This simple guide will help you set up Joomla on your own Windows 11 computer using XAMPP. Joomla is a tool to build websites, and XAMPP lets you run websites right on your PC without needing the internet.

What is XAMPP?

XAMPP is a free program that includes everything you need to run websites on your computer. It has:

• Apache (the web server that shows your site)
• MariaDB (a database to store your site’s information)
• PHP (a language that helps Joomla work)

You can use XAMPP to try out Joomla and other website tools on your PC before making your site live on the internet.

Step 1: Install XAMPP

If you haven’t installed XAMPP yet, follow this easy tutorial here:

• How to Install XAMPP on Windows 11

Once installed, open the XAMPP Control Panel to start working with your local web server.

Step 2: Create a Database for Joomla

Joomla needs a place to save all its data. We will make a new database for it.

Here’s how to do it using XAMPP’s built-in tools:

1. Open the XAMPP Control Panel.
2. Click the Shell button to open a command window.
   

   

3. Type this command and press Enter to log into the database system:
   

   mysql -u root

   
   
4. Now type these commands one by one (press Enter after each):
   

   CREATE DATABASE joomladb CHARACTER SET utf8mb4 COLLATE utf8mb4_general_ci;
   CREATE USER 'joomladbuser'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'your_password_here';
   GRANT ALL ON joomladb.* TO 'joomladbuser'@'localhost';
   FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
   exit
     

   
   

   Replace your_password_here with a password you create.

Can’t use the command line? No problem! You can also create the database and user using phpMyAdmin:

• In the XAMPP Control Panel, next to MySQL, click the Admin button.
• In phpMyAdmin, click Databases, enter joomladb as the database name, and click Create.
• Go to the Users tab, add a new user called joomladbuser with your chosen password, and give it all privileges on the joomladb database.

Step 3: Download Joomla

Next, get the Joomla website files to your computer:

1. Go to the official Joomla download page: https://downloads.joomla.org/
2. Download the latest Joomla zip file.
3. Open C:xampphtdocs on your computer.
4. Create a new folder here named joomla.
5. Extract all the Joomla files you downloaded into this joomla folder.
6. Your folder structure should look like C:xampphtdocsjoomla with Joomla files inside.

Step 4: Make Joomla Show as Your Homepage

By default, when you open your local server in the browser, it shows the XAMPP dashboard. Let’s change that so it opens Joomla instead.

To do this, edit the file C:xampphtdocsindex.php (or index.html) and replace its content with this code:

<?php
	if (!empty($_SERVER['HTTPS']) && ($_SERVER['HTTPS'] == 'on')) {
		$uri = 'https://';
	} else {
		$uri = 'http://';
	}
	$uri .= $_SERVER['HTTP_HOST'];
	header('Location: '.$uri.'/joomla/');
	exit;
?>
Something is wrong with the XAMPP installation :-(

Save the file.

Restart Apache in the XAMPP Control Panel by clicking Stop and then Start.

Step 5: Open Joomla in Your Browser

Now, open your web browser and type this in the address bar:

http://localhost/

You should see the Joomla installation page.

Follow the steps on screen:

• Choose your language and enter your website’s name.
• Click Next.
• Set up your admin account by entering your name, username, password, and email.
• Click Next.
• On the database page, enter:
  • Database Type: MySQLi
  • Host: localhost
  • Username: joomladbuser
  • Password: the password you created earlier
  • Database Name: joomladb
• Click Install Joomla.

Once installation is complete, you will see a success message.

Congratulations! Your Joomla website is now ready to use on your Windows 11 computer.

Summary

• XAMPP lets you run Joomla on your PC without needing the internet.
• You created a database for Joomla using either the command line or phpMyAdmin.
• You downloaded Joomla and placed it in the right folder inside XAMPP.
• You changed the homepage to open Joomla by default.
• You completed the Joomla setup by following the installation wizard in your browser.

Now you can start building your website locally, test changes, and learn Joomla without worrying about breaking a live website.