Install in PowerShell#
py -3.12 -m venv .venv
.venv\Scripts\Activate.ps1
python -m pip install -U pip
pip install docling
docling --versionIf activation fails with “running scripts is disabled on this system”, allow locally created scripts for your user once, then activate again:
Set-ExecutionPolicy -Scope CurrentUser -ExecutionPolicy RemoteSignedIn cmd.exe use .venv\Scripts\activate.bat instead.
NVIDIA GPU#
nvidia-smi # read "CUDA Version"
pip install torch torchvision --index-url https://download.pytorch.org/whl/cu132 # torch 2.15.0, driver CUDA ≥ 13.2; older drivers: cu130 or cu126 (torch 2.14.1)
pip install docling
python -c "import torch; print(torch.cuda.is_available())"PyTorch's Windows wheel on PyPI does not depend on the NVIDIA packages, so a plain pip install docling gives you a CPU-only PyTorch. Installing from a CUDA index first is what enables the GPU. We confirmed Windows x86_64 builds of torch 2.15.0 on cu132 and cu134; cu130 and cu126 stop at 2.14.1.
“docling is not recognized”#
The command lives in .venv\Scripts. Activate the environment, or call the module directly — it always works:
python -m docling.cli.main convert report.pdf --to mdOCR, Office and audio tools#
| Need | Install | Tell Docling where it is |
|---|---|---|
| Tesseract engine | A Windows Tesseract installer, with the language data you need | --ocr-option tesseract_cmd="C:\Program Files\Tesseract-OCR\tesseract.exe" |
| .doc / .ppt / .xls / .rtf | winget install TheDocumentFoundation.LibreOffice | Add LibreOffice's program folder to PATH, or set DOCLING_LIBREOFFICE_CMD to soffice.exe |
| Audio / video | winget install ffmpeg (the command Docling's own error message suggests) | Open a new terminal so PATH updates |
Hugging Face cache warning#
On Windows without Developer Mode, huggingface_hub may warn that its cache cannot use symlinks. Downloads still work; files are copied instead, which uses more disk space. Enable Developer Mode, or point the cache to a roomy drive with the HF_HOME environment variable.
WSL and Docker#
Prefer Linux tooling? Docling installs the same way inside WSL 2 (see the Linux guide), and the official docling-serve images run under Docker Desktop.
Frequently asked questions
Why does Windows say 'docling' is not recognized?
The virtual environment where Docling is installed is not active, or its Scripts folder is not on PATH. Activate it with .venv\Scripts\activate, or run python -m docling.cli.main instead of docling.
How do I use an NVIDIA GPU with Docling on Windows?
Install a CUDA build of PyTorch before Docling, for example pip install torch torchvision --index-url https://download.pytorch.org/whl/cu132 (we confirmed Windows builds of torch 2.15.0 on cu132 and cu134, and of 2.14.1 on cu130 and cu126), then check torch.cuda.is_available().
How do I use Tesseract with Docling on Windows?
Install Tesseract with a Windows installer, then either add its folder to PATH or pass --ocr-option tesseract_cmd="C:\Program Files\Tesseract-OCR\tesseract.exe" with --ocr-engine tesseract.
Sources
- Python for Windows (python.org)
- Microsoft: about_Execution_Policies
- PyTorch: start locally (CUDA wheels)