How to uninstall Beyond Compare 5 on Windows

Quit Beyond Compare before removing it, and keep a copy of your license key if you plan to reinstall: it registers per Windows account, in the registry key this guide lists below. This guide covers Beyond Compare 5 installed per-user from the ScooterSoftware.BeyondCompare.5 winget package.

Quit Beyond Compare first

Close every Beyond Compare window and check Task Manager (Ctrl+Shift+Esc) for any BCompare.exe still listed before you uninstall.

Remove the app with its own uninstaller

Go to Settings › Apps › Installed apps, find Beyond Compare 5, and choose Uninstall, or run:

winget uninstall --id ScooterSoftware.BeyondCompare.5

Where the data lives

Check the result

Run these read-only commands after the uninstall finishes:

Get-Process BCompare -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
winget list --id ScooterSoftware.BeyondCompare.5
Test-Path "$env:LOCALAPPDATA\Programs\Beyond Compare 5"
Test-Path "$env:APPDATA\Scooter Software\Beyond Compare 5"
Get-ItemProperty "HKCU:\SOFTWARE\Scooter Software\Beyond Compare 5" -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue

• No output from Get-Process only means this query observed no matching process; a suppressed error leaves the running state unknown.
• A completed winget list query with no match means the package record is gone; a matching row means the uninstall did not finish.
• The first Test-Path returning False means the program folder is gone; True means files remain there.
• Test-Path "$env:APPDATA\Scooter Software\Beyond Compare 5" returning True means your settings are still there, which is expected unless you removed them yourself.
• Get-ItemProperty returning values means the entry remains. With no output, check for permission or other query errors before deciding that it is absent.

If you installed it with winget

winget uninstall runs the same uninstaller Settings › Apps uses and removes the same program files; it does not touch %APPDATA%\Scooter Software\Beyond Compare 5 or the registry key above on its own.

What Mole lists

For Beyond Compare 5 installed per-user from winget:

• The program folder, desktop shortcut and Start Menu shortcut are selected by default.
• %APPDATA%\Scooter Software\Beyond Compare 5 is listed but not selected.
• HKCU\SOFTWARE\Scooter Software\Beyond Compare 5 is listed but not selected.
• Three registry keys that register Beyond Compare's shell integration are listed and selected by default.
• A BCClipboard Run value left pointing at the removed program is listed, selected, and backed up to a .reg file first.
• HKCU\Software\Scooter Software, the shared vendor key one level up, is not offered, since Mole never offers a shared vendor parent. A second key without the version number in its name, HKCU\Software\Scooter Software\Beyond Compare, is not listed either; check it yourself if you want a clean start.

What this test covered

Tested with Beyond Compare 5.2.6.32774 installed through winget, per-user scope, on an ARM64 test VM. The test installed it from an elevated session, so its uninstaller asked for administrator access; a normal per-user install does not.