WMIC Utility Removed from Windows 11: What it Means for Administrators

Microsoft is ending its reliance on Windows Management Instrumentation Command-line (WMIC) utility in Windows 11, marking a significant shift for administrators who have been using it since the operating system's early days. WMIC has been deprecated since 2016 and was disabled by default in Windows 11 version 23H2.

Starting with the September 2026 Security Update, WMIC will be completely removed from Windows 11 versions 24H2 and 25H2. While the underlying management capabilities through Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) remain available via PowerShell and other supported tools, only the wmic.exe command-line utility disappears.

Organizations relying on legacy automation scripts face immediate challenges during migration as batch files, PowerShell scripts, login and startup scripts, scheduled tasks, inventory and monitoring systems, and older installation packages all depend directly on WMIC availability. Microsoft suggests using PowerShell as a modern replacement, offering superior functionality and better security than WMIC.

The removal follows Microsoft's broader strategy of modernizing and hardening Windows by eliminating outdated components. As part of this effort, VBScript will also be removed in the future, with plans for eventual elimination.