adds a blocking pin for an application using its ID. Adding a blocking pin will prevent this package from being upgraded when calling winget upgrade --all or winget upgrade <package>. You will need to unblock the package to let WinGet perform an upgrade.

winget pin add --id Microsoft.PowerToys --blocking

The following example adds a gating pin for an application using its ID. Adding a gating pin will prevent upgrades that upgrade the package version outside of a specific version or the gated wildcard range.

winget pin add --id Microsoft.PowerToys --version 0.70.*

remove

The remove subcommand removes a pin. This subcommand requires that you specify the exact package pin to remove. If there is any ambiguity, you will be prompted to further filter the remove subcommand to an exact application.

Usage:

winget pin remove [[-q] <query>] [<options>]

Arguments

Argument	Description
-q,--query	The query used to search for an app.

Options

The options allow you to customize removing pins to meet your needs.

Option	Description
--id	Limits the search to the ID of the application.
--name	Limits the search to the name of the application.
--moniker	Limits the search to the moniker listed for the application.
--tag	Limits the search to the tag listed for the application.
--cmd, --command	Limits the search to the command of the application.
-s, --source	Restricts the search to the source name provided. Must be followed by the source name.
-e, --exact	Uses the exact string in the query, including checking for case-sensitivity. It will not use the default behavior of a substring.
--installed	Pin a specific installed version
--accept-source-agreements	Used to accept the source license agreement, and avoid the prompt.
--header	Optional Windows-Package-Manager REST source HTTP header.
-?, --help	Get additional help on this command.
--wait	Prompts the user to press any key before exiting
--logs, --open-logs	Open the default logs location.
--verbose, --verbose-logs	Used to override the logging setting and create a verbose log.
--disable-interactivity	Disable interactive prompts.

Examples

The following example removes a pin for an application.

winget pin remove powertoys

The following example removes a pin for an application using its ID.

winget pin remove --id Microsoft.PowerToys

list

The list subcommand lists all current pins.

Usage:

winget pin list [[-q] <query>] [<options>]

Arguments

Argument	Description
-q,--query	The query used to search for an app.

Options

The options allow you to customize listing pins to meet your needs.

Option	Description
--id	Limits the search to the ID of the application.
--name	Limits the search to the name of the application.
--moniker	Limits the search to the moniker listed for the application.
--tag	Limits the search to the tag listed for the application.
--cmd, --command	Limits the search to the command of the application.
-s, --source	Restricts the search to the source name provided. Must be followed by the source name.
-e, --exact	Uses the exact string in the query, including checking for case-sensitivity. It will not use the default behavior of a substring.
--accept-source-agreements	Used to accept the source license agreement, and avoid the prompt.
--header	Optional Windows-Package-Manager REST source HTTP header.
-?, --help	Get additional help on this command.
--wait	Prompts the user to press any key before exiting
--logs, --open-logs	Open the default logs location.
--verbose, --verbose-logs	Used to override the logging setting and create a verbose log.
--disable-interactivity	Disable interactive prompts.

Examples

The following example lists all current pins.

winget pin list

The following example lists a specific package pin.

winget pin list --id Microsoft.PowerToys

reset

The reset subcommand resets all pins.

Using this subcommand without the --force argument will show the pins that would be removed.

To reset all pins, include the --force argument.

Usage:

The following example shows all pins that would be reset.

winget pin reset

The following example resets all existing pins.

winget pin reset --force