Installation - Windows

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Install PostgreSQL and pgvector on Windows

Installation on Windows

Option 1: Using PostgreSQL Installer (Recommended)

  1. Download PostgreSQL from https://www.postgresql.org/download/windows/

    • Choose the latest version (17.x recommended)
    • Download the Windows x86-64 installer

  2. Run the installer:

    • Choose an installation directory (default is fine)
    • Select components: PostgreSQL Server, pgAdmin 4, Stack Builder, Command Line Tools
    • Choose data directory (default is fine)
    • Set a password for the postgres superuser account (remember this password!)
    • Choose port (default 5432 is fine)
    • Choose locale (default is fine)

  3. Complete the installation and launch Stack Builder if prompted (optional)

  4. Verify installation:

    • Open Command Prompt or PowerShell
    • Navigate to PostgreSQL bin directory (usually C:\Program Files\PostgreSQL\17\bin)
    • Run: psql --version

Option 2: Using Chocolatey

  1. Install Chocolatey (if not already installed):

    • Open PowerShell as Administrator
    • Run: Set-ExecutionPolicy Bypass -Scope Process -Force; [System.Net.ServicePointManager]::SecurityProtocol = [System.Net.ServicePointManager]::SecurityProtocol -bor 3072; iex ((New-Object System.Net.WebClient).DownloadString('https://community.chocolatey.org/install.ps1'))

  2. Install PostgreSQL:

    choco install postgresql17

  3. Start PostgreSQL service:

    # The service should start automatically, but you can verify with:
Get-Service postgresql*

  4. Install pgvector extension:

    # pgvector needs to be compiled from source on Windows
# Download from: https://github.com/pgvector/pgvector/releases
# Or use a pre-built version if available
# Follow installation instructions for Windows

Option 3: Using Docker

Docker provides an easy way to run PostgreSQL with pgvector pre-installed. See the Docker Installation Guide for detailed instructions.

Next Steps

After installation, proceed to:

  • Configuration - Configure and manage PostgreSQL service
  • Setup - Create database and enable extensions