Set the environment variable path as C:\msys64\ucrt64\bin in case if you have installed gcc using pacman -S mingw-w64-ucrt-x86_64-gcc.

OR

You can install gcc using: pacman -S mingw-w64-x86_64-gcc and set environment variable path as C:\msys64\mingw64\bin.

Answer from Shiv Buyya on Stack Overflow
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Reddit
reddit.com › r/learnprogramming › can't seem to make msys2 gcc work at all
r/learnprogramming on Reddit: Can't seem to make MSYS2 GCC work at all
June 4, 2023 -

the instalation of GCC seemed to work fine, but when i run gcc -- version, i get greeted by "bash:gcc: command not found" response. i followed the instructions with every step. what could be the issue?

I found a fix thanks to chatgpt ( who would've thought). turns out the MSYS2 link from the vs code page was simply outdated, so i used this one from the MSYS2 page and ran the commands in the ucrt window. I will leave this here in hopes someone else finds and needs this

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GitHub
github.com › msys2 › setup-msys2 › issues › 118
"command not found" when trying to call CMake or GCC after installing them · Issue #118 · msys2/setup-msys2
March 16, 2021 - Hi. Consider following all steps available at the official MSYS2 web site. After finishing them, install the CMake and GCC (I have been trying the i686 option): $ pacman -S mingw-w64-i686-cmake mingw-w64-i686-gcc Now, try to use CMake: $...
Author   silvioprog
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GitHub
github.com › msys2 › MSYS2-packages › issues › 293
install gcc on msys2 · Issue #293 · msys2/MSYS2-packages
July 14, 2015 - Hi, whats the right package to install gcc on msys2? pacman -S gcc pacman -S mingw-w64-x86_64-gcc I use: msys2-x86_64-20150512.exe Thanks, A
Author   Arnold1
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Reddit
reddit.com › r/askprogramming › can't install gcc in msys2 environment
r/AskProgramming on Reddit: Can't install gcc in MSYS2 environment
March 29, 2025 -

Hi,

I have installed gcc in Windows 11 environment, but I want to execute gtk, I searched the following link:

https://www.msys2.org/

I installed msys2-x86_64-2025221.exe

After that I tried the following command:

pacman -S mingw-w64-ucrt-x86_64-gcc

but finally gcc is not working please guide me.

The output is:

MSYS ~
$ pacman -S mingw-w64-ucrt-x86_64-gcc
resolving dependencies...
looking for conflicting packages...

Packages (16) mingw-w64-ucrt-x86_64-binutils-2.44-1
              mingw-w64-ucrt-x86_64-crt-git-12.0.0.r576.g49111ba98-1
              mingw-w64-ucrt-x86_64-gcc-libs-14.2.0-3  mingw-w64-ucrt-x86_64-gettext-runtime-0.24-1
              mingw-w64-ucrt-x86_64-gmp-6.3.0-2
              mingw-w64-ucrt-x86_64-headers-git-12.0.0.r576.g49111ba98-1
              mingw-w64-ucrt-x86_64-isl-0.27-1  mingw-w64-ucrt-x86_64-libiconv-1.18-1
              mingw-w64-ucrt-x86_64-libwinpthread-git-12.0.0.r576.g49111ba98-1
              mingw-w64-ucrt-x86_64-mpc-1.3.1-2  mingw-w64-ucrt-x86_64-mpfr-4.2.1-2
              mingw-w64-ucrt-x86_64-windows-default-manifest-6.4-4
              mingw-w64-ucrt-x86_64-winpthreads-git-12.0.0.r576.g49111ba98-1
              mingw-w64-ucrt-x86_64-zlib-1.3.1-1  mingw-w64-ucrt-x86_64-zstd-1.5.7-1
              mingw-w64-ucrt-x86_64-gcc-14.2.0-3

Total Download Size:    65.83 MiB
Total Installed Size:  519.08 MiB

:: Proceed with installation? [Y/n] Y
:: Retrieving packages...
 mingw-w64-ucrt-x86_64-gcc-...    43.5 MiB  14.3 MiB/s 00:03 [###############################] 100%
 mingw-w64-ucrt-x86_64-isl-...  1453.5 KiB   420 KiB/s 00:03 [###############################] 100%
 mingw-w64-ucrt-x86_64-libi...   725.4 KiB   930 KiB/s 00:01 [###############################] 100%
 mingw-w64-ucrt-x86_64-gcc-...  1021.6 KiB   823 KiB/s 00:01 [###############################] 100%
 mingw-w64-ucrt-x86_64-zstd...   642.3 KiB  2.55 MiB/s 00:00 [###############################] 100%
 mingw-w64-ucrt-x86_64-gmp-...   578.5 KiB   963 KiB/s 00:01 [###############################] 100%
 mingw-w64-ucrt-x86_64-mpfr...   535.7 KiB  1739 KiB/s 00:00 [###############################] 100%
 mingw-w64-ucrt-x86_64-mpc-...   128.3 KiB   594 KiB/s 00:00 [###############################] 100%
 mingw-w64-ucrt-x86_64-gett...   311.6 KiB   499 KiB/s 00:01 [###############################] 100%
 mingw-w64-ucrt-x86_64-zlib...    92.1 KiB   165 KiB/s 00:01 [###############################] 100%
 mingw-w64-ucrt-x86_64-winp...    39.8 KiB   128 KiB/s 00:00 [###############################] 100%
 mingw-w64-ucrt-x86_64-binu...     6.0 MiB   994 KiB/s 00:06 [###############################] 100%
 mingw-w64-ucrt-x86_64-head...     6.4 MiB  1046 KiB/s 00:06 [###############################] 100%
 mingw-w64-ucrt-x86_64-libw...    28.6 KiB  97.4 KiB/s 00:00 [###############################] 100%
 mingw-w64-ucrt-x86_64-wind...     3.0 KiB  12.9 KiB/s 00:00 [###############################] 100%
 mingw-w64-ucrt-x86_64-crt-...     4.6 MiB   679 KiB/s 00:07 [###############################] 100%
 Total (16/16)                    65.8 MiB  9.35 MiB/s 00:07 [###############################] 100%
(16/16) checking keys in keyring                             [###############################] 100%
(16/16) checking package integrity                           [###############################] 100%
(16/16) loading package files                                [###############################] 100%
(16/16) checking for file conflicts                          [###############################] 100%
(16/16) checking available disk space                        [###############################] 100%
:: Processing package changes...
( 1/16) installing mingw-w64-ucrt-x86_64-libwinpthread-git   [###############################] 100%
( 2/16) installing mingw-w64-ucrt-x86_64-gcc-libs            [###############################] 100%
( 3/16) installing mingw-w64-ucrt-x86_64-libiconv            [###############################] 100%
( 4/16) installing mingw-w64-ucrt-x86_64-gettext-runtime     [###############################] 100%
( 5/16) installing mingw-w64-ucrt-x86_64-zlib                [###############################] 100%
( 6/16) installing mingw-w64-ucrt-x86_64-zstd                [###############################] 100%
( 7/16) installing mingw-w64-ucrt-x86_64-binutils            [###############################] 100%
( 8/16) installing mingw-w64-ucrt-x86_64-headers-git         [###############################] 100%
( 9/16) installing mingw-w64-ucrt-x86_64-crt-git             [###############################] 100%
(10/16) installing mingw-w64-ucrt-x86_64-gmp                 [###############################] 100%
(11/16) installing mingw-w64-ucrt-x86_64-isl                 [###############################] 100%
(12/16) installing mingw-w64-ucrt-x86_64-mpfr                [###############################] 100%
(13/16) installing mingw-w64-ucrt-x86_64-mpc                 [###############################] 100%
(14/16) installing mingw-w64-ucrt-x86_64-windows-default...  [###############################] 100%
(15/16) installing mingw-w64-ucrt-x86_64-winpthreads-git     [###############################] 100%
(16/16) installing mingw-w64-ucrt-x86_64-gcc                 [###############################] 100%

zulfi@DESKTOP-070V6RM MSYS ~
$ gcc --version
-bash: gcc: command not found

However, gcc is already working on my computer on windows shell,

c:\msys64>gcc
gcc: fatal error: no input files
compilation terminated.

I want to install gtk.

Somebody please guide me.

Zulfi.

Top answer
1 of 1
3
To use the GCC version installed, you need to launch not the base MSYS prompt, but the UCRT64 one. (Hopefully) MSYS2 has installed multiple shortcuts for you, if you look at the start menu you should see one that has UCRT64 in the name. When you launch it correctly your prompt will look like e.g. zulfi@DESKTOP-070V6RM UCRT64 ~ $ It's this shell because you installed mingw-w64-ucrt-x86_64-gcc, notice the "ucrt" in the name there. For some background - Why does this happen? MSYS2 docs don't explain this well, but there are "2 layers" of the MSYS2 system. There's the top level one (just called MSYS) that provides the unix tools and the shell, but these tools rely on a compatability layer to work on windows (provided by msys-2.0.dll). Below that, the environment lets you install compilers that generate code for a native toolchain (can run on windows without any compatability stuff), but this is complicated by multiple options due to legacy. UCRT64 is the recommended one for starting out which is why it's in the docs. But since there are other options, MSYS2 provides multiple shells so you can have compilers for multiple different toolchains installed at the same time without breaking each other. So the compiler you installed ucrt-x86_64-gcc means: ucrt = ucrt C runtime library; x86_64 = 64 bit windows; gcc = the GCC compiler (Clang is the other option). To put it simply, do your programming for now in the UCRT64 shell and it should work. But to installations/updates from the main MSYS shell.
Find elsewhere
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Lean
lean-lang.org › lean4 › doc › make › msys2.html
lean4/doc/make/msys2.md at master · leanprover/lean4
MSYS2 has a package management system, pacman. Here are the commands to install all dependencies needed to compile Lean on your machine. pacman -S make python mingw-w64-clang-x86_64-cmake mingw-w64-clang-x86_64-clang mingw-w64-clang-x86_64-ccache mingw-w64-clang-x86_64-libuv mingw-w64-clang-x86_64-gmp git unzip diffutils binutils ... instead of cmake --preset release. This will use the clang compiler instead of gcc, which is required with msys2.
Author   leanprover
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Medium
sajidifti.medium.com › how-to-install-gcc-and-gdb-on-windows-using-msys2-tutorial-0fceb7e66454
How to Install GCC and GDB on Windows Using MSYS2 — Tutorial | by Sajid Anam Ifti | Medium
November 23, 2023 - Once MSYS2 is installed, open the ... commands one by one: ... Tip: Ctrl+V or Ctrl+Shift+V may not work on Msys2 shell window. Use right click to paste anything. Also, just press Enter whenever there is a prompt in the terminal. It will default to Y or Yes. You can also type Y and then press Enter. Both works. ... MSYS2 Window. Now, open MSYS2 shell once again. To install GCC for both 32-bit ...
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MSYS2
packages.msys2.org › packages › mingw-w64-x86_64-gcc
Package: mingw-w64-x86_64-gcc - MSYS2 Packages
5 days ago - Pending Updates · Repo Updates · Outdated Packages · Repos · Base Packages · Packages · Base Groups · Groups · Security · Search
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C language: MSYS2 install (gcc compiler) - YouTube
C language lesson for beginners - how to install and use MSYS2 to be able compile stuff in gcc, clang and other dev tools :)💻Subscribe https://youtube.com/I...
Published   October 4, 2022
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Cplusplus
cplusplus.com › forum › windows › 227005
Let msys2 configure find mingw gcc/g++ - C++ Forum
December 17, 2017 - I have gcc.exe, g++.exe, make.exe, etc. in C:\MinGW\bin In the msys2 terminal, I can say PATH=$PATH:/c/MinGW/bin but it does not save this change after I close the msys terminal. A StackOverflow question says I have to edit ~/.profile.
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GitHub
github.com › msys2 › MSYS2-packages › issues › 4543
Acquiring gcc / g++ to run C/C++ files · Issue #4543 · msys2/MSYS2-packages
April 18, 2024 - Though it told me that it could not find the command g++ now I tried to fix that issue, following a bit along by researching on google. I found and followed the top answer of this stackoverflow issue as well as mostly things from issue #1190 I think that I could now get around the issue of it not being satisfied. Now I get stumped on step 10 / 11 from the stackoverflow question. Because each time I try to run gcc --version I'll just get the respond -bash: gcc: command not found
Author   ZeitHeld
Top answer
1 of 3
9

$ pacman -S mingw-w64-ucrt-x86_64-gdb will not be enough. You will need the full UCRT64 Toolchain.

Install Toolchain

To use ucrt64 gcc compiler, you will need to follow the instructions of mentioned https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/cpp/config-mingw But instead of the mingW64 Toolchain you need to install the UCRT Toolchain (you can also have both of them, they go into different directories and don't conflict, but you should only have one of them in your path at a time, so you can only use them one at a time).

The command for this is

pacman -S --needed base-devel mingw-w64-ucrt-x86_64-toolchain

Important:

You have to enter this command into the msys-Console, which is kind of purple not the msys ucrt-console nor the msys MingW console if any of these are present.

This will fill up your ucrt64 directory with a whole bunch of files.

Setting Path

If this directory is already correctly populated, you may not have set your path correctly. Do it as menioned in said https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/cpp/config-mingw , but again, use the

C:\msys64\ucrt64\bin

instead of C:\msys64\mingw64\bin(if you followed the standard paths of msys2)

You will have to restart any consoles, including vscode, to inherit and reflect your changed path in your development environment of vscode.

important:

If you have many entrances in your Path, make sure your ucrt-path is not too far at the end. I'm not the only and last one that got all sorts of trouble whith msys2 in vscode because of this. See here: Setting up vscode with msys2 clang

2 of 3
4

Try installing GDB by running this in your Bash shell:

pacman -S $MINGW_PACKAGE_PREFIX-gdb
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MSYS2
msys2.org
MSYS2
You will probably want to install some tools like the mingw-w64 GCC to start compiling projects. Run the following command:
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Narkive
msys2-users.narkive.com › bmw8LbRk › scons-and-mingw-w64-x86-64-gcc
[Msys2-users] scons and mingw-w64-x86_64-gcc
How are others using scons and mingw-w64? to use mingw-w64-x86_64-gcc you need run MSYS2 with mingw64_shell.bat or modify PATH variable export PATH=/mingw64/bin:$PATH I did run mingw64_shell.bat and g++ is in the path: Running it in bash works fine. What problem then? ... Post by Alexey Pavlov What problem then? I don't want to run g++ from bash. I want to use scons. And scons doesn't seem to find g++ provided by mingw-w64-*-gcc, only the one provided by gcc (but I don't want to use that one, because it doesn't work with some other packages and is out of date).
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Stack Overflow
stackoverflow.com › questions › 25195311 › how-can-i-get-msys-to-recognize-gcc
How can I get msys to recognize gcc? - Stack Overflow
... Find the answer to your question by asking. Ask question ... See similar questions with these tags. ... 1 MSYS2, change the gcc toolchain PATH to "C:\TDM-GCC-32" instead of using the default MinGW-w64 one?