My Windows 11 Hyper-V Not Showing Up & How to Enable It

Help: my Windows 11 Hyper-V not showing

Have you also encountered the situation where Windows 11 Hyper-V not showing in Windows feature, and so you cannot enable the feature and run Hyper-V virtual machines properly? Hyper-V has specific requirements and limitations that could lead to confusion or inaccessibility. In most cases, this problem is caused by operating system or hardware requirements not being met. To be specific:

System requirements: The Hyper-V role can only be enabled on Windows 10/11 Enterprise, Windows 10/11 Pro, Windows 10/11 Education. If you are running Windows 10/11 Home, you cannot find Hyper-V role in the system (unless you use some specific tricks).

Hardware requirements: If you are already using the correct OS version, the reason of Hyper-V not showing may be failing to enable the Virtualization Technology or lacking of CPU that supports for VM Monitor Mode Extension.

Conflicting Virtualization Software: If you have other virtualization software installed (like VirtualBox or VMware Workstation), they might conflict with Hyper-V, causing it to be unavailable or not function properly. Some of these tools require disabling Hyper-V for compatibility.

To resolve the issue of no Hyper-V in Windows features, I will introduce what to prepare beforehand, and how to enable Hyper-V on Windows 11/10 properly. Keep reading and have a try.

How to solve Hyper-V not showing on Windows 11 (checklist + steps)

As stated above, the problem of Hyper-V not showing up is most likely due to system or hardware requirements not being met. To resolve the issue in Windows 11, please check the following list item by item, and then enable Hyper-V with correct steps (3 methods provided).

Checklist before installing Hyper-V on Windows 11

1. Check CPU support for SLAT: Please check if your PC is a 64-bit CPU that supports Second Level Address Translation (SLAT) such as modern Intel or AMD 64-bit processors.

2. Check if the visualization is enabled in BIOS: It is necessary to enable the virtualization in BIOS setup menu. Press F2 (or other specific key according to brands and models) to access BIOS and select Advanced >> Virtualization.

3. Upgrade to Windows 11 Pro or above: As we said before, if you are using Windows version that doesn’t support Hyper-V feature such as Windows 11 Home version, it turns out to be Hyper-V not showing. So, please upgrade your computer to Windows 11 Pro first.

4. Prepare enough memory size for the expected VM workloads, 4 GB at least.

5. Verify Hardware Compatibility: This step is to verify the compatibility on Windows. Open command prompt, type systeminfo, then check the "Hyper-V Requirements" section and its value “YES” that means you can go to enable the Hyper-V role. If it shows “No”, please go back to check the requirements.

Way 1. Enable Hyper-V on Windows 11 via Control Panel

On a computer that meets all the requirements, you can directly access Windows features to enable Hyper-V on Windows 11.

1. Launch Control Panel, open Turn Windows feature on or off (or you can search for "Windows features" on taskbar) to check if the Hyper-V option has been checked.

2. If not, go to the opened Windows Features wizard, select all the Hyper-V features and click OK. This process may take a while to apply the changes on Windows 11 Pro.

3. After completing the requested changes, you need to reboot the PC by clicking Restart now. Then you can enable the Hyper-V Manager on Windows 11 Pro successfully, which allows you to create and manage virtual machines efficiently.

Way 2. Enable Hyper-V on Windows 11 with Windows PowerShell

You can also install Hyper-V with PowerShell command in Windows 11, try the following:

1. Press Win key and type "PowerShell" to run it as administrator.

2. Type the command and press Enter to run the cmdlet:

3. After the process is completed, restart your PC. And then the Hyper-V should be enabled on your computer.

Way 3. Enable Hyper-V on Windows 11 using Command Line

Similar to the PowerShell way, you can also use Command Prompt to install Hyper-V on Windows 11/10.

1. Search for "CMD" and choose Run as administrator.

2. Type the following command and press Enter to run it:

3. The DISM tool will start installing the Hyper-V feature. Once the progress reaches 100%, you need to restart your computer to complete the operation.

How to check if Hyper-V is enabled (3 tips)

After going through the previous methods, Hyper-V should have shown up in Windows 11. But if you still want to check if Hyper-V is enabled correctly, here are some tips you can try:

✤ Tip 1: Check if the Hyper-V services are running. Press Win + R and type "services.msc" in the dialog box of Run window. In the pop-up Services window, check if all the services beginning with "Hyper-V" are "Running".

✤ Tip 2: Use PowerShell. Enter the following command to check the status:

If the "State" reads "Enabled", then Hyper-V is enabled properly on your Windows 11 computer.

✤ Tip 3: Open Windows Features to check the Hyper-V box, or directly search for "Hyper-V Manager" to see if you can launch it now.

If, after all the troubleshooting and checking, your Hyper-V is still not started properly, it may be time to consider whether there is a problem with your installed operating system or some other relatively rare causes. In that case, you may need to turn to the professionals for further help.

As we can see, not every problem has a solution, even if you've enabled Hyper-V in Windows 11/10 successfully, there are many unpredictable factors that may cause the VMs to fail. Therefore, it is important to select the right tool to protect Hyper-V virtual machines in case of severe data loss caused by system errors or hardware failures.

Top Free Methods for Securing Hyper-V VMs on Windows 11/10

In today's fast-paced business environment, safeguarding critical virtual machines (VMs) running essential operations is crucial. To address the potential threats and errors that can disrupt your business, a reliable Hyper-V backup becomes indispensable.

The FREE Hyper-V backup solution - AOMEI Cyber Backup is designed to fortify your Hyper-V virtual machines effortlessly. It offers various free methods to secure Hyper-V VMs. With its powerful features, this solution empowers you to reduce business risks and enjoy ultimate peace of mind:

✦ Flexible Scheduling Options: Schedule automatic backups at convenient intervals and save time and storage space by leveraging differential backup options.
✦ User-Friendly Interface: AOMEI Cyber Backup features an intuitive and user-friendly interface, making it accessible to both experienced professionals and beginners regardless of your technical expertise.
✦ Centralized Management: Simplify backup management with AOMEI Cyber Backup's centralized console, which enables users to monitor and manage all backup tasks from a single location.
✦ Fast Recovery: Restore entire VM from any backed up history versions with a few clicks.
✦ Role Assignment: allows one administrator to create sub-accounts with limited privileges, effectively reduce human errors.

Download and enjoy the perpetual free edition of AOMEI Cyber Backup:

Step-by-Step Guide: How to Back Up Hyper-V VMs Easily and Securely

1. Launch AOMEI Cyber Backup and bind your Hyper-V device.

2. Click Backup Task >>  Create New Task to set up the backup task as you need. Then select Hyper-V Backup.

• Device Name: select one or more virtual machines for backup.

• Target: Enter a network or local path to specify the backup location.
• Schedule: Set up the backup task with full/incremental backup and select the time to run each backup automatically.

3. Click Restore to recover your virtual machine rapidly when necessary. In the restore wizard, you can restore any VM in the backup task from any backed up history versions.

✍ While the Free Edition can cover most of Hyper-V backup needs, you can also upgrade to enjoy:
✦ Batch VM Backup: Batch backup large numbers of VMs managed by hosts.
✦ Backup cleanup: Configure retention policies to delete unwanted old backup files automatically, and therefore save your storage space.
✦ Restore to new location: Easily make a clone of the VM in the same or another datastore/host, saves the trouble to reinstall and configure the new VM.

These free methods for securing Hyper-V VMs on Windows 11/10 using AOMEI Cyber Backup provide a robust foundation for protecting your virtual infrastructure. By implementing regular backups, automation, flexible backups, etc, you can ensure that your Hyper-V VMs are secure and resilient against potential threats.

In addition, AOMEI Cyber Backup is a all-in-one backup software that provides easy and reliable backups of your physical PCs, Servers and MSSQL databases, and more!

Updated: Is it possible to install Hyper-V on Windows 11 Home?

The Hyper-V role is not supported in Windows 11 Home version by default, but is it possible to enable it anyway?

Fortunately, the answer is YES. You still need to make sure all the hardware requirements are met, and then create a batch file to install Hyper-V on Windows 11 regardless of version restrictions. Here's how to do it:

1. Search for "notepad" and open it. Type the following content in it:

2. Save the file with .bat extention (name it as you like). This will create a executable batch file.

3. Right-click the .bat file and choose Run as administrator. The commands will be running in Command Prompt to install Hyper-V in Windows 11.

It may take a while, and after completion, enter "Y" to confirm and restart the computer. After that, the Hyper-V should have been installed on your Windows 11 Home computer successfully.

Summary

In this article, I explained the reason of Windows 11 Hyper-V not showing up and offer you the solutions to install and enable Hyper-V on Windows 11/10. Usually you just need to make sure all the operating system, hardware and compatibility requirements are met, and enable Hyper-V feature correctly.

After successfully enabling the Hyper-V role, you can freely set up virtual machines, copy files to Hyper-V VMs, and don't forget to perform virtual machine backup in case of critical data loss and business interruption.