How to Install .NET Framework 3.5 in #Windows 10?

If you are facing issues installing .NET Framework 3.5 (many applications actually need this to run) in your Windows 10 and all the other options failed, my dear friend, you came to perfect page where I will show you how to install the same.

In this blog post, we will learn the command by which you can install .NET Framework 3.5 in Windows 10. This also works in other versions of Windows.

If you are facing issues with installation of .NET Framework 3.5, you might have noticed that, it is asking you to install .NET Framework 3.5 to install .NET Framework 3.5. Quite strange!!! Isn’t it? Just like a deadlock. Install “A” to install “A”. Yes my friend, you are right and here comes the solution.

To install the Framework properly, you will need the original Windows installation media. If you don’t have the same handy, download Windows 10 ISO image (for offline installation) using the Windows 10 Media Creation Tool from Microsoft. Once you download the ISO image, double click it to mount it in your system. This will create a virtual DVD drive in your system and mount the ISO there, which will look like a fresh DVD in your system having Windows 10 setup media. Also, you can extract the content of the ISO using tools like WinRAR to proceed with next.

To begin with, open the Command Prompt with administrative privileges. To do so in Windows 10, right click on the start button (or press “Win + X”) to popup the system menu. There you will find a menu item titled “Command Prompt (Admin)”. Click on this to launch the command prompt in admin mode. Here is a screenshot of the same for your reference:

Once the Command Prompt opens in the screen, place the following command and hit enter. Please make sure to change the source path, as mentioned later.

DISM  /Online  /Enable-Feature  /FeatureName:NetFx3  /All  /LimitAccess  /Source:x:\sources\sxs

e.g.

If you have Windows setup at “D:” drive, replace “x:” with “d:”

If you have Windows setup at “D:\Installers” folder path, replace “x:” with “d:\installers”

And also, make sure that “sources\sxs” folder exists in your Windows 10 installation media. When run from the command prompt, it will start installing the .NET framework. Please keep patience as it might take some time to install the .NET Framework. Once done, restart your system for the changes to take effect.

Details on command line parameters, for your reference and knowledge:

• /Online targets the operating system you're running (instead of an offline Windows image).

• /Enable-Feature /FeatureName:NetFx3 specifies that you want to enable the .NET Framework 3.5.

• /All enables all parent features of the .NET Framework 3.5.

• /LimitAccess prevents DISM from contacting Windows Update.

• /Source specifies the location of the files needed to restore the feature (in this example, the x:\sources\sxs directory).

Details about my struggle with installation of .NET Framework 3.5 and various alternative options that I tried, is already mentioned in this blog post. If you have some spare time, don’t forget to ready that experience.

Hope this will help you to resolve the issue in a very quick manner. Though the post describes installation in Windows 10, but is also applicable for Windows 7, Windows 8 and Windows 8.1.