
In the Windows PowerShell window, run the PowerShell command below, replacing with the path of your ISO file. Select Windows PowerShell from the search results. Press the Windows key (WIN) and then type powershell. Now select Copy as path from the context menu. Hold the SHIFT key and right click the file. In File Explorer, find your downloaded ISO file. Open File Explorer by pressing the Windows key ( WIN) and press I on the keyboard at the same time (WIN+I). To check the integrity of your Windows 11 image file, use PowerShell to generate a file hash and then compare it to the list of hashes on Microsoft’s Software Download page for Windows 11. For example, instead of Microsoft shipping Windows 11 media as physical optical disks to customers, it can provide an ISO image file to download.Ĭustomers can then choose to either create their own media using the provided file or mount the file directly in virtualization software, like Hyper-V and VMWare, for the purposes of installing Windows 11 in a virtual machine.
Microsoft’s Software Download page What is an ISO file?Īn ISO file is an image file that contains all the information required to write information to an optical disk or bootable USB drive.