Stop Local Windows PostgreSQL and Run Docker Postgres on Port 5433

Why this matters

On Windows, a local PostgreSQL service often binds to 5432. If Docker Compose also tries to publish 5432:5432, one of them fails or your app connects to the wrong database.

Two clean options:

• Option A — Stop Windows Postgres, let Docker use 5432
• Option B — Keep Windows Postgres running, map Docker to 5433 (recommended when you need both)

This guide focuses on Option B, with the commands to stop the Windows service when you want Option A.

1. Stop local Windows PostgreSQL (Admin PowerShell)

Open PowerShell as Administrator, then check and stop the service.

Status check

Get-Service -Name "*postgres*"

Stop the service

Stop-Service -Name "postgresql-x64-18" -Force

Replace postgresql-x64-18 with the exact name from Get-Service if your version differs.

Optional: disable auto-start

Set-Service -Name "postgresql-x64-18" -StartupType Disabled

Confirm

Get-Service -Name "postgresql-x64-18"

If you are not running as Admin, these commands will fail. Use the Docker 5433 approach below instead.

2. Run Docker Postgres on port 5433

cd path\\to\\your\\backend
$env:DEPLOY_TAG = "local"
docker compose --profile local up -d --force-recreate postgres

Compose should publish:

ports:
  - "5433:5432"

3. Point .env at Docker

DATABASE_URL=postgresql://user:password@localhost:5433/your_database

4. Verify

docker ps --filter name=postgres --format "{{.Names}} {{.Ports}} {{.Status}}"

Expected: 0.0.0.0:5433->5432/tcp.

node -e "require('dotenv').config(); const {Client}=require('pg'); const c=new Client({connectionString:process.env.DATABASE_URL}); c.connect().then(()=>c.query('select current_user, current_database()')).then(r=>{console.log(r.rows); return c.end()})"

5. Start the backend

pnpm run dev

Quick comparison

• Option A — Windows Postgres off + Docker 5432 + .env 5432
• Option B — Windows Postgres on + Docker 5433 + .env 5433