Overview
- The August 2026 Patch Tuesday update removes the Windows Management Instrumentation Command‑line (WMIC) utility from Windows 11 versions 24H2 and 25H2 and also eliminates WMIC as a Feature on Demand.
- Microsoft framed the removal as a security step because attackers have used WMIC to list or disable antivirus products, delete shadow copies, and add Defender exclusions during breaches.
- The company says the underlying WMI framework remains supported and that WMIC is the only component being retired, not the Windows Management Instrumentation service itself.
- Microsoft recommends that IT administrators migrate scripts and processes to PowerShell cmdlets, WMI’s COM API, .NET libraries, or other programmatic interfaces and update internal documentation to avoid operational disruption.
- WMIC was deprecated and phased out over several releases dating back to its deprecation notices, and the full removal closes that multi‑year transition while reflecting Microsoft’s long shift toward PowerShell and modern APIs.