Windows Silent Install Explained
How Windows silent install switches work for MSI /quiet, NSIS /S, and Inno Setup /VERYSILENT. Automate any installer from the command line — with examples.
How MSI, NSIS, Inno Setup, and EXE installers can be made to run without any user interaction — and how DevTools Installer uses these techniques to automate the setup of 20+ developer tools.
What Is a Silent Install?
A silent install (also called an unattended install or quiet install) is an installation that runs to completion without displaying any graphical wizard, dialog boxes, or progress screens. The installer runs in the background, makes all its decisions based on default settings or command-line arguments, and exits when it is done.
MSI Installers (msiexec)
MSI (Microsoft Software Installer) is the native Windows technology. They are run via msiexec.exe.
msiexec /i package.msi /quiet /norestart
The /quiet flag suppresses all UI. You can also pass public properties like INSTALLDIR="C:\Java".
NSIS (Nullsoft)
Common for EXE installers like Miniconda or Git. The flag is case-sensitive:
installer.exe /S
Note: An uppercase /S is required for NSIS installers.
Inno Setup
Used by Gradle and Notepad++. It uses a different set of flags:
installer.exe /VERYSILENT /SUPPRESSMSGBOXES
Quick Reference Table
| Framework | Silent Flag |
|---|---|
| MSI (msiexec) | /quiet |
| NSIS | /S |
| Inno Setup | /VERYSILENT |
| Squirrel (VS Code) | --silent |