How to Install Go on Windows?

Step 1: Download Go Installer

1. Visit the Go download page:

• Go to the official Go download page.
• Download the Windows installer (MSI file) appropriate for your system architecture (most likely the 64-bit installer).

Visit the go download page

Download Windows installer

Step 2: Run the Installer

1. Open the downloaded MSI file:

• Double-click the MSI file to run the installer.

Start the Go Installer

2. Follow the installation prompts:

• Click “Next” to proceed with the installation.
• Accept the license agreement.
• Choose the installation directory (the default is usually fine).
• Complete the installation by clicking “Install” and then “Finish”.

Complete Go Installer

Step 3: Set Up Environment Variables

1. Open Environment Variables:

• Right-click on “This PC” or “My Computer” and select “Properties”.
• Click on “Advanced system settings”.
• Click on the “Environment Variables” button.

This Computer properties

Open Advance System Settings

2. Update the PATH variable:

• In the “System variables” section, find the Path variable and select it.
• Click “Edit” and add the path to the Go bin directory. By default, this is C:\Go\bin.

3. Create a workspace directory:

• Create a directory for your Go workspace, e.g., C:\Users\<YourUsername>\go.

4. Set the GOPATH environment variable:

• In the “User variables” section, click “New” and create a variable named GOPATH with the value set to your workspace directory (e.g., C:\Users\<YourUsername>\go).

Open Environment Variable and set GoPath

Step 4: Verify the Installation

1. Open Command Prompt:

• Press Win + R, type cmd, and press Enter to open the Command Prompt.

2. Check the Go version:

• Type go version and press Enter. You should see the installed Go version displayed.

Step 5: Create and Run a Simple Go Program

1. Create a new directory for your project:

• In the Command Prompt, navigate to your workspace directory

cd %GOPATH%
mkdir -p src/hello
cd src/hello

2. Create a Go file:

• Open your favorite text editor and create a file named hello.go with the following content in the hello directory:

package main

import "fmt"

func main() {
    fmt.Println("Hello, World!")
}

3. Run the Go program:

• In the Command Prompt, navigate to the directory where hello.go is located and run the program:

go run hello.go

• You should see Hello, World! printed in the Command Prompt.

Congratulations! You have successfully installed Go on Windows and run your first Go program.