Installing Hugo

Create static website and deploy it to GitHub

Hugo is a fast and modern static site generator written in Go (Hugo, 2023), which is used to build content-focused, fast websites (Khan, 2022). Steps to install Hugo, set environment variables, and create a shortcut for it are presented in brief.

Download

Visit Hugo releases https://github.com/gohugoio/hugo/releases

The newest version is v0.118.2, which is released about 2 weeks ago. Scroll down to find files to download.

Click Show all 23 assets.

Choose hugo_extended_0.118.2_windows_amd64.zip file and click it to download.

Save it with suggested name.

The file is saved to Downloads folder.

Install

Go to C:\ with File Explorer.

Create new folder named Hugo.

Visit again Downloads folder and click hugo_extended_0.118.2_windows_amd64.zip to open the file.

Select all with CTRL+A and copy all files with CTRL+C. Goto C:\Hugo.

Paste the files using CTRL+V.

Wait for the copying process.

Now all files are ready in C:\Hugo.

Path

In order hugo.exe can be called from everywhere, it should be added to Windows path. Press Windows key and type environment variables and click Open.

Click Environment Variables… button.

Select Path and click Edit Button.

Click New button.

Type C:\Hugo and click OK button.

Click OK button.

Again, click OK button to close.

Shortcut

Go to Downloads folder.

Right click and choose New, and select Shortcut.

Type cmd for Windows Command Processor, abbreviated CMD, and click Next.

Change the name to Hugo, since it will be used to called hugo.exe.

Click Finish button.

Right click and choose Properties.

Delete Start in value and leave it empty.

Click OK button.

Double click the shortcut to open CMD.

Type hugo version and press Enter key.

It is showing the version of installed Hugo.

What’s next

Now you can copy and paste the shortcut hugo.lnk to any folder you will use Hugo to create static web, which is easier than to open cmd from Windows menu.