Fix: Cannot Delete the Cygwin64 folder

If you installed “cygwin64” earlier and want to delete the folder after uninstalling the tool, you may be unable to do so.

It may say, “Folder Access Denied.” This can happen if the NTFS permissions for the folder are tight or the profile that owned the folder no longer exists on the computer.

cygwin cannot delete folder

Resolution

Boot into Safe mode

Please try deleting the folder in Safe mode to rule out the “file-in-use” scenario. See How to Start Windows 10 or 11 in Safe Mode.

If the same error occurs in Safe mode, take ownership of the folder and delete it.

Use one of the methods below if Safe mode doesn’t help.


Take ownership and delete the folder

From an admin Command Prompt, run these commands to take ownership and delete the folder.

takeown /f "C:\cygwin64" /r /d y

icacls "c:\cygwin64" /T /Q /C /reset

icacls "C:\cygwin64" /grant administrators:F /T

rd "C:\cygwin64" /s /q

Sometimes, you may get the error “Access is denied” when assigning permissions using Icacls.exe.

In that case, use the Trusted Installer Command Prompt.


Use Trusted Installer Command Prompt

Download AdvancedRun from Nirsoft.net and run it.

Using AdvancedRun, launch cmd.exe as “TrustedInstaller.”

advancedrun - trustedinstaller

In the TrustedInstaller Command Prompt, run:

rd /s /q "\\?\c:\cygwin64"

cygwin folder cannot delete - use WinRE

If that doesn’t help, try the WinRE method below.


Boot into WinRE

Boot into Windows RE using one of the methods in the article How to access Windows Recovery Environment.

From the login screen, click Shutdown, then hold down the Shift key while selecting Restart.

In WinRE, click Troubleshoot, Advanced Options, and Command Prompt.



win re system image backup recovery

Run:

bcdedit | find "osdevice"

find osdevice in winre by running bcdedit

Note the OS drive letter in the output. Assuming it’s C:\, run:

rd "C:\cygwin64" /s /q

If it’s D:\, run:

rd "D:\cygwin64" /s /q

cygwin folder cannot delete - use WinRE

If it says, “The device is not ready”, try the Windows internal syntax below:

rd "\\?\C:\cygwin64" /s /q

(or)

rd "\\?\D:\cygwin64" /s /q

If not, try the WinRAR method below to delete or rename the folder.


Install WinRAR

Please install WinRAR and run its executable as TrustedInstaller using AdvancedRun.

Using WinRAR’s file manager interface, please see if you can browse the contents of the Cygwin64 directory and its subfolders. Also, try renaming the “Cygwin64” directory to “demo” or something else. Browse the contents of the folder, or press Shift + Del to delete the folder permanently.


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Ramesh Srinivasan is passionate about Microsoft technologies and he has been a consecutive ten-time recipient of the Microsoft Most Valuable Professional award in the Windows Shell/Desktop Experience category, from 2003 to 2012. He loves to troubleshoot and write about Windows. Ramesh founded Winhelponline.com in 2005.

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