How To Use cURL On Windows 10
cUrl is a command line tool that Linux users are more than familiar with. If you once used Linux and have since moved to Windows, or if you use both Linux and a Windows machine, you likely miss this little tool but there’s no reason to. You can use cUrl on Windows 10, and older versions.
cUrl On Windows 10
If you want to use cUrl on Windows 10, you have two options. Check your Windows 10 build and if you have anything older than 1706, proceed as follows.
You will have to download cUrl from the official website. The Windows version is at the bottom of the download page. You want to download the generic zipped version. Extract the zipped file and inside the bin folder, you will find the curl.exe file. Open Command Prompt in this folder, and run whatever command it is you want.
Since it’s time consuming to have to cd to the bin folder each time you want to use cUrl , it’s a good idea to add the path to your Path Environment Variables. This will allow you to run cUrl from anywhere.
If your Windows 10 build is 17063, or later, cUrl is included by default. All you need to do is run Command Prompt with administrative rights and you can use cUrl . The Curl.exe is located at C:\Windows\System32. If you want to be able to use cUrl from anywhere, consider adding it to Path Environment Variables.
cUrl On Windows 7, 8/8.1
On Windows 7 and 8/8.1, the same process as that for Windows 10 builds older than 17063 will apply. You need to download cUrl from official website linked in the previous section, and run it. To make it easier to use, you can add it to Path Environment Variables.
Using cUrl
If you’ve added the cUrl EXE to Path Environment Variables, you can run a cUrl command from anywhere from Command Prompt. If you haven’t added it to Path Environment Variables, you need to first open Command Prompt with administrative rights (Windows 10, build 1706 and later), and then run the command.
For older Windows 10 builds, and for Windows 7 and 8/8.1, you need to first cd to the folder with the cUrl EXE, and then run a command.
Microsoft gives users plenty of reason to upgrade to Windows 10. In addition to adding cUrl by default, it also includes Tar now. Tar lets you create archives, and extract them without needing additional tools. If that isn’t reason enough to upgrade, there’s also the fact that Office 2019 will only run on a Windows 10 PC.
