diff --git a/INSTALL.md b/INSTALL.md
index a18f5690a4f..430fd71989e 100644
--- a/INSTALL.md
+++ b/INSTALL.md
@@ -94,42 +94,51 @@ on experience with the tools involved.
 ### Building using CMake (RECOMMENDED)
 
 Builds gRPC C and C++ with boringssl.
-- Install [Git](https://git-scm.com/).
 - Install Visual Studio 2015 or 2017 (Visual C++ compiler will be used).
+- Install [Git](https://git-scm.com/).
 - Install [CMake](https://cmake.org/download/).
-- Install [Active State Perl](https://www.activestate.com/activeperl/) (`choco install activeperl`)
-- Install [Ninja](https://ninja-build.org/) (`choco install ninja`)
-- Install [Go](https://golang.org/dl/) (`choco install golang`)
-- Install [yasm](http://yasm.tortall.net/) and add it to `PATH` (`choco install yasm`)
-- Run these commands in the repo root directory
-
-#### cmake: Using Ninja (faster build, supports boringssl's assembly optimizations).
-Please note that when using Ninja, you'll still need Visual C++ (part of Visual Studio)
-installed to be able to compile the C/C++ sources.
+- Install [Active State Perl](https://www.activestate.com/activeperl/) (`choco install activeperl`) - *required by boringssl*
+- Install [Go](https://golang.org/dl/) (`choco install golang`) - *required by boringssl*
+- Install [yasm](http://yasm.tortall.net/) and add it to `PATH` (`choco install yasm`) - *required by boringssl*
+- (Optional) Install [Ninja](https://ninja-build.org/) (`choco install ninja`)
+
+#### Clone grpc sources including submodules
+Before building, you need to clone the gRPC github repository and download submodules containing source code 
+for gRPC's dependencies (that's done by the `submodule` command).
 ```
+> @rem You can also do just "git clone --recursive -b THE_BRANCH_YOU_WANT https://github.com/grpc/grpc"
 > powershell git clone --recursive -b ((New-Object System.Net.WebClient).DownloadString(\"https://grpc.io/release\").Trim()) https://github.com/grpc/grpc
 > cd grpc
-> md .build
-> cd .build
-> call "%VS140COMNTOOLS%..\..\VC\vcvarsall.bat" x64
-> cmake .. -GNinja -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release
-> cmake --build .
-> ninja
+> @rem To update submodules at later time, run "git submodule update --init"
 ```
 
-#### cmake: Using Visual Studio 2015 (can only build with OPENSSL_NO_ASM).
+#### cmake: Using Visual Studio 2015 or 2017 (can only build with OPENSSL_NO_ASM).
 When using the "Visual Studio" generator,
 cmake will generate a solution (`grpc.sln`) that contains a VS project for 
 every target defined in `CMakeLists.txt` (+ few extra convenience projects
 added automatically by cmake). After opening the solution with Visual Studio 
 you will be able to browse and build the code as usual.
 ```
+> @rem Run from grpc directory after cloning the repo with --recursive or updating submodules.
 > md .build
 > cd .build
 > cmake .. -G "Visual Studio 14 2015" -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release
 > cmake --build .
 ```
 
+#### cmake: Using Ninja (faster build, supports boringssl's assembly optimizations).
+Please note that when using Ninja, you'll still need Visual C++ (part of Visual Studio)
+installed to be able to compile the C/C++ sources.
+```
+> @rem Run from grpc directory after cloning the repo with --recursive or updating submodules.
+> md .build
+> cd .build
+> call "%VS140COMNTOOLS%..\..\VC\vcvarsall.bat" x64
+> cmake .. -GNinja -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release
+> cmake --build .
+> ninja
+```
+
 ### msys2 (with mingw)
 
 The Makefile (and source code) should support msys2's mingw32 and mingw64