Example: Install MinGW-x64#
We will install Mingw-w64 via the SourceForge website. You can use this Mingw-w64 link to download the Windows Mingw-w64 installer.
-
Run the installer, which should be named
mingw-w64-install.exe
in your Download folder.
2
For Architecture select x86_64 and then select Next.
-
On the Installation Folder page, use the default location for the Destination folder. Copy the location as you will need it later.
-
Select Next to start the installation.
Add the MinGW compiler to your path#
Add the path to your Mingw-w64 bin
folder to the Windows PATH
environment variable by using the following steps:
- In the Windows search bar, type ‘settings’ to open your Windows Settings.
- Search for Edit environment variables for your account.
- Choose the
Path
variable and then select Edit. - Select New and add the Mingw-w64 destination folder path, with
\mingw64\bin
appended, to the system path. The exact path depends on which version of Mingw-w64 you have installed and where you installed it. If you used the settings above to install Mingw-w64, then add this to the path:C:\Program Files\mingw-w64\x86_64-8.1.0-posix-seh-rt_v6-rev0\mingw64\bin
. - Select OK to save the updated PATH. You will need to reopen any console windows for the new PATH location to be available.
Check your MinGW installation#
To check that your Mingw-w64 tools are correctly installed and available, open a new Command Prompt and type:
g++ --version
gdb --version
If you don’t see the expected output or g++
or gdb
is not a recognized command, check your installation (Windows Control Panel > Programs > Programs and Features) and make sure your PATH entry matches the Mingw-w64 binary location where the compiler tools are located.