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PowerShell-Support-Lifecycle.md

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description Details the policies governing support for PowerShell.
ms.date 03/06/2026
ms.topic lifecycle
title PowerShell Support Lifecycle

PowerShell Support Lifecycle

There are multiple versions of PowerShell 7 that can be installed.

  • Stable release - A stable release is a release that occurs between LTS releases. Stable releases can contain critical fixes, innovations, and new features. Microsoft supports a Stable release for about six months after the next LTS release.

    The current Stable release is PowerShell v7.5.4.

  • Long Term Servicing (LTS) release - An LTS release of PowerShell is an LTS release of .NET. Updates to an LTS release only contain critical security updates and servicing fixes that are designed to minimize impact on existing workloads.

    The current LTS release is PowerShell v7.4.13.

  • Preview release - A preview release is a version of PowerShell that's currently in development. Preview releases can contain bug fixes, new features, and experiments. Preview releases can contain bugs and might not be stable. For that reason, you shouldn't use them in production environments. Preview versions aren't officially supported. They allow you to test out new features and provide feedback. Your feedback is important and can influence the features that get released.

    The current Preview release is PowerShell v7.6.0-rc1.

PowerShell follows the Microsoft Modern Lifecycle Policy. The End of Support dates follow the .NET Support Policy for the version of .NET that the release of PowerShell was built upon. Both LTS and Stable releases of PowerShell receive security updates and bug fixes. Microsoft only supports the latest update version of a release.

Note

This document is about support for PowerShell, not Windows PowerShell. Windows PowerShell is a component of the Windows operating system and is subject to the Windows support lifecycle. For more information, see Product and Services Lifecycle Information.

Support options

Microsoft provides support for PowerShell on a best-effort basis. Support for Windows PowerShell 5.1 is provided through Windows support channels. You can use the standard paid support channels to get support for PowerShell.

There are many free support options available from the PowerShell community. The most active community support channels are available through Discord or Slack. The discussion channels are mirrored on both platforms, so you can choose the platform that you prefer. These channels can help you troubleshoot issues, answer questions, and provide guidance on how to use PowerShell.

If you think that you found a bug, you can file an issue on GitHub. The PowerShell team can't provide support through GitHub, but they welcome bug reports. The community support page provides links to the most popular community support channels.

Supported platforms

PowerShell runs on multiple operating systems (OS) and processor architecture platforms. The platform must meet the following criteria:

  • The target platform (OS version and processor architecture) is supported by .NET.
  • Microsoft has tested and approved PowerShell on the target platform.
  • The OS version is supported by the distributor for at least one year.
  • The OS version isn't an interim release or equivalent.
  • The OS version is currently supported by the distributor.

Support for PowerShell ends when either of the following conditions are met:

  • The target platform reaches end-of-life as defined by the platform owner
  • The specific version of PowerShell reaches end-of-life

After a version of PowerShell reaches end-of-life, no further updates, including security updates, are provided. Microsoft encourages customers to upgrade to a supported version of PowerShell to continue receiving updates and support.

Windows

[!INCLUDE Windows support]

macOS

[!INCLUDE macOS support]

Alpine Linux

[!INCLUDE Alpine support]

Debian Linux

[!INCLUDE Debian support]

Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)

[!INCLUDE RHEL support]

Ubuntu Linux

[!INCLUDE Ubuntu support]

Support for PowerShell modules

The support lifecycle for PowerShell doesn't cover modules that ship outside of the PowerShell release package. For example, using the ActiveDirectory module that ships as part of Windows Server is supported under the Windows Support Lifecycle.

Support for experimental features

Experimental features aren't intended to be used in production environments. We appreciate feedback on experimental features and we provide best-effort support for them.

Notes on licensing

PowerShell is released under the MIT license. Under this license, and without a paid support agreement, users are limited to community support. With community support, Microsoft makes no guarantees of responsiveness or fixes.

PowerShell end-of-support dates

The PowerShell support lifecycle follows the support lifecycle of .NET. The following table lists the end-of-support dates for the current versions of PowerShell:

Version Release Date End-of-support .NET Version
PowerShell 7.6 (preview) Future date 14-Nov-2028 .NET 10.0
PowerShell 7.5 23-Jan-2025 10-Nov-2026 .NET 9.0
PowerShell 7.4 (LTS) 16-Nov-2023 10-Nov-2026 .NET 8.0

The following table lists the end-of-support dates for retired versions of PowerShell:

Version Release Date End-of-support .NET Version
PowerShell 7.3 09-Nov-2022 08-May-2024 .NET 7.0
PowerShell 7.2 (LTS) 08-Nov-2021 08-Nov-2024 .NET 6.0
PowerShell 7.1 11-Nov-2020 08-May-2022 .NET 5.0
PowerShell 7.0 (LTS) 04-Mar-2020 03-Dec-2022 .NET Core 3.1
PowerShell 6.2 29-Mar-2019 04-Sep-2020 .NET Core 2.1
PowerShell 6.1 13-Sep-2018 28-Sep-2019 .NET Core 2.1
PowerShell 6.0 20-Jan-2018 13-Feb-2019 .NET Core 2.0

Windows PowerShell release history

The following table contains a historical timeline of the major releases of Windows PowerShell. Microsoft no longer supports Windows PowerShell versions lower than 5.1.

Version Release Date Note
Windows PowerShell 5.1 Aug-2016 Released in Windows 10 Anniversary Update and Windows Server 2016, WMF 5.1
Windows PowerShell 5.0 Feb-2016 Released in Windows Management Framework (WMF) 5.0
Windows PowerShell 4.0 Oct-2013 Released in Windows 8.1 and with Windows Server 2012 R2, WMF 4.0
Windows PowerShell 3.0 Oct-2012 Released in Windows 8 and with Windows Server 2012 WMF 3.0
Windows PowerShell 2.0 Jul-2009 Released in Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2, WMF 2.0
Windows PowerShell 1.0 Nov-2006 Released as optional component of Windows Server 2008

Run the following command to see the full version number of .NET used by the version of PowerShell you're running:

[System.Runtime.InteropServices.RuntimeInformation]::FrameworkDescription