List Installed Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) Distros in Windows 11 Tutorial

Staff

This tutorial will show you how to find and list all installed Linux distros for your account in Windows 10 and Windows 11.

The Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) lets developers install a Linux distribution (such as Ubuntu, OpenSUSE, Kali, Debian, Arch Linux, etc) and use Linux applications, utilities, and Bash command-line tools directly on Windows, unmodified, without the overhead of a traditional virtual machine or dualboot setup.

You can easily view all installed Linux distros with a list of distro names and versions.

Reference:

Basic commands for WSL

Reference for the basic commands included with Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL).

learn.microsoft.com

Contents

Option One: Find All Installed Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) Distros in File Explorer
Option Two: List All Installed Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) Distros using Command

Option One

Find All Installed Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) Distros in File Explorer

1 Open File Explorer (Win+R).

2 Click/tap on Linux in the navigation pane of File Explorer. (see screenshot below)

3 You will now see all your installed Linux distros.

Option Two

List All Installed Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) Distros using Command

1 Open Windows Terminal, and select either Windows PowerShell or Command Prompt.

2 Copy and paste the command below you want into Windows Terminal, and press Enter. (see screenshots below)

(List name of all installed Linux distros)

wsl --list --all or wsl -l

(List name, state (running or stopped), and version (WSL 1 or WSL 2) of all installed Linux distros)

wsl --list --verbose or wsl -l -v

3 You will now see a list of all your installed Linux distros.