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← Level 0: The basics · Mission 5 of 5

Install apps on a locked-down laptop, no admin password needed

The laptop says "ask your administrator" every time you try to install something. Scoop installs thousands of free apps into your own user folder instead: no setup wizards, no admin pop-ups, and one command updates the lot.

22 minBeginnerTools: FreeStep 1 free
Tested 9 Oct 2026 · Scoop 0.6.0, Windows PowerShell 5.1, 7-Zip 26.04, FFmpeg 9.0.2, Git 2.56, SumatraPDF 3.6.1, Windows 11
Scoop installed in your user folder in seconds, with no admin password
7-Zip, FFmpeg, a PDF reader and more, each installed with one short command and no admin prompt
One command that updates everything, and a file that rebuilds your whole setup on a new PC
  • A starter toolkit file: Git, 7-Zip, jq, FFmpeg, yt-dlp and SumatraPDF in one import
Before you start
  • Windows 10 or 11. Scoop is Windows only.
  • About 1.4GB of free space if you install every app in this mission (FFmpeg alone is 664MB once unpacked). Scoop itself is tiny.
  • New to the terminal? Do the terminal survival kit first.
  • On a work or school laptop, check your IT rules first. No admin prompt doesn't mean it's allowed.
01/06Install Scoop (no admin needed)0 done
STEP 01 of 06~3 min

Install Scoop (no admin needed)

Scoop lives in a folder in your user account, so it never needs the admin password and never touches Program Files.

  1. The old wayfind the official site, dodge the fake download buttons, run the wizard, untick the bundled toolbar, then hit the admin pop-up and get stuck. The Scoop way: scoop install 7zip. That's the whole thing.

  2. Open PowerShell the normal way: Start menu, type powershell, press Enter. Do not pick "Run as administrator". Scoop is built to run as you.

  3. PowerShell blocks scripts by default, so first allow scripts for your account only (this also needs no admin). Then run the official installer:

    Terminal
    Set-ExecutionPolicy -ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned -Scope CurrentUser
Invoke-RestMethod -Uri https://get.scoop.sh | Invoke-Expression

  4. If PowerShell asks you to confirm the first line, type Y and press Enter. The install takes a few seconds:

    Output
    Initializing...
Downloading...
Extracting...
Creating shim...
...
Scoop was installed successfully!
Type 'scoop help' for instructions.

  5. Check it worked:

    Terminal
    scoop --version
    Output
    Current Scoop version:
v0.6.0 - Released at 2026-09-30
    TipLike to read a script before you run it? Download it first with Invoke-RestMethod -Uri https://get.scoop.sh -OutFile install.ps1, open it in Notepad, then run .\install.ps1. Add -ScoopDir 'D:\Scoop' to that last command to put Scoop on another drive.
✓
Checkpointscoop --version prints a version number.
If it breaks'PowerShell requires an execution policy in [Unrestricted, RemoteSigned, ByPass] to run Scoop' + 2 more
'PowerShell requires an execution policy in [Unrestricted, RemoteSigned, ByPass] to run Scoop'
Scripts are still blocked. Run the Set-ExecutionPolicy line above, then the install line again.
'Running the installer as administrator is disabled by default'
You opened an admin PowerShell. The installer refuses on purpose. Close it, open PowerShell normally and run it again.
'scoop' is not recognised
The installer adds Scoop to your PATH, but windows that were already open don't see that. Close PowerShell and open a new one.
Still stuck? Ask the community
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