How to Check Your .NET Framework Version on Windows 10

The first method to find what version of .NET you have will involve using the trusty Command Prompt to query its registry entry.

1. Open Command Prompt
   

   
   Press the Start button, then type “Command Prompt” and click “Run as administrator” with it selected.
   
   

2. Run the initial check .net version cmd command
   

   
   In your command prompt window, paste the following by copying it and right-clicking or enabling copy-paste with Ctrl + C/V.

   reg query "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Net Framework Setup\NDP" /s

   Press Enter to run the command and you'll be a version number next to your registry entry, in our case “v4.0”.

   
   
3. Check the exact .NET version
   

   
   To accurately determine if a specific version of .NET Framework 4 is installed, we can run:
   
   

   reg query "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Net Framework Setup\NDP\v4" /s

   You'll see the full version number next to the “Version” field of the registry key. You can then check this against the latest .NET Framework version by heading to this documentation page.
   
   
   

If you prefer to use a UI, you can also see what .NET Framework version you have directly in the Registry Editor. This takes a little longer, but still won't be more than a minute.

1. Open the Registry Editor
   

   
   Press Start and type “Regedit”, then click the top result.
   
   

2. Navigate to the .NET registry key
   

   
   In your registry editor search bar, paste the following:

   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\NET Framework Setup\NDP

   In the sidebar under the “NDP” key, you'll see the various versions you have installed. Click the main version key, in our case v4 or v4.0.
   
   

3. Check your .NET version
   

   
   Select the “Client” key in your sidebar, then check the data field of your “Version” entry for the version number. If you need a more specific number, check the “v4” key rather than “v4.0”.
   
   

If you prefer the syntax of PowerShell, you can also use that to determine which version you have. We'll be doing so via a registry query and a community GitHub tool which you can read about here. This will give you a nice, clear readout of which versions you have installed and which are missing.

1. Open Command Prompt
   

   
   Press “Windows + X” to open the secret start menu, then click “Windows PowerShell (Admin)”.
   
   

2. Get the .NET version in PowerShell via registry query
   

   
   We can follow a similar process to Command prompt and ask Windows to give us the list of PowerShell versions it finds in the Registry. To do so, paste the following:
   
   

   Get-ChildItem 'HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\NET Framework Setup\NDP ' - Recurse | Get-ItemProperty -Name version -EA 0 | Where { $_.PSChildName - Match '^(?!S)\p{L}'} | Select PSChildName, version

   PowerShell will return a list of .NET versions. It gets the job done, but as you can see the readout is a bit confusing and the command very complex and unmemorable. You can continue to the next steps for a more intuitive method.
   
   

3. Install the DotNetVersionLister module
   

   
   We can install the community DotNet version lister tool by running the following command:

   Install-Module -Name DotNetVersionLister -Scope CurrentUser #-Force

   
   Press Y and then Enter to install it.
   
   

4. Find the .NET framework version via DotNetVersionLister command
   

   
   With the module installed, you can run the following simple command to check your .NET framework version at any point:

   Get-STDotNetVersion

   You'll notice that the output is also clearer – you'll get the latest version and a list of each other version that's installed or non installed on your system.