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title titleSuffix description ms.date ms.custom ms.topic f1_keywords ms.assetid author ms.author manager ms.workload ms.prod ms.technology
Remove Visual Studio
Learn how to completely remove Visual Studio from your computer, step by step.
12/19/2019
seodec18
how-to
uninstall
uninstall Visual Studio
remove
remove Visual Studio
cleanup
cleanup Visual Studio
clean up
clean up Visual Studio
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ornellaalt
ornella
jillfra
multiple
visual-studio-windows
vs-installation

Remove Visual Studio

If you experience a catastrophic error and can't repair or uninstall Visual Studio, you can run the InstallCleanup.exe tool to remove installation files and product information for all installed instances of Visual Studio 2017 or Visual Studio 2019.

Warning

Use the InstallCleanup tool only as a last resort if repair or uninstall fail. This tool might uninstall features from other Visual Studio installations or other products, which then might also need to be repaired or reinstalled.

Run InstallCleanup.exe

You can use either of the following command-line switches with the InstallCleanup.exe tool:

Switch Behavior
-i This switch is the default if no other switch is passed. It removes only the main installation directory and product information. Use this switch if you intend to reinstall the same version of Visual Studio after you run the InstallCleanup.exe tool.
-f This switch removes the main installation directory, product information, and most other features installed outside the installation directory, that might also be shared with other Visual Studio installations or other products. Use this switch if you intend to remove Visual Studio without reinstalling it later.

Here's how to run the InstallCleanup.exe tool:

  1. Close the Visual Studio Installer.

  2. Open an administrator command prompt. To open an administrator command prompt, follow these steps:

    • Type cmd in the "Type here to search" box.
    • Right-click Command Prompt, and then choose Run as administrator.

  3. Enter the full path of the InstallCleanup.exe tool and add the command-line switch you prefer. By default, the path of the tool is as follows. The double quotes enclose a command containing spaces:

    "C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\Installer\resources\app\layout\InstallCleanup.exe"

    [!NOTE] If you can't find InstallCleanup.exe under the Visual Studio Installer directory, which is always located at %ProgramFiles(x86)%\Microsoft Visual Studio, here's what to do next. Follow the instructions to install Visual Studio. Then, when the workload selection screen is displayed, close the window and follow the steps on this page again.

[!INCLUDEinstall_get_support_md]

See also