How to uninstall Files on Windows

Files is a file manager, so removing it never touches the folders and files you browsed with it. Its own settings, tags and caches live inside its app package's data folder, which Windows removes together with the app, so note anything you want to set up the same way again. This guide covers Files installed per-user as an MSIX app package from the FilesCommunity.Files winget package.

Quit Files first

Close every Files window. Files registers a startup task, which you can see and turn off in Settings › Apps › Startup; it goes away with the app. Check Task Manager (Ctrl+Shift+Esc) for any Files.exe still listed before you uninstall.

Remove the app with its own uninstaller

Go to Settings › Apps › Installed apps, find Files, and choose Uninstall, or run:

winget uninstall --id FilesCommunity.Files

As an app package it is removed for your account only, without an administrator prompt.

Where the data lives

Location	What it holds	What to do
`%ProgramFiles%\WindowsApps\Files_<version>_<architecture>__1y0xx7n9077q4`	The app package	Windows removes it with the app
`%LOCALAPPDATA%\Packages\Files_1y0xx7n9077q4`	Settings, tags and caches	Removed together with the app
Windows App SDK runtime packages (`MicrosoftCorporationII.WinAppRuntime.*`)	A runtime many other apps share	Leave them installed
A folder with a long hexadecimal name under `%LOCALAPPDATA%\Sentry`	Crash reports Files wrote	Small, and not needed after the uninstall; the `Sentry` folder itself can hold other apps' reports, so leave it

Check the result

Run these read-only commands after the uninstall finishes:

Get-Process Files -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
Get-AppxPackage -Name Files
Test-Path "$env:LOCALAPPDATA\Packages\Files_1y0xx7n9077q4"

No output from Get-Process only means this query observed no matching process; a suppressed error leaves the running state unknown.
If Get-AppxPackage succeeds without suppressed errors, no output means the package is gone for your account; a result means the app is still installed.
Test-Path returning False means the app's data folder is gone, which is expected once the app is removed; True means something is still there.

If you installed it with winget

winget uninstall removes the same app package Settings › Apps removes. The shared Windows App SDK runtime packages stay installed either way.

What Mole lists

For Files installed per-user from winget:

The app package's data folder %LOCALAPPDATA%\Packages\Files_1y0xx7n9077q4 goes with the app row. In this test Windows had already removed it along with the package.
The startup task is part of the package and disappears with it; nothing is left in the Startup list.
The Windows App SDK runtime packages are shared by other apps and are not listed.
The crash report folder under %LOCALAPPDATA%\Sentry is not listed; check it and remove it yourself if you want to.

What this test covered

Tested on September 28, 2026 with Files 4.2.9.0 installed through winget as an MSIX package, per-user scope. Not verified: settings sync, and Files set as the default file manager.