List Installed Software with Chocolatey Command

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If you manage software on your Windows machine using Chocolatey, you know how easy it is to install applications with a single command. But once you’ve installed several packages, how do you keep track of what’s actually on your system, installed specifically by Chocolatey?

Knowing your software inventory is crucial for maintenance, updates, and planning. Fortunately, Chocolatey provides a straightforward command to help you see exactly what you’ve installed. In this guide, we’ll show you the simple command to list installed Chocolatey packages on your local machine.

The key command you’ll learn is choco list --localonly. It’s your window into the software Chocolatey is managing for you.

Why List Your Chocolatey Packages?

Having a clear list of your Chocolatey-managed software offers several benefits:

  • Inventory and Tracking: See exactly which applications and tools were installed using Chocolatey, giving you a quick overview of your system’s software managed by this tool.
  • Verification: Confirm that a package you intended to install via Chocolatey was successfully added and is listed in the inventory.
  • Planning Updates: Before running choco upgrade all or upgrading specific packages, listing them lets you see their current versions, helping you anticipate what needs updating. (Related command: choco outdated)
  • Preparation for Uninstall: When you need to remove software, the choco list --localonly command provides the exact Package ID you’ll need for the choco uninstall command.
  • Auditing: Useful for checking the software installed on a machine where Chocolatey was used for automated system setup or maintenance.

It helps you maintain control and visibility over your software versions management and system maintenance.

The Primary Command: choco list --localonly

The command to see your locally installed Chocolatey packages is very simple.

By default, the choco list command searches the Chocolatey Community Repository online for available packages. However, to see only what you have installed on your local machine via Chocolatey, you need to use the --localonly option.

Here is the command:

choco list --localonly

To run this command, open your Command Prompt or PowerShell window. Simply type the command as shown above and press Enter.

Note on Administrator Privileges: A great advantage of the choco list --localonly command is that you typically do NOT need Administrator privileges to run it. Unlike commands that install, upgrade, or uninstall software (which modify system files or the registry), choco list --localonly only reads the local Chocolatey database and configuration files. This makes it convenient for quick checks without needing elevated permissions.

When you run the command, Chocolatey will read its local package information and print a list to your console. The output usually shows the Package ID and the installed Version for each package it finds.

Example Output:

chocolatey.commandline 1.4.0
chocolatey.lib 1.4.0
KBandara.Git.CommandLine.GitVersion 2.39.0
vlc 3.0.18vscode 1.83.1

This output shows the software packages that Chocolatey knows are installed on this specific machine.

Understanding the Output

The output from choco list --localonly is straightforward:

  • Package ID: This is the unique identifier for the software package within the Chocolatey ecosystem. This is the name you’ll use if you need to upgrade or uninstall the package later (e.g., vlc, vscode).
  • Version: This indicates the specific software version of the package currently installed on your system according to Chocolatey.

This list serves as your local machine’s software inventory managed by Chocolatey.

Finding Specific Installed Software (Filtering the List)

If you have many packages installed and are looking for a specific one, you can filter the output of choco list --localonly by adding a search term. This is useful to quickly check if a particular program or tool is installed via Chocolatey.

The syntax is:

choco list [search term] --localonly

Replace [search term] with the name or part of the name of the package you’re looking for.

Examples:

  • To check if VLC media player is installed via Chocolatey:
    choco list vlc --localonly

    If installed, the output might be:

    vlc 3.0.18

    If not installed via Chocolatey, the output will likely be empty or show “0 packages installed.”

  • To search for any installed packages containing “chrome”:
    choco list chrome --localonly
    Output might show:
    googlechrome 119.0.6045.160
    (assuming Google Chrome was installed via Chocolatey)

This filtering makes it much faster to check for individual programs without sifting through your entire installed package list.

Beyond the Local List: Listing Repository Packages

It’s important to understand the difference between listing your installed packages and listing packages available in the online repository.

As mentioned earlier, the command choco list [search term] (without the --localonly flag) searches the online Chocolatey Community Repository. This command is used when you are trying to find software that you *could* install, not software that you *have* installed.

Example:

choco list firefox

This command will search the online repository for packages related to “firefox”. The output will show available versions in the repository:

firefox 120.0firefox.install 120.0

Comparing this to choco list firefox --localonly (which would show nothing if Firefox isn’t installed via Choco) highlights the crucial difference. One is for discovering software to install, the other is for inventorying what’s already on your local machine via Chocolatey.

Troubleshooting Common Issues

  • choco command not found: This means Chocolatey is not installed correctly or its installation directory is not in your system’s PATH environment variable. Refer back to the Chocolatey installation guide to verify your installation.
  • List is empty or short: If you expected to see software listed but the output is empty or only shows Chocolatey’s core components, it’s likely that the software you’re looking for was not installed *using Chocolatey*. Software installed manually or via other package managers will not appear in the choco list --localonly output.

Conclusion

The choco list --localonly command is an essential tool for anyone using Chocolatey to manage software on Windows. It provides a simple, quick way to get a clear inventory of all the software packages that Chocolatey has installed on your local machine.

Knowing your installed packages by their exact Package ID and Version is invaluable for planning updates, verifying installations, preparing for uninstalls, and generally keeping track of your software environment.

Make it a regular practice to use choco list --localonly to stay informed about your Chocolatey-managed software inventory. You can find more details on the official Chocolatey documentation page for the list command.

Try running the command yourself right now to see what Chocolatey is managing on your system!