In my case I had to go into the msys2 installation folder and rename maintenancetool.exe.new and maintenancetool.dat.new to maintenancetool.exe and maintenancetool.dat. Then the uninstall from the Control Panel went fine.
Answer from Adrian Pop on Stack Overflow Top answer 1 of 5
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In my case I had to go into the msys2 installation folder and rename maintenancetool.exe.new and maintenancetool.dat.new to maintenancetool.exe and maintenancetool.dat. Then the uninstall from the Control Panel went fine.
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Looks like MSYS2 has already been uninstalled and the entry is just a leftover. So confirm the question with Yes to get rid of the entry. If still present, you can of course delete the MSYS2 folder.
Should I Remove It?
shouldiremoveit.com › MSYS2-64bit-151892-program.aspx
MSYS2 64bit by The MSYS2 Developers - Should I Remove It?
When you find the program MSYS2 64bit, click it, and then do one of the following: Windows Vista/7/8/10: Click Uninstall. Windows XP: Click the Remove or Change/Remove tab (to the right of the program).
Problem when trying to uninstall msys2, Windows 11
Did you mingw? More on reddit.com
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October 21, 2025win10 pro dirty uninstall, installation clarification
However, after running pacman -Su, bash disappears from usr/bin and re-opening msys2 gives "Failed to run '/usr/bin/bash': No such file or directory". Also, Msys2 fails to uninstall cleanly; the entry is left behind in Apps & Features and there's no way to remove it. More on github.com
Thread: [Msys2-users] Uninstalling MSYS2 | MSYS2
Brought to you by: elieux, lazka, lexx83 · This project can now be found here. Summary · Reviews · Support · Tickets · Discussion · Mailing Lists · Menu ▾ ▴ · msys2-users · More on sourceforge.net
What do I do?
The problem is caused by GCC 14 for some reason having something in it that breaks the compiling process, so in order to avoid this issue you need to downgrade to GCC 13.2. Open MSYS2 MINGW64 and make a temporary directory to download GCC: mkdir c:/GCC cd c:/GCC Use wget to download the specific version of GCC and GCC libraries. (If you don’t have wget installed, run pacman -Syu wget): wget https://repo.msys2.org/mingw/mingw64/mingw-w64-x86_64-gcc-libs-13.2.0-2-any.pkg.tar.zst && wget https://repo.msys2.org/mingw/mingw64/mingw-w64-x86_64-gcc-13.2.0-2-any.pkg.tar.zst Install the 2 packages: pacman -U mingw-w64-x86_64-gcc-13.2.0-2-any.pkg.tar.zst mingw-w64-x86_64-gcc-libs-13.2.0-2-any.pkg.tar.zst And verify that the correct version is installed: gcc —version After you confirm that the correct version is installed, try building again and it should work as normal. More on reddit.com
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August 22, 202405:37
How to uninstall or remove MinGW Compiler Completely - YouTube
How to Remove and Reinstall GNU g++ over msys2/mingw on ...
03:00
How to Uninstall MinGW w64 Completely Full Guide 2027 - YouTube
04:09
How to Uninstall MinGW the C++ Compiler on Windows 10 /11 - The ...
01:24
How to Uninstall or Remove MinGW from Windows 10 System - YouTube
Stockfish
official-stockfish.github.io › docs › fishtest-wiki › Running-the-worker-on-Windows.html
Running the worker on Windows | Stockfish Docs
The setup installs Chocolatey, a third-party Windows package manager, and MSYS2 in C:\tools\msys64 using Chocolatey. If you have already installed MSYS2 in another folder, please uninstall it: the scripts are expecting to have MSYS2 installed in C:\tools\msys64
SILENT INSTALL HQ
silentinstallhq.com › msys2-install-and-uninstall-powershell
MSYS2 Install and Uninstall (PowerShell) - SILENT INSTALL HQ
October 12, 2025 - This is automatically set if it is detected that the process is not running in the user session and it is not possible for anyone to provide input using a mouse or keyboard. Open Windows PowerShell by Right-Clicking on Windows PowerShell and selecting Run as Administrator ... Powershell.exe -ExecutionPolicy Bypass .\Deploy-MSYS2.ps1 -DeploymentType "Uninstall" -DeployMode "NonInteractive"
Mole
mole.fit › windows › tested-apps › msys2
How to uninstall MSYS2 on Windows - Mole.fit
Close the window and tray entry, then check mintty.exe, bash.exe in Task Manager (Ctrl+Shift+Esc). Match the executable path before quitting a process. Find the app in Settings › Apps › Installed apps and uninstall it.
DriverPack
driverpack.io › en › catalog-soft › other › msys2-104209650 › uninstall
Delete MSYS2 in one click | DriverPack
/NoUpdate - Do not automatically update with Pacman according to the official instructions. MSYS2 itself will not be installed again on updating or reinstalling the Chocolatey package. Instead, the existing MSYS2 will be updated with Pacman.
MSYS2
msys2.org › docs › package-management
Package Management - MSYS2
The MSYS2 software distribution uses a port of pacman (known from Arch Linux) to manage (install, remove and update) binary packages and also to build those packages in the first place.
Reddit
reddit.com › r/windowshelp › problem when trying to uninstall msys2, windows 11
r/WindowsHelp on Reddit: Problem when trying to uninstall msys2, Windows 11
October 21, 2025 -
I recently tried to uninstall msys2 through the control panel and at first it worked. But now I see the program remains instaled. When i try to delete it a window showing nothing pops up and disappear. What can I do? If you need any additional information please tell me.
Top answer 1 of 2
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Did you mingw?
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Hi u/Disastrous_Cicada758 , thanks for posting to r/WindowsHelp ! If your post is listed as pending moderation, try to include as much of the following information as possible (in text or in a screenshot) to improve the likelihood of approval: Your Windows and device specifications — You can find them by pressing Win + X then clicking on “System” Any messages and error codes encountered — They're actually not gibberish or anything catastrophic. It may even hint the solution! Previous troubleshooting steps — It might prevent you headaches from getting the same solution that didn't work As a reminder, we would also like to say that if someone manages to solve your issue, DON'T DELETE YOUR POST! Someone else (in the future) might have the same issue as you, and the received support may also help their case. Good luck, and I hope you have a nice day! I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
SILENT INSTALL HQ
silentinstallhq.com › msys2-silent-install-how-to-guide
MSYS2 Silent Install (How-To Guide) - SILENT INSTALL HQ
October 12, 2025 - Save the file to the C:\MSYS2 directory and name it: silent-uninstall.js
GitHub
github.com › msys2 › MSYS2-packages › issues › 1370
win10 pro dirty uninstall, installation clarification · Issue #1370 · msys2/MSYS2-packages · GitHub
August 1, 2018 - Open the Registry Editor (regedit), navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall and there should be a few entries, that look like this: {44fce769-6d66-43ce-81a9-61d9d0e86eb4} Check them out which is your ...
SourceForge
sourceforge.net › home › browse › msys2 › mailing lists
Thread: [Msys2-users] Uninstalling MSYS2 | MSYS2
Brought to you by: elieux, lazka, lexx83 · This project can now be found here. Summary · Reviews · Support · Tickets · Discussion · Mailing Lists · Menu ▾ ▴ · msys2-users ·
Filehorse
filehorse.com › windows › developer tools
MSYS2 - Download for Windows - FileHorse
September 27, 2026 - mingw64.exe (for 64-bit development) How do I uninstall MSYS2? Simply delete the MSYS2 installation folder (usually C:\msys64). However, if you want to remove environment variables or registry entries, clean them manually.
SourceForge
sourceforge.net › home › browse › msys2 › mailing lists
Re: [Msys2-users] Uninstalling MSYS2 | MSYS2
Brought to you by: elieux, lazka, lexx83 · This project can now be found here. Summary · Reviews · Support · Tickets · Discussion · Mailing Lists · Menu ▾ ▴ · msys2-users · View entire thread ·
YouTube
youtube.com › hard coder
How to uninstall MSYS2 (GCC compiler)|windows users| English| #MSYS2 #GCC_Compiler #Uninstall_MSYS2 - YouTube
Computer Hacks Playlisthttps://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLWw2zXCauIh3N7ENdaWmPiSvj3c-uDo5eVS Code Shortcuts Playlisthttps://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLWw2z
Published: November 5, 2021
Views: 14K
Top answer 1 of 2
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The problem is caused by GCC 14 for some reason having something in it that breaks the compiling process, so in order to avoid this issue you need to downgrade to GCC 13.2. Open MSYS2 MINGW64 and make a temporary directory to download GCC: mkdir c:/GCC cd c:/GCC Use wget to download the specific version of GCC and GCC libraries. (If you don’t have wget installed, run pacman -Syu wget): wget https://repo.msys2.org/mingw/mingw64/mingw-w64-x86_64-gcc-libs-13.2.0-2-any.pkg.tar.zst && wget https://repo.msys2.org/mingw/mingw64/mingw-w64-x86_64-gcc-13.2.0-2-any.pkg.tar.zst Install the 2 packages: pacman -U mingw-w64-x86_64-gcc-13.2.0-2-any.pkg.tar.zst mingw-w64-x86_64-gcc-libs-13.2.0-2-any.pkg.tar.zst And verify that the correct version is installed: gcc —version After you confirm that the correct version is installed, try building again and it should work as normal.
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Had the same issue. Here's what worked: Uninstall msys2. There's some issue with the newest version that screws up building the game. Install this version instead, it's version 13: https://github.com/msys2/msys2-installer/releases/tag/2023-10-26 Then try building again.
Chocolatey
community.chocolatey.org › packages › msys2
Chocolatey Software | MSYS2 20260927.0.0
Uninstall · To install MSYS2, run the following command from the command line or from PowerShell: > To upgrade MSYS2, run the following command from the command line or from PowerShell: > To uninstall MSYS2, run the following command from the command line or from PowerShell: > NOTE ·
Stack Overflow
stackoverflow.com › questions › 79213155 › can-uninstalling-msys2-be-a-raison-to-have-my-files-gone
can uninstalling MSYS2 be a raison to have my files gone? - Stack Overflow
It would probably be fine to install it in a subdirectory of your Documents folder like C:/Users/yacine/Documents/msys2 (though I do NOT recommend this). If you literally installed MSYS2 at the top level of your Documents folder then the MSYS2 uninstaller would probably just assume everything in that folder is part of MSYS2 and then delete it.
Reddit
reddit.com › r/c_programming › how do i delete mingw?
r/C_Programming on Reddit: How do I delete MinGW?
October 25, 2022 -
So, a while back I had to install it. I thought I deleted it, but I ran my anti-virus software today and noticed that "C:\MinGW" still somehow exists. How do I delete it? I checked the environment variables through Advanced Settings and cannot find one for MinGW. I can't see MinGW in the C: folder either.
My antivirus also says that the file from the MinGW folder wasn't processed, so now I'm even more confused. How did it pick up but not process a file that apparently doesn't exist?
By the way, the "application vulnerability" module of the anti-virus picked it up, meaning it thought it was out-of-date rather than malware.
EDIT: Just ran a scan again and it's not there anymore. Still, anyone know why the hell this happened?
Top answer 1 of 3
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Once with GNU, always with GNU
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Anti-virus probably had indexed all the files. Then when running the scan again they expect to find that file so listed it in the files to scan. But after finding it wasn’t there it couldn’t process so it labelled it as not processed. After that scan it knew it wasn’t there anymore so it didn’t list it anymore. However that’s the very unlikely option what likely happened was the file had entered the world between our dimension and the after life when you deleted it and it lingered around a little while but decided to pass on peacefully in between the scans. Hope this helps!