VER

Display the current operating system version.

Syntax
      VER

A very simple method of version checking is to pipe a version string into FIND, however there is a possibility that something which is a unique string today might match a minor version released in the future.

e.g. the following would also match "7.6.1"

ver | find "6.1" > nul
if %ERRORLEVEL% == 0 goto ver_2008R2

PowerShell to retrieve Version / Release ID

The VER command returns the Major/Minor / Build number, but does not include the Version/Release ID as displayed in Settings ➞ About.

The Release ID is a 4 digit code - a 2 digit year plus 2 digit planned month of release. 1703,1809...
DisplayVersion is a 4 digit code - a 2 digit year plus H1 or H2.. for 1st, 2nd releases. 20H2, 21H1…

Mobile, Desktop and Server releases will have the same Version/Release ID but different build numbers.

For Windows 10 up to May 2020 / 2004, this can be retrieved from the registry via the ReleaseID:

$release = (Get-ItemProperty -Path "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion" -Name ReleaseId).ReleaseId

For all later versions, this can be retrieved from the registry via the DisplayVersion:

$ver = (Get-ItemProperty -Path "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion" -Name DisplayVersion).DisplayVersion

The ReleaseID is now deprecated and will return '2009' for 20H2 and all subsequent versions of Windows.

If ($release -lt '2009') {$release} Else {$ver}

List of Windows Version numbers

Windows Version Numbers

Product name	Major version.build	Release ID	Version
Windows 95	4.0.950
Windows XP	5.1.2600
Windows Vista, Service Pack 2	6.0.6002
Windows 7, RTM (Release to Manufacturing)	6.1.7600.16385
Windows 8, RTM	6.2.9200.16384
Windows 10 Gold	10.0.10240	1507
Windows 10 November Update, 2015-11-03	10.0.10586	1511
Windows 10 Aniversary Update 2016-08-02	10.0.14393.1794	1607
Windows 10 Creators Update 2017-04-11	10.0.15063.674	1703
Windows 10 Fall Creators Update 2017-10-17	10.0.16299.19	1709
Windows 10 April 2018 Update	10.0.17134	1803
Windows 10 October 2018 Update	10.0.17763.55	1809
Windows 10 version 1903 (May 2019 Update)	10.0.18362.239	1903
Windows 10 version 1909 (Nov 2019 Update)	10.0.18363	1909
Windows 10 version 2004 (May 2020 Update)	10.0.19041	2004
Windows 10 version 20H2 (October 2020 Update)	10.0.19042	2009	20H2
Windows 10 version 21H1 (May 2021 Update)	10.0.19043	2009	21H1
Windows 10 version 21H2 (October 2021 Update)	10.0.19044	2009	21H2
Windows 10 version 22H2 (October 2022 Update)	10.0.19045	2009	22H2
Windows 11	10.22000.194 10.22000.1042	2009	21H2
Windows 11 version 22H2 (September 2022 Update)	10.22621.521	2009	22H2
			23H2

Server versions

Product name	Major version / build	Release ID	Version
Windows Server 2003	5.2.3790
Windows Server 2008	6.0.6001
Windows Server 2008 R2, RTM	6.1.7600.16385
Windows Server 2012	6.2.9200
Windows Server 2012 R2	6.3.9600
Windows Server 2016 RTM 2016-09-26	10.0.14393	1607
Windows Server 2016 Aniversary Update 2017-03-22	10.0.14393.970	1703
Windows Server 2016 Fall Creators Update	10.0.16299.15	1709
Windows Server 2019 (Semi-Annual Channel) (Datacenter, Standard)	10.0.17134.1	1803
Windows Server 2019	10.0.18342	1903
Windows Server 2019	10.0.17763	1909
Windows Server 2019	10.0.19041	2004
Windows Server 2019	10.0.19042	2009	20H2
Windows Server 2022 (preview)	10.0.20285	2009

See also Microsoft Windows 10 release history, support dates.

Finding the version remotely

PowerShell can be used to find the OS versions of multiple machines across a domain:

Get-ADComputer -Filter {OperatingSystem -like "Windows 10*"} -Property * | Format-Table Name,OperatingSystem,OperatingSystemVersion -Wrap –Auto

Service Pack Level

This batch script or this PowerShell script will return the Service Pack level.

32 bit or 64 bit OS detection

The environment variable PROCESSOR_ARCHITECTURE holds the following possible values:

64-bit process: AMD64 or IA64
32-bit process or WOW64 (32bit Program on 64 bit OS): x86

If we are running WOW64 then PROCESSOR_ARCHITEW6432 =AMD64

IF PROCESSOR_ARCHITECTURE == x86 AND
  PROCESSOR_ARCHITEW6432 NOT DEFINED THEN
  // OS is 32bit
ELSE
  // OS is 64bit
END IF

via David Wang @MSFT

Errorlevels

If the version was successfully displayed %ERRORLEVEL% = 0
If a bad parameter is given %ERRORLEVEL% = 1
VER /? will not reset the ERRORLEVEL, this is a bug.

VER is an internal command.

Examples

Batch file to find the current operating system version, for Vista and later:

@Echo off
For /f "tokens=4,5,6 delims=[]. " %%G in ('ver') Do (set _major=%%G& set _minor=%%H& set _build=%%I) 

Echo Major Version: [%_major%]
Echo Minor Version: [%_minor%]
Echo Build: [%_build%]
Echo Architecture: [%PROCESSOR_ARCHITECTURE%]
pause

“Always be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of somebody else” ~ Judy Garland

Related commands

Win32_OperatingSystem OperatingSystemSKU - Retrieve the OS Type via WMI (sku=Stock Keeping Unit ).
Sigcheck - Check a file version, both OS files and others.
SystemInfo - Return OS, Service pack, BIOS, Memory etc.
WINVER.exe - In client OS’s this will open the GUI Version dialogue box (Help ➞ About).
docs.microsoft.com/windows/whats-new - New features in each release.
macOS equivalent: sw_vers - Print macOS operating system version.
PowerShell equivalent:
Get-ComputerInfo - Get system and OS properties.
OS Version - How to retrieve the OS version in PowerShell (several methods compared).
Equivalent bash command (Linux): uname -r - Print system information.