By the end of this guide you will have VirtualBox installed and a Kali Linux virtual machine imported and running — an isolated environment for security practice that leaves your host system untouched.

Prerequisites

Windows 11 Pro (64-bit)

At least 8 GB RAM, so you can give the VM 4 GB and leave the host enough

30 GB free disk space (the VM's disk grows as you install tools — more headroom is better)