How to uninstall IrfanView on Windows

IrfanView keeps its settings in a small i_view64.ini file, and your images stay wherever you keep them; removing the viewer touches neither. Copy the ini file first if you tuned the viewer and might reinstall. This guide covers the 64-bit IrfanView installed machine-wide from the IrfanSkiljan.IrfanView winget package, which puts it in %ProgramFiles%\IrfanView.

Quit IrfanView first

Close every IrfanView window, then check Task Manager (Ctrl+Shift+Esc) for any i_view64.exe still listed. It adds no startup entry.

Remove the app with its own uninstaller

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

winget uninstall --id IrfanSkiljan.IrfanView

Windows asks for administrator access, and the uninstaller asks "Do you really want to uninstall IrfanView?" with Yes and No. There is no option about your settings.

Where the data lives

Location	What it holds	What to do
`%ProgramFiles%\IrfanView`	Program files and a copy of `i_view64.ini`	The uninstaller left this folder in the test; remove it after the uninstall
`%APPDATA%\IrfanView`	`i_view64.ini`, your settings	Back it up if you might reinstall; otherwise remove it
`HKLM\SOFTWARE\Classes\IrfanView.arw`, `.avif`, `.dng`, `.erf`, `.nef`, `.nrw`, `.qoi` and `.rwl`	File type entries for camera raw and newer formats	Left by the uninstaller; harmless. If one of these types still opens oddly, pick another app in Settings › Apps › Default apps

Check the result

Run these read-only commands after the uninstall finishes:

Get-Process i_view64 -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
winget list --id IrfanSkiljan.IrfanView
Test-Path "$env:ProgramFiles\IrfanView"
Test-Path "$env:APPDATA\IrfanView"

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 True means the program folder is still there; False means it is gone.
Test-Path "$env:APPDATA\IrfanView" returning True means your settings file is still there, which is expected unless you removed it yourself.

If you installed it with winget

winget uninstall runs the same uninstaller Settings › Apps uses, with the same confirmation, and leaves the same things behind.

What Mole lists

For IrfanView installed machine-wide from winget:

The program folder goes with the app row, together with a row grouping Windows' own records of when you opened the program, selected by default.
%APPDATA%\IrfanView is listed but not selected, since it holds your settings.
The file type entries under HKLM are not listed.

What this test covered

Tested on 2026-09-28 with IrfanView 4.75 (64-bit) installed through winget, machine scope, the x64 installer on an ARM64 virtual machine. The test answered Yes to the uninstaller's confirmation. Every listed row was ticked and removed in this test. Not verified: plugins and file associations set as defaults.