Open Source v1.8.2 ✓ Checksum Published

Download jq for Windows PC v1.8.2 for Windows PC

Name: jq for Windows PC
Availability: InStock
Author: jqlang

jq 1.8.2 is the legendary one-megabyte JSON processor — a single portable exe that filters, reshapes, and queries JSON from any API, log, or CLI like sed...

⬇ Direct Download (1.0 MB)

Technical Specifications & System Requirements

Developer jqlang

Platform & OS Windows 10 / 11 (64-bit)

Package Size 1.0 MB

Architecture x64 (64-bit)

Package Format Portable App

Security Verification SHA-256 checksum published

SHA-256 Cryptographic Checksum Computed from the file we serve

              a6fc67fedaf9128a3309a1e2ebb8b986aeccf70122ee46d2cb4849e423f0c627
            

              $ Get-FileHash .\jq-json-processor-pc.exe -Algorithm SHA256
            

Software notes

The Bottom Line: There is a reason jq appears in every API tutorial ever written: once JSON leaves a browser, jq is how humans interrogate it. Pretty-print a minified response, pull exactly the fields a script needs, reshape a cloud CLI's output into a table — the filter language is small, composable, and astonishingly powerful once a dozen core functions click. The Windows binary is a single 1 MB executable you drop in a tools folder and forget about, which is exactly the deployment story a utility should have. Version 1.8 continues careful stewardship by the jqlang project, with published checksums and signatures (the SHA-256 on this page comes from the official release). The honest friction points are the learning curve — jq is a small functional language, and its error messages assume you'll experiment — and Windows quoting, where PowerShell and cmd mangle filter strings in ways Unix shells do not (the jq manual has a Windows note; single-file filters via -f sidestep most pain). For anyone who touches APIs, logs, or infrastructure output, jq is not optional equipment. A generation of shell one-liners, CI pipelines, and runbooks already speaks jq, so learning it pays compound interest across nearly every job in modern infrastructure work.

Features

One portable 1 MB executable with zero installation and zero dependencies — drop it on the PATH and every terminal gains a JSON engine.
A composable filter language turns unreadable API and log JSON into exactly the fields, shapes, and aggregates your script needs.
It is the de-facto standard: every tutorial, runbook, and Stack Overflow answer for JSON at the command line uses jq syntax.
Streams huge files with constant memory using --stream and slurp modes, so multi-gigabyte log exports stay tractable.
Free and MIT-licensed from the jqlang project, with signed releases and published SHA-256 checksums for verification.

Considerations

The filter language is a real (small) programming language — the first hour involves trial, error, and the manual close at hand.
Windows shells quote differently from Unix shells, so filters copied from tutorials sometimes need adjustment or a script file (-f).
It processes JSON only: YAML, XML, and CSV inputs must be converted by companion tools before jq can work on them.

About & Overview: jq for Windows PC

jq is the standard command-line JSON processor — a tiny, single-file tool that slices, filters, maps, and transforms JSON the way sed and awk handle text. API responses, log files, configuration dumps, and cloud CLI output all become queryable: extract fields, reshape objects, aggregate arrays, and pipe results into other tools. The Windows build is one portable executable (jq-windows-amd64.exe) with no installer and no dependencies; the jqlang project publishes SHA-256 checksums and signatures for every release. Version 1.8.2 is the current release of a tool that sits in virtually every developer's and sysadmin's PATH.

How to Install & Verify jq for Windows PC

STEP 1

Download the executable

Download jq from the official vendor link on this page.

STEP 2

Put it on your PATH

Rename the file to jq.exe and place it in a folder that is on your PATH (or add its folder to the PATH).

STEP 3

Verify

Open a terminal and run 'jq --version', then try: echo '{"a":1}' piped to 'jq .'

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Frequently Asked Questions & Verification Guide

Is jq free?

Yes. jq is free and open source under the MIT license, maintained by the jqlang project.

How do I install jq on Windows?

There is nothing to install: download the single jq-windows-amd64.exe on this page, rename it to jq.exe if you like, put it in a folder on your PATH, and run 'jq --version' to verify.

What is jq used for?

Querying and transforming JSON at the command line — formatting API responses, extracting fields from logs and cloud CLI output, and reshaping data inside scripts and pipelines.

Does jq work in PowerShell?

Yes. PowerShell users should prefer single quotes around filters or use a filter file (-f) to avoid quoting surprises, as noted in the jq manual's Windows section.

Which jq version is current?

jq 1.8.2, published by the jqlang project with official SHA-256 checksums (one of which is shown on this page).