How to Set Up WordPress on Your Windows 11 PC Using XAMPP

What is XAMPP?

XAMPP is a free tool. It turns your Windows 11 PC into a local web server, so you can set up WordPress without needing a live website. It includes Apache, which acts as the web server, MariaDB for storing your WordPress content, and PHP, the programming language WordPress is built with.

• Apache (the web server)
• MariaDB (the database where WordPress stores your content)
• PHP (the language WordPress is written in)

You can install XAMPP on Windows 11 or other systems. This guide focuses on Windows 11.

Step 1Install XAMPP

💿 Installing XAMPP on your Windows 11 PC is the first step to setting up WordPress locally. Follow our guide to install XAMPP. Once installed, the XAMPP 🎛️ Control Panel helps you manage the Apache web server and MariaDB database needed to run WordPress.

How to Install XAMPP on Windows 11

The XAMPP 🎛️ Control Panel, after installation, allows users to manage the Apache web server and the MariaDB database. This central management hub is essential for running WordPress locally on a Windows 11 PC.

Step 2Create a Database for WordPress

Your WordPress site requires a database to store information. You will create this WordPress database using XAMPP’s tools on your Windows 11 PC. First, open the XAMPP 🎛️ Control Panel. Then, click the Shell button and type mysql -u root to begin building your WordPress database.

1. Open the XAMPP 🎛️ Control Panel.
2. Click the Shell button (see image below) to open a command window.

1. In the shell window, type this command to open the database:

mysql -u root

Now, enter these commands one by one. Remember to replace your_password_here with a password you’ll want to remember:

If you prefer a graphical interface, you can click the Admin button next to MySQL in the XAMPP 🎛️ Control Panel. This will open phpMyAdmin, where you can create a new database and user with full permissions using its visual interface (see image below):

Step 3Download and Set Up WordPress

Before 💿 installing WordPress, you must ⬇️ download the latest WordPress version and place the WordPress files in the correct folder on your Windows 11 PC. First, navigate to the 📁C:\xampp\htdocs folder and create a new folder named copy‘wordpress’ inside it. After that, download WordPress from the official WordPress site and extract the files into this new ‘wordpress’ folder.

1. Go to the folder C:\xampp\htdocs on your PC.
2. Create a new folder inside called wordpress.
3. Download WordPress from the official WordPress download page.
4. Extract the WordPress files you downloaded into the wordpress folder you just created.

1. Next, open the file C:\xampp\htdocs\index.html with a text editor like Notepad. This file controls what shows up when you visit your local server.
2. Replace its content with this code to make your browser go directly to the WordPress site:

<?php
if (!empty($_SERVER['HTTPS']) && ('on' == $_SERVER['HTTPS'])) {
$uri = 'https://';
} else {
$uri = 'http://';
}
$uri .= $_SERVER['HTTP_HOST'];
header('Location: '.$uri.'/wordpress/');
exit;
?>

Something is wrong with the XAMPP installation 🙁

1. Save the file.

Step 4Restart Apache Server

Go back to the XAMPP 🎛️ Control Panel. Stop the Apache service, and then start it again. This ensures your changes take effect.

Step 5Install WordPress

With WordPress files in place, you’ll use your web browser to finish the installation on your Windows 11 PC. Visit http://localhost/wordpress to launch the WordPress setup wizard. Follow the on-screen prompts, choose your language, and enter the database details you created earlier to complete the installation.

http://localhost/wordpress

The WordPress setup screen will appear. Follow these steps:

1. Choose your language and click Continue.
2. Click Let’s go! to start.
3. Enter the database details you created earlier:

   • Database Name: wordpressdb
   • Username: wordpressdbuser
   • Password: the password you set
   • Database Host: localhost
   • Table Prefix: leave it as wp_
4. Click Submit.
5. Click Run the installation.
6. Fill in your site title, choose an admin username and password, and enter your email.
7. Click Install WordPress.

If everything is correct, WordPress will finish the installation and you can log in to your new site!

Summary

• You installed WordPress on your Windows 11 PC using XAMPP — no internet needed!
• You created a database for WordPress to save your website data.
• You downloaded WordPress and set it up to run on your local server.
• You installed WordPress through the web setup wizard.

You’ve successfully installed WordPress on your Windows 11 PC using XAMPP, creating a functional local website without needing an internet connection. This process involved 💿 installing XAMPP, creating a database, ⬇️ downloading WordPress files, and running the web setup wizard.