Setting Up PHP on Your Computer

A kitchen needs a stove before anyone can cook. This lesson installs yours.

In What Is PHP?, you saw that PHP runs on a server, building pages before they're sent to the browser. To try it yourself, you don't need a real server somewhere on the internet. PHP can run right on your own computer, and it even includes a small web server for testing.

In this lesson, you'll install PHP, switch on a few settings this track uses, check that it works, and set up a code editor. Take it slowly, and follow the steps for your own computer.

Which version?

Install the newest PHP 8. At the time of writing, that's PHP 8.5 (8.5.11, released in September 2026). If a newer PHP 8 is available when you read this, use that instead. Everything in this track works with any recent version.

Installing on Windows

PHP for Windows comes as a zip file rather than an installer.

1. Go to windows.php.net and open the Download page.
2. Under the newest PHP 8.5, find VS17 x64 Non Thread Safe, and download its Zip.
3. Make a folder called C:\php, and unzip everything into it, so that php.exe is at C:\php\php.exe.
4. Add C:\php to your PATH, so you can type php in any folder: search the Start menu for Edit the system environment variables, choose Environment Variables, select Path under your user variables, choose Edit, then New, and add C:\php.

Then create PHP's settings file, php.ini:

5. In C:\php, make a copy of php.ini-development and name the copy php.ini. (The "development" settings show every error message, which is what you want while learning.)
6. Open php.ini in a text editor and find these lines. Remove the ; at the start of each one, which switches it on, and change the extension_dir line to the full path:

extension_dir = "C:\php\ext"
extension=mbstring
extension=openssl
extension=pdo_sqlite
extension=sqlite3

mbstring helps with text in any language, openssl is needed for secure downloads, and the two sqlite lines let PHP use databases, which you'll need in Databases with PDO.

Another option: a bundle called XAMPP installs PHP together with a web server and a database in one go. It's popular in schools. It works fine for this track, but its PHP version can lag behind, and the step-by-step way above teaches you where everything lives.

Installing on macOS

macOS doesn't include PHP anymore. The easiest way to install it is Homebrew, a free tool for installing developer software (see brew.sh if you don't have it yet). In Terminal:

brew install php

Homebrew's PHP already has the database and text extensions this track uses switched on.

Installing on Linux

Install PHP's command-line version and the extensions from your package manager. On Ubuntu and Debian:

sudo apt install php-cli php-sqlite3 php-mbstring

Checking that it worked

Open a new terminal window (one that was open during the install may not know about PHP yet) and type:

php -v

You should see something like this, though your numbers may differ:

PHP 8.5.11 (cli) (built: Sep 22 2026 13:51:38) (NTS Visual C++ 2022 x64)

The (cli) means command-line interface: this is PHP running in your terminal. To check that the database extensions are on, run:

php -m

That lists every loaded extension. Look for pdo_sqlite and sqlite3 in the list.

Running PHP two ways

As a script in the terminal. Save a file called index.php containing:

<?php
echo "PHP is working!\n";

Then run it:

php index.php

The output appears right in the terminal. That's how most examples in this track are run.

As a web page, with the built-in server. In the same folder, run:

php -S localhost:8000

Then open http://localhost:8000 in your browser, and you'll see your page. -S starts PHP's own small web server, serving the files in the current folder. It's only meant for testing on your own computer, not for a real website. Press Ctrl + C in the terminal to stop it.

You'll need the web server for lessons about forms and sessions, starting with Handling Forms: GET and POST, since those only make sense with a browser.

Choosing a code editor

A good code editor colors your PHP, spots mistakes, and suggests function names as you type. Two popular options:

• Visual Studio Code with a PHP extension. Open the Extensions view and search for PHP Intelephense, a widely used one. You might already have VS Code from the IDE track.
• PhpStorm, an editor built specifically for PHP. It's a paid product, but it offers free licenses for students.

Either works. Pick one and stick with it.

When something goes wrong

"'php' is not recognized" or "command not found"

Close every terminal and open a new one. On Windows, check that C:\php is in your PATH, and that php.exe is directly inside C:\php, not in a folder inside it.

php -m doesn't list pdo_sqlite

On Windows, check that your file is named exactly php.ini (not php.ini.txt; Windows sometimes hides file extensions), that it's in C:\php, and that the ; is removed from each line.

The browser says it can't connect to localhost:8000

The built-in server only runs while its terminal is open. Start it again with php -S localhost:8000, from the folder containing your files.

Try it

This small script checks your setup: which PHP version is running, on which system, and whether the SQLite database driver is available. Predict what it prints.

Running PHP here

Running PHP right in the browser is coming to Syntaxia soon. Once your setup works, save this as index.php, and run it with php index.php.

Check your prediction

The first line is always the same. The rest depend on your computer, so yours may look a little different:

PHP is working!
Version: 8.5.11
Operating system: Windows
SQLite ready: yes

On a Mac, the operating system line says Darwin, and on Linux, Linux. If the last line says no, go back to the php.ini step (on Windows), or the package install step (on Linux).

Try it yourself

1. Run php -v in a new terminal and write down your version.
2. Make a folder called php-practice, save the Try it script in it as index.php, and run it with php index.php.
3. In the same folder, start the built-in server with php -S localhost:8000, and open http://localhost:8000 in your browser. Where do the lines appear, and why are they all on one line in the browser? (Hint: browsers treat plain line breaks as spaces in HTML.)

Check your understanding

What does php -S localhost:8000 do?

Installs PHP

Starts PHP's built-in web server, serving the current folder at http://localhost:8000

Shows the PHP version

Uploads your site to the internet

On Windows, why copy php.ini-development to php.ini?

To make PHP faster

PHP reads its settings from php.ini, and the development settings show every error while you learn

It is the license file

To delete the default settings

Which command lists the extensions PHP has loaded?

php -v

php -S

php --list

php -m

Up next

Your kitchen is ready. Time to cook something: in Your First PHP Script, you'll write a script from scratch and find out what every piece of it means.