What is the $WinREAgent folder in Windows 11 and Windows 10 and can it be deleted?

Among other folders in the root of your C drive, you can see a folder called $WinREAgent, you will need to enable the display of hidden and system files to show it.

This article details why the $WinREAgent folder is needed, whether it can be removed, and how to do it on Windows 11 or Windows 10.

The purpose of the $WinREAgent folder, and whether it can and should be removed

The $WinREAgent folder is created automatically when Windows Updates are installed and, from the user's point of view, usually just contains an empty Scratch folder.

However, during the update installation process, it may contain temporary files that, if something goes wrong during the update, can be used to roll back the changes.

If you wish, you can delete this folder the same way you delete any other folder, there should be no ill effect. However, it's a good idea to complete the installation of updates before doing so, in case there are items in the Windows 11 or Windows 10 Update Center that haven't been installed yet.

There is no benefit in deleting it: when the system is working properly, the $WinREAgent folder has zero size, and after deletion it will be recreated after some time.