How to specify php version for specific project in Laravel on Windows 11

Question

Here I am developing a simple Laravel project that uses php version 7.1.3, and php version 8.1.2 is installed on my computer.

How to specify specific php versions for different projects?

I tried reinstalling php version 7.1 but I have other projects on my computer using version 8 or higher.

Can I specify a specific php version for different Laravel projects?

Answer 1

Use Laragon

I don't know if other stacks are possible, but Laragon is a lightweight and performant option.

As described here It's easy and has very few steps.

1. Install Laragon as a LAMPP or LEMMP stack for Windows
2. Download the PHP version you want from the official website
Extract the downloaded zip into the PHP folder in your Laragon installation.
Right-click the Laragon icon in the system tray. Navigate to PHP and select your version!
Restart Laragon and it's done!

The default installation path is:

C:\laragon\bin\php\

Laragon will choose the folder name as the identifier.

NOTE: You can configure apache or nginx to provide each directory with its own version, but it is not covered in this article. You should learn it from the official documentation.