How to Install phpMyAdmin on Windows 11

STEP 01

Download phpMyAdmin

Download the latest version of phpMyAdmin:
https://www.phpmyadmin.net/downloads/

STEP 02

Extract phpMyAdmin zip file

Right click on your phpMyAdmin-5.2.3-all-languages.zip file and select Extract All...

Click Browse and navigate to your Apache htdocs folder, for example:
C:\Apache24\htdocs

Tick the "Show extracted files when complete" box.

STEP 03

Rename phpMyAdmin folder

Rename the extracted folder:
C:\Apache24\htdocs\phpMyAdmin-5.2.3-all-languages
to
C:\Apache24\htdocs\phpmyadmin

STEP 04

Rename the config file

Open C:\Apache24\htdocs\phpmyadmin directory
Rename the file:
config.sample.inc.php
to:
config.inc.php

STEP 05

Set your blowfish secret value

Open up the config.inc.php file

Find this line:

$cfg['blowfish_secret'] = 'your_random_string';

Replace 'your_random_string' with your own text.

Example:

$cfg['blowfish_secret'] = 'I AM NOW IN DIVINE ALIGNMENT 2026';

Save config.inc.php and close the file.

STEP 06

Load phpMyAdmin

http://localhost/phpmyadmin

Open this url to load phpMyAdmin

If You Get This Error

The mysqli extension is missing. Please check your PHP configuration.

Open the directory of your php.ini. For example: C:\php\php.ini

Find this line:

;extension=mysqli

Uncomment (remove ; in front of the line):

extension=mysqli

Uncomment these lines too:

;extension=pdo_mysql
;extension_dir = "ext"

php.ini comments

The comment lines in php.ini all start with ; (semicolon). Any line that starts with a semicolon is disabled. To enable a line, we uncomment it by removing the ; in front of that line.

You should now have these 3 lines uncommented in your php.ini:

extension=mysqli
extension=pdo_mysql
extension_dir = "ext"s

Open the Command Prompt and Restart the Apache service:

cd C:\Apache24\bin
httpd.exe -k restart

If You Still Get This Error

The mysqli extension is missing. Please check your PHP configuration.

1. Make sure you are editing the right php.ini
2. Make sure your extension directory is correct

Create a file called info.php in your Apache htdocs directory, for example: C:\Apache24\htdocs\info.php

Inside the file type this code and save the file:

<?php phpinfo(); ?>

Load the file from your browser:
http://localhost/info.php

Make sure your php.ini file directory is correct under "Loaded Configuration File", for example: C:\php\php.ini

Press [Ctrl] + [F] to search. Type: extension_dir. Make sure the extension directory is correct, for example: ext

You must Restart Apache every time you edit php.ini

If You Keep Getting This Error

The mysqli extension is missing. Please check your PHP configuration.

Restart the computer - that should fix it.