Linux · Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL)

You type wsl in a Windows terminal with no other arguments and you have several distributions installed. Which one starts, how do you change that, and how do you get back out?

Answer locked. Get the free KnowCard app to reveal it — plus spaced-repetition review so it actually sticks.

Get it on App StoreGet it on Google Play

This is one card from the KnowCard library — thousands more across SAP, Linux, Python and more. In the app you get the answer, AI explanations, and cards that come back right before you would forget them. Free to start on iOS, Android or the web.

More in Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL)

What does the Windows Subsystem for Linux let you do that a virtual machine setup does not, and roughly when did it arrive?
A colleague says WSL1 already ran a Linux kernel and WSL2 just made it faster. Where is that wrong, and what actually changed in WSL2?
Before WSLg, how could you show a Linux GUI program on Windows, and what did WSLg change about that?
Someone runs Docker Desktop on Windows and assumes it has nothing to do with WSL. Why is that assumption off?
Two Windows users on the same PC both want Ubuntu under WSL. Why can't they just share the one installation, and what privileges does the WSL user get?
You open three WSL windows of the same distribution. Are these like three separate Docker containers, and how would you tell?

Start learning today

Free to start — download the app or use it in your browser.

Get it on App StoreGet it on Google Play