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How to delete GRUB files from a Boot EFI partition in Windows 10

Figure

After several failed attempts to dual-boot Ubuntu 15.04 and Windows 10 on a single hard drive and on a computer with UEFI firmware, and not knowing what caused the first failed attempt, I figured that subsequent failed attempts must have been due to an existing Ubuntu GRUB folder in the Boot EFI folder.

Especially since the machine always froze when the installer is attempting to install GRUB

So I thought that If I could just delete the ubuntu folder from the Boot EFI folder, that the installation would complete – successfully. Ultimately, it didn’t, but I figured out how to delete GRUB files from inside Windows 10, from the command line.

This post documents how it was done. It involved, from the command line, listing and selecting the detected hard drives, listing the partitions on the hard drive, then, finally, listing and deleting the target folder. Another reason you might want to do this, is if you deleted the Linux partitions, which would not automatically delete the GRUB files from the Boot EFI folder.

 

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To start, log into Windows 10, click on the menu and type cmd. Then right-click on the terminal application’s icon and select run as administrator. Figure 1 show the commands (underlined) used to accomplish the first step – listing and selecting the hard drive. To make it possible to copy-and-paste, for those who might need to, I’ve provided the commands in the code block after the last image.

In this figure, the target disk is shown as a 465 GB hard drive, with GPT partition.

Windows 10 diskpart

Figure 1: Using diskpart to list hard drives detected on Windows 10

After the target disk has been selected, its partitions are listed, so that the partition (volume) that corresponds to the Boot EFI folder can be identified. In Figure 2, that partition is Volume 2. It’s usually the only volume with FAT32 in the Fs (file system) column, and System in the Info column. After it has been identified and selected, you assign it a drive letter to make it easier to work with. In this example, I assigned it a drive letter D. After that, exit diskpart.

Listing Windows 10 partitions

Figure 2: Listing disk partitions on Windows 10

The final task involves changing into the Boot EFI folder, listing its contents to identify what subfolder the GRUB files would be. It will be in the EFI folder. The GRUB files for the distribution that was installed will be under a folder of the same name as the distribution. For example, if Ubuntu was installed, as in this example, the name of the folder will be ubuntu. Delete the folder using the rmdir /s command. That’s the Windows 10 equivalent of the Unix/Linux rm -r command. Note: If the ls command is not available in your shell, use the dir command instead.

Delete Ubuntu Boot EFI GRUB files

Figure 3: Deleting non-empty Ubuntu GRUB directory in Windows 10

All the commands used are given in this code block. Note that this procedure is not necessarily the best or only way to go about do this, so if you know of a better method, post a comment.

## These commands are used to identify and select the hard drive

diskpart

list disk

sel disk 0

## These commands are used to list the partitions, select the Boot EFI partition, 
## then assign it a drive letter

list vol

sel vol 2

assign letter=D:

exit

## These commands are used to change into the Boot EFI folder and delete the GRUB folder

cd /d D:

ls

ls EFI

cd EFI

ls

rmdir /s ubuntu

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Erik
Erik
5 years ago

I try this tutorial, and I deleted the dir, then now my pc dont open anything, even the boots, my pc show the logo screen, then restarts continuously, anyone can help?

adam
adam
5 years ago

FRIEND,
ls doesnt work for me, also i currently dont have ubuntu installed instead i just get the “NEO GRUB BOOTLOADER AND WINDOWS 10 ON THE BOOT. ” AND ITS DRIVING ME CRAZY PLEASE HELP.

Ragil
Ragil
Reply to  adam
5 years ago

this method is for UEFI firmware, please confirm you using UEFI not legacy BIOS.

Rachit
Rachit
5 years ago

thanks a ton! worked brilliantly.

Chip
Chip
5 years ago

Nice guide!
the only problem is “ls” is linux command , in windows use “dir” instead.

Dileeban
Dileeban
5 years ago

Awesome! Thanks a lot

akis
akis
5 years ago

thx a lot. You are great.

Sean
Sean
5 years ago

Thanks you; it worked like a charm.

Iannis de Zwart
Iannis de Zwart
5 years ago

THANK YOU SOOO MUCH!
I couldn’t reset my pc any more, this guide is awesome!

Ali
Ali
5 years ago

WOW – cpu is back from the dead after deleting ubuntu partition – thanks a bunch!!!

Saiful Islam
Saiful Islam
5 years ago

Hello,

I named my drive as J. And tried entering J. But Can’t access. Can you please me what should I do now?

qwerty
qwerty
Reply to  finid
5 years ago

you need to open CMD as Administrator. just open the start tab, type cmd, right click the command prompt and click run as Administrator. then you will have access to the drive.

Saiful Islam
Saiful Islam
Reply to  finid
5 years ago

If I write “cd /d J:” It is saying, “Access is denied.” If I write “cd J:”, I return back to the same system32 folder.

gipcu
gipcu
Reply to  finid
2 years ago

yes and still not working

Rishabh Kumar
5 years ago

Thanks for help buddy.

JC
JC
5 years ago

THANK YOU…you saved my computer after following others instructions for uninstalling ubuntu. Those web sites did not address the EFI files and I was stuck in a GRUB loop on start-up. I am now up and running!

davidasync
5 years ago

Amazing its work!!!!
Thank u!!

Anyway, you can use `LS` command at powershell windows 10 instead of `cmd`

Jordan Hardy
Jordan Hardy
6 years ago

Just a heads up, LS doesn’t work under Windows. It’s a Linux command. The command that needs to be used is actually DIR. You’ll get an error if you try and use ls..

imran pollob
6 years ago

Thanks Working..

if “ls” command doesn’t work then try “dir”

Ano
Ano
Reply to  imran pollob
5 years ago

THANKS BRO!

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