Windows installation

Before you install Neo4j on Windows, check System Requirements to see if your setup is suitable. If it is not already installed, get OracleJDK 21 or ZuluJDK 21. Starting with Neo4j 2025.10, Java 25 is also supported.

Use the default filesystem with its default settings. Do not use a FAT filesystem.

Install and start Neo4j

You can install Neo4j on Windows either by downloading and extracting a ZIP archive, by running it as a Windows service, or by using the Windows PowerShell module.

Install Neo4j using a zip archive

Download the Windows Executable 2026.08.1 (zip) release from Neo4j Deployment Center.
Right-click the downloaded file and select Extract All to extract the contents of the archive.
Place the extracted files in a permanent home on your server and set the environment variable NEO4J_HOME to point to the extracted directory, for example, setx NEO4J_HOME "C:\neo4j\neo4j-<NEO4J_VERSION>" to make it easier to refer to it later.

(Recommended) Change the default locations of the data, conf, certificates, licenses, and plugins (if you plan to use custom plugins) directories by setting the environment variable NEO4J_CONF and the respective server.directories.* settings to point to the desired locations.

Storing your Neo4j files outside NEO4J_HOME will simplify the upgrade process later because you will be able to replace the DBMS binaries without affecting the configuration and state. Otherwise, these Neo4j files will remain in the old installation folder and may be accidentally overwritten during an upgrade or deleted during a subsequent uninstall.

Enterprise Edition Accept either the commercial or the evaluation license agreement. If you are using Community Edition, you can skip this step.
- Use one of the following options to accept the commercial license agreement. See the Neo4j licensing page for details on the available agreements.
  - Set the environment variable NEO4J_ACCEPT_LICENSE_AGREEMENT=yes.
  - Run %NEO4J_HOME%\bin\neo4j-admin server license --accept-commercial
- Use one of the following options to accept the Neo4j Evaluation Agreement for Neo4j Software:
  - Set the environment variable NEO4J_ACCEPT_LICENSE_AGREEMENT=eval.
  - Run %NEO4J_HOME%\bin\neo4j-admin server license --accept-evaluation.
Before starting up the database for the first time, it is recommended to use the set-initial-password command of neo4j-admin to define the password for the native user neo4j.

If the password is not set explicitly using this method, it will be set to the default password neo4j. In that case, you will be prompted to change the default password at first login.
For more information, see Set an initial password.
Start Neo4j as a console application by running %NEO4J_HOME%\bin\neo4j console in your command prompt.

Install Neo4j as a Windows service

You can install Neo4j as a Windows service.

By default, the Neo4j Windows service runs as the LocalSystem account, which has full access to the system. This is a security risk, and it is recommended to run the service as a user without full LocalSystem privileges.

Create a user account that the Neo4j service will run as using using services.msc, or the sc (Service Control) command. You can use an existing user account, but it must have the Log on as a service right.
Follow the steps in the Install Neo4j using a zip archive section to download and extract the ZIP archive and set up the environment variables.
Run the following command in your command prompt to install the service:
```
%NEO4J_HOME%\bin\neo4j windows-service install
```
Start the Neo4j service by running %NEO4J_HOME%\bin\neo4j start.

When installing a new release of Neo4j, you must first run %NEO4J_HOME%\bin\neo4j windows-service uninstall on any previously installed versions. Then, install the new version using the install command as described above.

Change the Neo4j Windows service configuration

When Neo4j is installed as a service, the Java options are stored in the service configuration file. If you want to change any of these options or environment variables after the service is installed, you must update and restart the service for the changes to take effect. For example, updating the value of server.memory.heap.initial_size in the default neo4j.conf file or by using the NEO4J_CONF environment variable will not automatically apply the changes. The service needs to be updated and restarted to pick them up. To update the service, run %NEO4J_HOME%\bin\neo4j windows-service update. Then restart the service to run it with the new configuration.

The same applies to the path to where Java is installed on the system. If the path changes, for example when upgrading to a new version of Java, it is necessary to run the %NEO4J_HOME%\bin\neo4j windows-service update command and restart the service. Then, the new Java location will be used by the service.

Example 1. Update service example

Install service

%NEO4J_HOME%\bin\neo4j windows-service install

Change memory configuration

echo server.memory.heap.initial_size=8g >> conf\neo4j.conf
echo server.memory.heap.initial_size=16g >> conf\neo4j.conf

Update service

%NEO4J_HOME%\bin\neo4j windows-service update

Restart service
```
%NEO4J_HOME%\bin\neo4j restart
```

Install Neo4j using PowerShell

The Neo4j PowerShell module allows administrators to install, start, and stop Neo4j Windows® Services, as well as perform various administrative tasks using Neo4j Admin and Cypher Shell. The PowerShell module is installed as part of the ZIP file distributions of Neo4j. It requires PowerShell 5.1 or later (PowerShell 7.x recommended) and is supported on 64-bit Windows operating systems.

Unblock the downloaded Neo4j ZIP file if necessary to be able to import the module:
1. Right-click on the ZIP file and choose Properties.
  A dialog appears with an Unblock button.
2. Click the Unblock button to enable the import of the module.
3. Click Apply and then OK to close the dialog.
Right-click the downloaded file and select Extract All to extract the contents of the archive.
Run the following command from an elevated PowerShell prompt to enable script execution:
```
Set-ExecutionPolicy -ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned
```
For more information, see About execution policies.

The PowerShell module displays a warning if it detects that you do not have administrative rights.
Set the environment variable NEO4J_HOME to point to the directory where you have installed Neo4j. For example, you can run the following command in your PowerShell session, assuming you have installed Neo4j in C:\Neo4j:
```
$env:NEO4J_HOME = "C:\Neo4j"
```
Import the Neo4j PowerShell module by running the following command:
```
Import-Module $env:NEO4J_HOME\bin\Neo4j-Management.psd1
```
This adds the module to the current session.
Once the module is imported, you can start an interactive console version of a Neo4j Server:
```
Invoke-Neo4j console
```

To stop the server, use Ctrl-C in the console window, created by the command.

Inspect the module

Get all available commands in the module by running the following command:

Get-Command -Module Neo4j-Management

The output should be similar to the following:

CommandType  Name              Version    Source
-----------  ----              -------    ------
Function     Get-Args          3.0.0      Neo4j-Management
Function     Invoke-Neo4j      3.0.0      Neo4j-Management
Function     Invoke-Neo4jAdmin 3.0.0      Neo4j-Management

See what each command does by running the following command, replacing <command-name> with the name of the command you want to inspect, for example, Invoke-Neo4j:
```
Get-Help <command-name>
```

Run the following to see some usage examples of that command:

Get-Help <command-name> -examples

Table 1. Usage examples
Command	Description
`Invoke-Neo4j`	Outputs the available commands.
`Invoke-Neo4j status`	Current status of the Neo4j service.
`Invoke-Neo4j windows-service`	Install the service.
`Invoke-Neo4jAdmin`	Available commands for administrative tasks.

The module commands support the common PowerShell parameter of Verbose. You can add -Verbose to any command to get more detailed output.

Access Neo4j

By default, Neo4j Community Edition does not include graph tools such as visualization, data exploration, and monitoring. However, you can use the Neo4j Aura console to access these features for free. No subscription is required.

Sign up or log in to the Aura Console.
On the Instances page, click the Self-managed tab and then + Add deployment button.
Select URL Connection.
Provide a Name and Connection URL. If you have installed Neo4j locally on your system, you can connect to bolt://localhost:7687.
Click the Connect dropdown to launch various graph tools such as Query, Explore, and Dashboards.
Type the username neo4j and your password or the default password neo4j. You will be prompted to change the latter upon first login.

You are now connected and can use the Aura Console to run Cypher queries, visualize graphs, and optionally monitor your local Neo4j database in Neo4j Aura. For details, see Get started with Neo4j.

Alternatively, you can use the Neo4j Browser, a web-based user interface for interacting with Neo4j that is included with the Neo4j installation. To access the Neo4j Browser, open a web browser and navigate to http://localhost:7474. Connect using the username neo4j with your password or the default password neo4j. If the default password is used, you will be prompted to change it upon first login.

Uninstall Neo4j

Here are the steps to uninstall Neo4j on Windows:

(Optional) Create a backup to avoid losing your data.
Stop all Neo4j processes by using the Task Manager.

Uninstall the Neo4j Windows service:

%NEO4J_HOME%\bin\neo4j windows-service uninstall

Delete NEO4J_HOME:
```
rmdir NEO4J_HOME
```

Glossary

allocator: A component in the cluster that allocates databases to servers according to the topology constraints specified and an allocation strategy.
asynchronous replication: Asynchronous replication is used by secondary copies to poll for new transactions, which means they cannot be guaranteed to have received the most recent transactions. This enables efficient scale-out of read-performance.
Aura instance: A fully-managed DBMS represented by a single instance ID, that is running in the Neo4j Aura cloud.
auto-commit transaction: An automatically committed transaction that contains a single query.
Bolt protocol: Bolt is a protocol used for interaction between Neo4j instances and drivers.
bookmark: A marker the client can request from the cluster to ensure that it is able to read its own writes so that the application’s state is consistent and only databases that have a copy of the bookmark are permitted to respond.
category (Bloom): A category is based on a node label and is defined in a Perspective as a way of visually distinguishing nodes with the same label(s).
causal consistency: All servers in a cluster agree on the order in which transactions take place. The position of a server on the causal chain can be guaranteed using a bookmark.
cluster: A Neo4j DBMS that spans multiple servers working together to increase fault tolerance and/or read scalability. Databases on a cluster may be configured to replicate across servers in the cluster thus achieving read scalability or high availability.
client application: Software that interacts with a Neo4j server.
commit: A commit is the successful completion of a transaction, which ensures durability of any changes made. For more details, visit Operations Manual → Transaction management.
composite database: Composite databases are the means to access partitioned graph data with a single Cypher query.
constraint: Constraints are sets of data modeling rules that ensure the data is consistent and reliable.
Cypher®: Neo4j’s graph query language.
data model: A data model defines how information is organized in a database. A good data model will make querying and understanding your data easier. In Neo4j, the data models have a graph structure.
database: A database is a container used by the DBMS to manage and store graph data. The physical structure of data is controlled by the database.
database vs graph: Databases are the physical containers of graph data. Graphs are the logical structure of data in Neo4j.
Database Management System: Database Management System, or DBMS, capable of managing multiple databases. A DBMS may run on a single server, or span several servers configured as a cluster.
database schema: The prescribed property existence and datatypes for nodes and relationships.
deallocate: An act of removing a database from a server or a server from a cluster without loss of data or reduced fault tolerance.
degree (of a node): The number of relationships of a specific node; loops are counted twice.
disaster recovery: A manual intervention to restore availability of a cluster, or databases within a cluster.
driver: A software library that provides access to Neo4j from a particular programming language.
election: In the event that the Raft leader becomes unresponsive, followers automatically trigger an election and vote for a new leader.
entity: A node or a relationship.
expression (Cypher): A component of a Cypher query which produces values. It may be used in projections, as a predicate, or when setting properties on graph elements.
fabric: Fabric is the architectural design of a unified system that provides a single access point to local or distributed graph data.
fault tolerance: A guarantee that a cluster can maintain a database’s persistence and availability in the event of one or more servers failing.
follower: A primary copy of a database acting as a follower, receives and acknowledges synchronous writes from the leader.
Generative AI (GenAI): A type of artificial intelligence (AI) system that generates text, images, or other media in response to prompts.
graph: A logical representation of a set of nodes where some pairs are connected by relationships.
index: Data structure that improves read performance of a database.
knowledge graph: A specific type of graph that has an organizing principle so that a user (or a computer system) can reason about the underlying data. The organizing principle provides an additional layer of structure that adds context to support knowledge discovery.
label: Marks a node as a member of a named and indexed subset. A node may be assigned zero or more labels.
leader: A single primary copy of a database is designated as the leader. It receives all write transactions from clients and replicates writes synchronously to followers and asynchronously to secondary copies of the database.
main database: In terms of Neo4j Enterprise Studio, the database(s) containing the user’s data. Can exist in the same Neo4j deployment as the tool asset database.
motif: A description of a specific pattern within a graph.
node: A node represents an entity or discrete object in your graph data model. Nodes can be connected by relationships, hold data in properties, and are classified by labels.
operator: A symbol representing a mathematical or logical operation.
parameter: Named value provided when running a Cypher statement.
path: A sequence of nodes and the relationships connecting them, that does not contain duplicate relationships. Several paths can match a pattern.
pattern: A specific arrangement of nodes and relationships that can be matched in a graph. A pattern follows a motif.
perspective (Bloom): A Perspective defines a certain business view or domain that can be found in the target Neo4j graph. A single Neo4j graph can be viewed through different Perspectives, each tailored for a different business purpose.
primary: A copy of the database that is able to process write transactions and is eligible to be elected as a leader. It participates in fault tolerant writes as it is part of the majority required to acknowledge and commit write transactions.
primary vs secondary: In a cluster, databases can operate in either primary or secondary mode. Primary databases are able to process write and read transactions, ensuring fault tolerance. Secondary databases are replicated asynchronously from primaries, and their main purpose is to provide read scaling within the cluster.
project (Aura): An isolated environment in the unified Aura console that contains its own database instances, configurations, and resources. Preceded by tenant in the classic Aura console.
property: Properties are key-value pairs that are used for storing data on nodes and relationships.
query (Cypher): A statement that retrieves or writes information to a database.
Raft group: A group of servers that are participating in hosting a particular database in primary mode.
Raft group member: A server that is participating in a Raft group. A server can be a member of one or more groups.
Raft log: A shared log between all Raft group members that is guaranteed to be consistently updated and viewed by those members. The log contains both database data and operational state of the Raft group.
Raft protocol: The networking mechanism that enables a database to replicate its data across multiple servers to give high availability for accessing the data and high durability to the data stored.
read scaling: Distributing query load by creating additional database copies hosted in secondary mode (read-only).
relationship: A relationship represents a connection between nodes in your graph data model. Relationships connect a source node to a target node, hold data in properties, and are classified by type.
secondary: An asynchronously replicated copy of the database that provides read scaling within the cluster.
seed: A seed is a database dump or a full backup used to create a database on a cluster. This is sometimes called seeding.
server: A physical machine, a virtual machine, or a container running an instance of Neo4j. Servers can be standalone or part of a cluster.
session: A causally linked sequence of transactions.
session consistency: An alternative name for Neo4j’s causal consistency.
standalone: A single server running Neo4j and not part of a cluster.
synchronous replication: Synchronous replication requires the leader primary to replicate a transaction and block the commit until a quorum of the follower primaries acknowledges that the transaction is successfully replicated. Once the transaction is replicated, the commit is allowed to proceed. This ensures data durability and consistency within the cluster.
system database: A database used by Neo4j to store system information.
tenant (Aura): An isolated environment in the classic Aura console that contains its own database instances, configurations, and resources. Replaced by project in the unified Aura console.
tool asset database: In terms of Neo4j Enterprise Studio, the database where tools' assets are stored. This can be in the same Neo4j deployment as the main database(s) or in a separate deployment.
topology: A configuration that describes how the copies of a database should be spread across the servers in a cluster, see primary mode and secondary mode.
transaction: A transaction comprises a unit of work performed against a database. It is treated in a coherent and reliable way, independent of other transactions. Transactions comply with the ACID consistency model (atomic, consistent, isolated, and durable).