Best way to install curl?

[sliekens]

Windows has curl built in now, but it is an older version and it is compiled without a bunch of features. The WinGet version is much more up to date. However, typing curl into command prompt will give you the one from System32 instead of the WinGet version.

> curl -V
curl 8.14.1 (Windows) libcurl/8.14.1 Schannel zlib/1.3.1 WinIDN
Release-Date: 2025-06-09
Protocols: dict file ftp ftps http https imap imaps ipfs ipns mqtt pop3 pop3s smb smbs smtp smtps telnet tftp ws wss
Features: alt-svc AsynchDNS HSTS HTTPS-proxy IDN IPv6 Kerberos Largefile libz NTLM SPNEGO SSL SSPI threadsafe Unicode UnixSockets

> C:\Users\Steven\AppData\Local\Microsoft\WinGet\Links\curl.exe -V
curl 8.16.0 (x86_64-w64-mingw32) libcurl/8.16.0 LibreSSL/4.1.0 zlib/1.3.1.zlib-ng brotli/1.1.0 zstd/1.5.7 WinIDN libpsl/0.21.5 libssh2/1.11.1 nghttp2/1.67.1 ngtcp2/1.15.1 nghttp3/1.11.0
Release-Date: 2025-09-10
Protocols: dict file ftp ftps gopher gophers http https imap imaps ipfs ipns ldap ldaps mqtt pop3 pop3s rtsp scp sftp smb smbs smtp smtps telnet tftp ws wss
Features: alt-svc AsynchDNS brotli CAcert HSTS HTTP2 HTTP3 HTTPS-proxy IDN IPv6 Kerberos Largefile libz NTLM PSL SPNEGO SSL SSLS-EXPORT SSPI threadsafe UnixSockets zstd

> where.exe curl
C:\Windows\System32\curl.exe
C:\Users\Steven\AppData\Local\Microsoft\WinGet\Links\curl.exe

So, what is the best way to make curl point to the WinGet version without introducing security risks to my machine? I understand that the issue is that the System32 PATH takes precedence over the LocalAppData path, and I guess it should be kept that way to avoid potential code substitution attacks.

[LeverageAISMBs]

I wish I had the answer brother- I came across this question looking myself. -- figuring out this CLI business was the bain of my existence - and it still kind of is - but realizing half the time the commands fail for almost everyone made me feel better about myself, lol.

[LeverageAISMBs]

https://winget.ragerworks.com/package/cURL.cURL

I bet there's stuff on stack overflow as well.