How to Check If Virtualization Is Enabled on Windows 10 and 11 (and Why PowerShell Can Say False When It's On)

The 10-second check: Task Manager #

1. Press Ctrl+Shift+Esc to open Task Manager (click More details if you only see a short list).
2. Open the Performance tab and select CPU.
3. Look at the lower-right block of the CPU panel for Virtualization.

If you run Windows in another language, the labels are translated, but the layout is the same.

Method 2: systeminfo #

Open PowerShell or Command Prompt and run:

systeminfo | findstr /i "hyper-v virtualization hypervisor"

On a PC where no hypervisor is running yet, the Hyper-V Requirements section lists four lines, all of which should say Yes: VM Monitor Mode Extensions, Virtualization Enabled In Firmware, Second Level Address Translation and Data Execution Prevention Available.

On a PC where a hypervisor is already running, you get this instead (copied from a real Windows 10 PC with WSL 2 running):

Hyper-V Requirements:      A hypervisor has been detected. Features required for Hyper-V will not be displayed.

That is not an error. Microsoft documents it: on an existing Hyper-V host the requirements section is replaced by this message. A hypervisor can only run when firmware virtualization is on, so the message itself is your answer: virtualization is enabled.

Method 3: PowerShell, and the trap #

These two properties are the ones people usually copy from forums. Run them without administrator rights:

(Get-CimInstance Win32_ComputerSystem).HypervisorPresent
(Get-CimInstance Win32_Processor).VirtualizationFirmwareEnabled

Here is real output from a Windows 10 Pro PC (build 19045, Intel 11th-generation Core) on which WSL 2 was running normally:

HypervisorPresent             : True
VirtualizationFirmwareEnabled : False

Read literally, the second line says virtualization is off. It isn't: WSL 2 was running, which is impossible without it. Once Windows runs on top of its hypervisor, the firmware-level flag is no longer reported to the operating system the way it is on a PC with no hypervisor, so the value can read False on a machine where everything works. SecondLevelAddressTranslationExtensions and VMMonitorModeExtensions can also be reported as False on such a PC.

How to read the two values together #

Method 4: System Information (msinfo32) #

1. Press Win+R, type msinfo32 and press Enter.
2. Stay on System Summary and scroll to the bottom of the right-hand list.
3. Look for the Hyper-V lines, or for A hypervisor has been detected. Features required for Hyper-V will not be displayed.

The same page also shows Virtualization-based security (Running or Not enabled) and BIOS Mode (UEFI or Legacy). The latter tells you whether the "UEFI Firmware Settings" route in our BIOS guide is available to you. Like systeminfo, this view hides the requirement lines once a hypervisor is running.

Bonus: just try WSL 2 #

If you have WSL installed, the practical test is whether a WSL 2 distribution starts. In PowerShell:

wsl --status
wsl --list --verbose

wsl --status prints the default distribution and default version. In wsl --list --verbose, a distribution with VERSION 2 that reaches the Running state proves virtualization works end to end. If it fails with an error code such as 0x80370102, see Fix common WSL 2 errors.

Which answer should you trust? #

Common traps #

• "Shut down" is not "Restart." With Fast Startup, shutting down and powering on again does not fully restart Windows, so some changes (such as newly enabled Windows features) may not apply. Use Start → Power → Restart, or run shutdown /r /t 0.
• Other hypervisors. Microsoft's minimum versions for coexisting with Hyper-V are VirtualBox 6 and VMware Workstation 15.5.5.
• Windows edition. Microsoft states that WSL 2 is available on all desktop editions, including Windows 10 Home and Windows 11 Home. The full Hyper-V role (Hyper-V Manager) needs Windows 10 or 11 Pro or Enterprise.
• Checks need no administrator rights, changes do. Everything on this page runs as a normal user. Commands such as bcdedit and Get-WindowsOptionalFeature ask for an elevated PowerShell and fail with "The requested operation requires elevation" otherwise.