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Guide

Install Laravel on Windows in 5 minutes

The manual route on Windows is a PHP zip, the Composer installer, a MySQL service, a vhost and a hosts-file edit. EnvKit does all of that from one app. This guide goes from nothing to a Laravel app on https://blog.test with a trusted certificate, and most of the five minutes is downloads.

Platform
Windows 10/11 (x64)
Time
About 5 minutes
You need
  • 64-bit Windows 10 or 11
  • Administrator permission once, for the installer and the local certificate
  • An internet connection for the first downloads

Written against the EnvKit 0.33.0-beta.25 interface, checked 2026-09-18.

  1. Step 1: Install EnvKit

    Download the installer, or paste the command below into PowerShell. It fetches the latest release from GitHub and runs the installer; Windows asks for permission once.

    Download for Windows
    Or install from the terminal
    irm https://envkit.net/install.ps1?c=guide-install-laravel-windows | iex

  2. Step 2: Pick a web server

    On the first launch EnvKit asks for a web server. Nginx is preselected and is a good fit for Laravel. Click Install & continue.

  3. Step 3: Install PHP, Composer and MySQL

    Choose Start fresh, select Laravel / PHP (it lists PHP, Composer & MySQL) and click Continue. On the next screen click Install all. Each row has a version picker, and you can add more PHP versions later from Services.

    Skipped the setup screens? Install PHP from Services → PHP and Composer from Tools → Composer.

  4. Step 4: Create the Laravel project

    Open Sites, click New project and choose New Laravel project. Type a folder name such as blog, pick a starter kit (Default, React, Vue, Livewire or Svelte) and click Create.

    EnvKit runs composer create-project in your projects folder, runs npm install for the frontend, registers the site and issues its certificate. The first run takes a minute while Composer fills its cache.

  5. Step 5: Open https://blog.test

    The site is live as soon as the dialog closes. Click Open HTTPS on its card, or type https://blog.test in the browser. The hosts entry is already written and the certificate is trusted, so there is no browser warning.

  6. Step 6: Switch the database to MySQL (optional)

    A new Laravel app uses SQLite, so it already works. To use MySQL instead, click Start all in the top bar, create a database named blog on the Databases page, and point .env at it. EnvKit’s MySQL listens on 127.0.0.1:3306 and root has no password.

    .env
    DB_CONNECTION=mysql
DB_HOST=127.0.0.1
DB_PORT=3306
DB_DATABASE=blog
DB_USERNAME=root
DB_PASSWORD=

  7. Step 7: Run the frontend

    On the site page, click Run dev. It opens a terminal running composer run dev. EnvKit already pointed Vite at the same local certificate, so hot reload works over https://blog.test.

If something goes wrong

Port 80 or 443 is already in use
Another stack (IIS, XAMPP, Laragon, Skype) holds the web ports. Open Services → your web server and click Diagnose & repair. It names the process holding the port and offers to stop it.
composer or php is not recognized
Tick them under Tools → Environment (PATH), then open a new terminal. Terminals opened before the change keep the old PATH.
You already have Laravel projects
Use New project → Add existing project to serve a folder where it is. Coming from Laragon or Laravel Herd, the first-run screen can import your sites instead.