How do I uninstall Cygwin on Windows?

Question

Problem: How do I uninstall Cygwin on Windows?

Hi ! I recently decided to downgrade from Windows x64 to the x86 version and am unable to remove the shortcut from the Start menu. Clicking on uninstall allows me to “uninstall a program”, but there is no Cygwin uninstaller, it must be done manually. Could you please explain how to uninstall Cygwin on Windows?

Any help would be appreciated!

Answer provided

Cygwin par Red Hat is a set of open source tools allowing Unix or Linux applications to be compiled and run on a Windows operating system from a Linux-like interface. It is usually installed by advanced users, but there are times when people install it without knowing what kind of services it offers and its general purpose.

From your Sandr perspective, it looks like you installed Cygwin intentionally and are happy with the tool until you decide to uninstall it. In fact, we have already responded to several users who have inquired about how to uninstall Cygwin on Windows. We checked the issues that users were experiencing in this case and found that sometimes the task was not easy.

You asked how to remove Cygwin from your start bar. In fact, this can usually be done by clicking on the shortcut and selecting “Delete Start”. Unfortunately, we discovered that in the case of Cygwin, this was not possible. Therefore, if you want to upgrade to the x86 version, you will need to uninstall Cygwin from your computer.

Remember that to do this completely you will need to “uninstall” the app, not “Remove” it. In other words, make sure to get rid of the main installer through Control Panel and then search for all the support files for the same purpose. Of course, you can perform a “delete”, which consists of clicking on the icon and the button “Delete”; However, you can overload your workstation and gradually slow it down.

Therefore, it is recommended that you take the necessary time to remove each software and find all of the files related to the program. If you are not yet a power user, we will provide you with a detailed guide below. Besides, if you don’t want to uninstall Cygwin on Windows manually, you can use Reimage for program removal.

How to uninstall Cygwin on Windows

You must start the process of uninstalling Cygwin from the Control Panel. If you need step-by-step instructions for opening it and uninstalling programs from the folder, refer to the instructions below:

1. Simultaneously click on the buttons Ctrl + Alt + Suppr to open the Task Manager.
2. Stop it X11 server if it is running and close any Cygwin related programs that may be running in the background.
3. Type Control Panel in the search box.
4. Go to Programmes > Uninstall a program.
5. As soon as the list of installed programs opens, find Cygwin.
6. Right click on the program and select “Uninstall”.
7. Right after that, a pop-up will appear asking if you are sure to remove the program. If you are, click ‘OK’.

Uninstall Cygwin after permission is denied

Several users reported to us that after clicking the “Uninstall” button, they received an error message saying “Authorization refused”.

In this case, you need to change the permission and / or ownership of the files or folders causing this error. The easiest way is to change ownership of all files and folders in your account. For this you must:

1. Start in safe mode to access the Security Tab.
2. Click on the root folder Cygwin → Properties → Security tab.
3. Select Advanced.
4. Go to Owner Tab and set your account as owner.
5. Check the box “Replace the owner sub-containers and objects ”and click on « OK ».

Then you should be able to uninstall Cygwin from the Control Panel.

Edit Windows Registry

To completely remove the tool, you need to search for all supporting files through Windows Registry Editor and delete them.

Be careful because this process is quite risky. You can create bad files and damage important programs. However, we are sure that you will be very careful and successfully complete the following steps:

1. Press on the keys Windows + R and grab regedit to have access to Windows Registry Editor.
2. Find one of the registry editors:
   HKEY_CURRENT_USER_Software_Cygnus Solutions
   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE_Software_Cygnus Solutions, etc.
3. Delete them all by clicking on it and pressing the ‘Delete’ button.
4. Open ‘File Explorer’ → ‘Consult’ → uncheck ‘hidden elements’.
5. Look for the following folders:
   (C:Program FilesCygwin)
   (C:Document and SettingsAll UsersApplication DataCygwin)
   (C:Documents and Settings%USER%Application DataCygwin)
6. If you find any, Delete each of them by clicking on it and pressing the ‘Delete’ button.
7. Close all programs and Restart your computer.

Of course, manual uninstallation may fail as you may skip additional components without realizing it, so we recommend using Reimage.

Get rid of programs with just one click

You can uninstall this program using our step-by-step guide which has been brought to you by the experts at Bitcoinminrshashrate.com. To save you time, we have chosen the tools that will help you perform this task automatically. If you are in a rush or feel that you are not experienced enough to uninstall this program yourself, please use these solutions: