Download Docker Desktop

Docker Desktop is the container runtime this guide uses. Install it on Windows now. WSL integration with your Ubuntu distro is configured later in the Docker WSL2 Integration section (after Ubuntu is installed).

Download the Installer

Option A — Direct download in browser:

Windows x64 (most PCs): Docker Desktop Installer.exe
Save to your Downloads folder

Option B — Download via PowerShell (recommended):

Use this filename (no spaces — required for curl.exe on Windows):

curl.exe -L -o "$env:USERPROFILE\Downloads\DockerDesktopInstaller.exe" "https://desktop.docker.com/win/main/amd64/Docker%20Desktop%20Installer.exe"

If that fails, use PowerShell’s built-in downloader:

Invoke-WebRequest -Uri "https://desktop.docker.com/win/main/amd64/Docker%20Desktop%20Installer.exe" -OutFile "$env:USERPROFILE\Downloads\DockerDesktopInstaller.exe" -UseBasicParsing

Before retrying after a failed download, delete any partial file:

Remove-Item -Force "$env:USERPROFILE\Downloads\DockerDesktopInstaller.exe" -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue

Expected in Downloads — your file should look like this:

Docker Desktop installer downloaded successfully showing file name and size of approximately 620 to 640 MB

Check	Expected
Name	`DockerDesktopInstaller`
Type	Application
Size	~620–640 MB (e.g., 638,618 KB)

If the size is only a few KB, the download failed — delete the file and retry.

Option C — Product page (if direct links fail):

Open https://www.docker.com/products/docker-desktop/
Click Download for Windows
Save to Downloads

Do not download Docker Engine for Linux at this stage. You need Docker Desktop for Windows.

Not sure which installer? Almost all Windows PCs use x64 (amd64). Only Windows on ARM devices need: https://desktop.docker.com/win/main/arm64/Docker%20Desktop%20Installer.exe