Install Docker Desktop on Windows

Docker Desktop is the usual way to run Linux containers on Windows. Follow Docker's current Windows installation guide and check its WSL 2 and virtualization prerequisites for the Windows edition you use.

After installation, start Docker Desktop and verify it from PowerShell:

docker version
docker run --rm hello-world

Docker Desktop commonly uses the WSL 2 backend for Linux containers. A WSL distribution and Docker Desktop integration are separate settings; enable integration only for distributions that should access the engine. If you need Windows containers, switch the engine mode and use Windows-compatible images instead.

A docker command that is not found usually means the terminal predates the installation or Docker's CLI directory is not on PATH. A daemon connection error means the application/engine is not ready. Check Docker Desktop's diagnostics and docker context ls before reinstalling.

Sources

• Docker documentation
• Docker CLI reference