Windows Management Instrumentation (Winmgmt) Service Defaults in Windows 11
Provides a common interface and object model to access management information about operating system, devices, applications and services. If this service is stopped, most Windows-based software will not function properly. If this service is disabled, any services that explicitly depend on it will fail to start.
Default Settings
| Startup type: | Automatic |
| Display name: | Windows Management Instrumentation |
| Service name: | Winmgmt |
| Service type: | share |
| Error control: | ignore |
| Object: | localSystem |
| Path: | %SystemRoot%\system32\svchost.exe -k netsvcs -p |
| File: | %SystemRoot%\system32\wbem\WMIsvc.dll |
| Registry key: | HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Winmgmt |
Default Behavior
Windows Management Instrumentation is a Win32 service. In Windows 11 it starts automatically during the operating system startup. Then the Windows Management Instrumentation service logs on as localSystem and running in a shared process of svchost.exe. If Windows Management Instrumentation fails to load or initialize, Windows 11 is starting up without warnings, however the error details are being logged.
Dependencies
Windows Management Instrumentation cannot be started, if the Remote Procedure Call (RPC) service won't start.
Restore Default Startup Configuration of Windows Management Instrumentation
Before you begin doing this, make sure that all the services on which Windows Management Instrumentation depends are configured by default and function properly. See the list of dependencies above.1. Run the Command Prompt as an administrator.
2. Copy the commands below, paste them into the command window and press ENTER:
sc config Winmgmt start= auto
sc start Winmgmt
3. Close the command window and restart the computer.
The Winmgmt service is using the WMIsvc.dll file that is located in the C:\Windows\system32\wbem directory. If the file is removed or corrupted, read this article to restore its original version from Windows 11 installation media.