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Microsoft has removed the Windows Management Instrumentation Command-line utility (WMIC) from Windows 11 version 24H2 and later, including Windows 11 25H2.

As of August 2026, WMIC is also no longer available as a Feature on Demand (FoD) on these Windows versions. Therefore, commands such as:

wmic cpu get name
wmic bios get serialnumber
wmic diskdrive get model,size

may now return an error such as:

'wmic' is not recognized as an internal or external command,
operable program or batch file.

This does not mean Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) itself has been removed. Only the legacy wmic.exe command-line utility has been removed. WMI remains supported, and Microsoft recommends migrating WMIC-based scripts and administrative tasks to PowerShell, particularly CIM/WMI cmdlets such as Get-CimInstance.

COMPLETE ARTICLE

What Is WMIC?

WMIC stands for Windows Management Instrumentation Command-line.

For many years, Windows administrators, IT engineers, software developers and support technicians used wmic.exe to retrieve Windows system information directly from Command Prompt.

For example:

wmic cpu get name

could display the installed processor.

Similarly:

wmic bios get serialnumber

could retrieve a computer's BIOS serial number.

WMIC provided a convenient command-line interface to the underlying Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) infrastructure.

It was widely used in:

• Batch files
• Windows administration scripts
• Hardware inventory utilities
• Software deployment scripts
• Asset management systems
• Remote administration
• Troubleshooting utilities
• System information tools
• Login scripts
• PC manufacturing/OEM utilities
• Helpdesk tools

However, WMIC itself is now a legacy technology.

Microsoft Has Removed WMIC from Windows 11 24H2 and Later

Microsoft's current Windows documentation states that Windows Management Instrumentation Command-line (WMIC) has been removed from Windows 11 version 24H2 and above.

Microsoft lists the removal as occurring in August 2026.

This includes current Windows releases such as:

Windows Version	WMIC Status
Windows 11 22H2	Historically available
Windows 11 23H2	Historically available as a Feature on Demand
Windows 11 24H2	Removed under Microsoft's current servicing state
Windows 11 25H2	Removed
Future Windows 11 versions	Do not design new solutions around WMIC

An important distinction is that Windows 11 24H2 originally went through a transitional period where WMIC could be disabled/not installed by default while still existing as an optional Feature on Demand.

That situation has now changed.

As of Microsoft's August 2026 update, WMIC has been removed from Windows 11 24H2 and later and can no longer be added back as a Feature on Demand.

WMIC Was Deprecated Long Before Its Removal

WMIC did not disappear without warning.

Microsoft had deprecated the utility years earlier. Microsoft's documentation identifies WMIC as deprecated beginning with Windows 10 version 21H1, while recommending Windows PowerShell for WMI-related administration.

The transition broadly progressed like this:

Stage 1 – WMIC Was Commonly Included

Older Windows versions included wmic.exe as a standard command-line utility.

Administrators could simply open Command Prompt and run:

wmic

Stage 2 – WMIC Was Deprecated

Microsoft announced that WMIC was deprecated and encouraged administrators and developers to migrate to PowerShell.

Stage 3 – WMIC Became a Feature on Demand

On Windows 11 versions such as 22H2 and 23H2, WMIC existed as a Windows Feature on Demand.

Stage 4 – WMIC Was Disabled/Absent by Default

Microsoft began transitioning new Windows installations away from automatically providing WMIC.

Stage 5 – WMIC Removed

Microsoft's August 2026 documentation now states that WMIC has been removed from Windows 11 version 24H2 and above and is no longer available as a Feature on Demand.

This final stage is especially important for organizations still maintaining old WMIC-based scripts.

Is WMI Also Removed from Windows 11?

No.

This is probably the most important point to understand.

Microsoft has removed:

WMIC

but has not removed Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI).

WMIC and WMI are not the same thing.

WMI

Windows Management Instrumentation is the Windows management infrastructure that applications, scripts and administrative tools can use to obtain management information about Windows.

WMIC

Windows Management Instrumentation Command-line is the legacy command-line utility that provided access to WMI.

Therefore:

WMIC removed ≠ WMI removed

Microsoft explicitly states that the WMIC deprecation/removal affects the command-line utility and that WMI itself remains supported.

Why Does Windows Say "'wmic' Is Not Recognized"?

After upgrading Windows 11 or using a newer Windows 11 installation, you may try:

wmic

and receive:

'wmic' is not recognized as an internal or external command,
operable program or batch file.

This does not necessarily indicate:

• damaged Windows system files,
• a corrupted PATH variable,
• malware,
• Command Prompt corruption,
• a failed Windows installation.

On affected Windows 11 versions, it can simply mean that WMIC is no longer present in Windows.

Therefore, running DISM or SFC solely to restore WMIC is generally not the appropriate solution.

Can WMIC Be Reinstalled in Windows 11 24H2 or 25H2?

This is where older troubleshooting articles can now be misleading.

Earlier during the transition, WMIC could exist as a Feature on Demand, and instructions circulated for reinstalling or enabling it.

However, Microsoft's current documentation states:

WMIC has been removed from Windows 11 version 24H2 and above and is no longer available as a Feature on Demand.

Therefore, as of August 2026 and later servicing, administrators should not design a long-term solution around reinstalling WMIC on Windows 11 24H2/25H2.

The correct approach is to migrate scripts and commands to supported alternatives.

What Should Replace WMIC?

Microsoft recommends using PowerShell for WMI and supported WMI programming interfaces instead of the WMIC utility.

For modern PowerShell administration, one of the most useful commands is:

Get-CimInstance

CIM stands for Common Information Model.

For example, instead of:

wmic cpu get name

use:

Get-CimInstance Win32_Processor | Select-Object Name

Common WMIC Commands and Their PowerShell Replacements

The following table can help administrators migrate common commands.

Old WMIC Command	PowerShell Alternative
wmic cpu get name	Get-CimInstance Win32_Processor | Select-Object Name
wmic bios get serialnumber	Get-CimInstance Win32_BIOS | Select-Object SerialNumber
wmic csproduct get name	Get-CimInstance Win32_ComputerSystemProduct | Select-Object Name
wmic csproduct get uuid	Get-CimInstance Win32_ComputerSystemProduct | Select-Object UUID
wmic baseboard get manufacturer,product,serialnumber	Get-CimInstance Win32_BaseBoard | Select-Object Manufacturer,Product,SerialNumber
wmic os get caption	Get-CimInstance Win32_OperatingSystem | Select-Object Caption
wmic diskdrive get model,size	Get-CimInstance Win32_DiskDrive | Select-Object Model,Size
wmic logicaldisk get deviceid,size,freespace	Get-CimInstance Win32_LogicalDisk | Select-Object DeviceID,Size,FreeSpace

Note: In PowerShell examples, the | character is the pipeline operator.

Example 1: Find Computer Serial Number Without WMIC

Old WMIC method

wmic bios get serialnumber

PowerShell replacement

Get-CimInstance Win32_BIOS | Select-Object SerialNumber

For cleaner output:

(Get-CimInstance Win32_BIOS).SerialNumber

This is particularly useful for Dell, HP, Lenovo and other OEM computers where the BIOS serial number commonly corresponds to the device's service/serial identifier.

Example 2: Find Processor Model

Old command

wmic cpu get name

PowerShell

Get-CimInstance Win32_Processor | Select-Object Name

You can obtain additional CPU information with:

Get-CimInstance Win32_Processor |
Select-Object Name, Manufacturer, NumberOfCores, NumberOfLogicalProcessors, MaxClockSpeed

Example 3: Find Computer Manufacturer and Model

Instead of relying on WMIC, use:

Get-CimInstance Win32_ComputerSystem |
Select-Object Manufacturer, Model

Example output may look like:

Manufacturer   Model
------------   -----
Dell Inc.      Latitude 5450

Actual values depend on the computer manufacturer.

Example 4: Find Motherboard Information

Old scripts frequently used:

wmic baseboard get product,manufacturer,version,serialnumber

Use:

Get-CimInstance Win32_BaseBoard |
Select-Object Manufacturer, Product, Version, SerialNumber

Example 5: Check Windows Version

Use:

Get-CimInstance Win32_OperatingSystem |
Select-Object Caption, Version, BuildNumber

This can provide the Windows edition, version number and OS build information exposed by the WMI class.

Example 6: Check Physical Disk Information

Old command:

wmic diskdrive get model,size,serialnumber

PowerShell alternative:

Get-CimInstance Win32_DiskDrive |
Select-Object Model, SerialNumber, Size

For modern storage administration, PowerShell storage cmdlets can also be useful:

Get-Disk

and:

Get-PhysicalDisk

These commands serve different purposes, so choose the one that matches the information you need.

Example 7: Check RAM Information

Use:

Get-CimInstance Win32_PhysicalMemory |
Select-Object Manufacturer, PartNumber, Capacity, Speed, SerialNumber

To calculate total installed physical memory:

$RAM = Get-CimInstance Win32_PhysicalMemory
($RAM | Measure-Object Capacity -Sum).Sum / 1GB

Example 8: Get Windows Installation and Uptime Information

Use:

Get-CimInstance Win32_OperatingSystem |
Select-Object LastBootUpTime

You can also calculate uptime:

$OS = Get-CimInstance Win32_OperatingSystem
(New-TimeSpan -Start $OS.LastBootUpTime -End (Get-Date))

Existing Batch Files Using WMIC May Stop Working

The WMIC removal is particularly important for businesses using old .BAT or .CMD scripts.

For example:

@echo off
wmic bios get serialnumber
pause

On a Windows installation where WMIC has been removed, the script can fail because wmic.exe is unavailable.

Organizations should search their:

• .BAT files
• .CMD files
• PowerShell scripts
• deployment packages
• login scripts
• software installers
• asset inventory utilities
• monitoring applications
• helpdesk utilities
• custom Windows software

for references to:

wmic

and migrate those operations before deploying the scripts to newer Windows systems.

Developers Should Also Check Their Applications

WMIC removal does not affect only IT administrators.

Developers sometimes execute WMIC in the background from applications.

For example, an application may historically have executed:

wmic bios get serialnumber

to obtain a hardware identifier for:

• software licensing,
• device registration,
• hardware inventory,
• asset management,
• system auditing.

Such software may work perfectly on an older PC but fail on newer Windows 11 installations.

Developers should therefore avoid launching wmic.exe as an external process and migrate to supported APIs, PowerShell/CIM where appropriate, or native WMI interfaces.

Important Warning About wmic product

One commonly seen legacy command is:

wmic product get name

It was often recommended online for obtaining a list of installed programs.

It should not simply be replaced with another method without understanding what information is actually required.

For inventory purposes, administrators can often obtain installed application information from Windows uninstall registry locations, for example:

Get-ItemProperty "HKLM:\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\*" |
Select-Object DisplayName, DisplayVersion, Publisher

On 64-bit Windows, also consider 32-bit applications:

Get-ItemProperty "HKLM:\Software\WOW6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\*" |
Select-Object DisplayName, DisplayVersion, Publisher

User-specific applications may also be registered under HKEY_CURRENT_USER.

The appropriate inventory method therefore depends on whether you need MSI products, traditional Win32 applications, Microsoft Store/MSIX applications or user-specific installations.

Does Get-WmiObject Replace WMIC?

You may find older PowerShell tutorials recommending:

Get-WmiObject

For example:

Get-WmiObject Win32_BIOS

Although administrators may encounter this cmdlet in older Windows PowerShell scripts, for new scripts it is generally preferable to use the CIM cmdlets:

Get-CimInstance

For example:

Get-CimInstance Win32_BIOS

This makes new automation less dependent on older management approaches.

CMD vs WMIC vs PowerShell vs WMI

These terms are sometimes confused.

Technology	Purpose	Status
Command Prompt / CMD	Windows command shell	Available
WMIC	Legacy command-line interface for WMI	Removed from Windows 11 24H2+ under current Microsoft servicing
WMI	Windows management infrastructure	Supported
Windows PowerShell	Windows automation/management shell	Available
CIM cmdlets	Modern PowerShell interface for management information	Recommended for many WMIC replacement scenarios

Removing WMIC therefore does not mean Microsoft has removed Command Prompt.

Commands such as:

ipconfig
ping
tracert
netstat
nslookup
systeminfo
tasklist
whoami

continue to be separate Windows utilities and are not dependent on the existence of WMIC.

Do You Need Administrator Rights for PowerShell WMIC Replacements?

Not always.

Many basic information queries can run from a standard PowerShell session.

For example:

Get-CimInstance Win32_BIOS

or:

Get-CimInstance Win32_Processor

may work without elevation.

However, some management operations, protected information, remote administration tasks and system modifications can require Run as administrator or additional permissions.

Do not automatically run every script as administrator unless elevation is actually required.

How to Check Whether WMIC Exists on Your PC

Open Command Prompt and run:

where wmic

If WMIC exists and is discoverable through PATH, Windows may return a location such as:

C:\Windows\System32\wbem\WMIC.exe

If it is unavailable, where may report that it cannot find the file.

You can also try:

wmic /?

If Windows responds that wmic is not recognized, do not assume your Windows installation is damaged. On current Windows 11 24H2/25H2 systems, its absence may be expected.

Should You Copy WMIC.exe from an Older Computer?

Not recommended.

Do not treat copying:

wmic.exe

from another Windows installation as a supported migration strategy.

WMIC depended on Windows components and servicing behavior beyond simply possessing one executable file.

Copying old Windows system files between different Windows builds can create compatibility, servicing and security problems.

The supported long-term solution is to update the command, script or application that depends on WMIC.

Should You Avoid Upgrading to Windows 11 Because WMIC Was Removed?

Generally, no.

WMIC removal by itself is not a good reason to keep an organization on an older Windows release.

Instead, businesses should identify legacy dependencies and modernize them.

Before a large Windows deployment, IT administrators can test:

1. Login scripts
2. Inventory scripts
3. Deployment tools
4. Monitoring utilities
5. Custom applications
6. Hardware detection tools
7. Licensing utilities
8. Batch files
9. Helpdesk scripts
10. Remote management systems

Any component calling wmic.exe should be reviewed.

Recommended Migration Strategy for Businesses

If your organization still uses WMIC, use a structured migration process.

Step 1 – Find WMIC Dependencies

Search scripts and application source code for:

wmic

Step 2 – Identify What Each Command Does

For example:

wmic bios get serialnumber

means the script is retrieving the BIOS serial number.

Step 3 – Find the Appropriate CIM/WMI Class

In this case:

Win32_BIOS

Step 4 – Convert the Command

Example:

(Get-CimInstance Win32_BIOS).SerialNumber

Step 5 – Test the New Script

Test on multiple systems, particularly:

• Windows 11 24H2
• Windows 11 25H2
• different hardware manufacturers
• standard user accounts
• administrator accounts

Step 6 – Update Deployment Packages

Replace old scripts before rolling them out to production PCs.

Troubleshooting: Application Stopped Working After Windows 11 Upgrade

If an application stops retrieving system information after a Windows 11 upgrade, check whether it depends on WMIC.

Possible symptoms include:

wmic.exe not found

'wmic' is not recognized

or the application may simply show blank hardware information.

Check application logs or scripts for calls such as:

wmic bios
wmic cpu
wmic csproduct
wmic diskdrive
wmic baseboard
wmic os

If found, update the application to use supported Windows management methods.

FAQ

Is WMIC removed from Windows 11?

Yes. Microsoft's current documentation states that WMIC has been removed from Windows 11 version 24H2 and above as of August 2026.

Is WMIC removed from Windows 11 25H2?

Yes. Windows 11 25H2 falls within Microsoft's "24H2 and above" removal policy, and Microsoft's current WMIC documentation specifically identifies 24H2 and 25H2 as no longer including the utility.

Can I reinstall WMIC as a Feature on Demand?

Older Windows 11 versions and earlier phases of the transition allowed WMIC to exist as a Feature on Demand. Microsoft's August 2026 update states that WMIC is no longer available as a Feature on Demand on Windows 11 24H2 and above.

Has Microsoft removed WMI?

No. The removal applies to the WMIC command-line utility. Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) itself remains supported.

What replaces WMIC?

Microsoft recommends PowerShell for WMI-related administration. For many common WMIC queries, Get-CimInstance is an appropriate modern replacement.

What replaces wmic bios get serialnumber?

Use:

(Get-CimInstance Win32_BIOS).SerialNumber

What replaces wmic cpu get name?

Use:

Get-CimInstance Win32_Processor | Select-Object Name

Why does Windows say WMIC is not recognized?

On current Windows 11 24H2/25H2 installations, WMIC may simply no longer exist. This is expected following Microsoft's removal of the utility and does not by itself indicate Windows corruption.

Is Command Prompt being removed?

No. WMIC is one particular command-line utility. Command Prompt (cmd.exe) remains separate.

Will old batch files using WMIC stop working?

Yes, commands inside those scripts that depend on wmic.exe can fail when WMIC is unavailable. Those scripts should be updated.

Should developers continue using WMIC for hardware serial numbers?

No. New software should not depend on launching wmic.exe. Developers should use supported Windows management APIs or other appropriate supported interfaces.

FINAL RECOMMENDATION / CONCLUSION

The removal of WMIC from Windows 11 24H2 and later, including Windows 11 25H2, is important for IT administrators and developers because thousands of older scripts and utilities still depend on wmic.exe.

The key point is:

WMIC has been removed, but WMI has not.

Do not attempt to solve the problem by permanently depending on copied WMIC binaries or outdated installation workarounds. Microsoft's current documentation says WMIC is no longer available as a Feature on Demand on Windows 11 24H2 and above.

Instead, review existing scripts and migrate commands to PowerShell CIM cmdlets such as Get-CimInstance or an appropriate supported Windows management API.

For businesses planning Windows 11 upgrades, checking existing .BAT, .CMD, PowerShell, deployment, inventory and custom software for WMIC dependencies should now be part of compatibility testing.

 

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