How to Install MSYS2 for MinGW-w64 on Windows 11 | MinGW Compiler for C/C++ (2026)

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In this video, you’ll learn **how to install MSYS2 for MinGW-w64 on Windows 11** and set up a complete **C and C++ development environment** using the MinGW-w64 compiler. If you’re looking for a modern, reliable, and actively maintained way to compile C/C++ programs on Windows, MSYS2 with MinGW-w64 is one of the best solutions available. This step-by-step tutorial covers everything you need to get started, from downloading and installing MSYS2 to configuring the **MinGW-w64 toolchain** for C and C++ development. We’ll walk through updating MSYS2 packages, installing GCC, G++, Make, and other essential build tools, and verifying that the compiler is working correctly on Windows 11. MSYS2 provides a powerful Unix-like environment on Windows along with native Windows compilers. Using MinGW-w64 through MSYS2 allows you to build high-performance **native Windows applications** without relying on Visual Studio. This setup is ideal for students, beginners, open-source contributors, and developers who want a lightweight yet powerful alternative for C/C++ programming. In this video, you’ll also learn the difference between MSYS, MinGW32, and MinGW64 environments, and why MinGW-w64 is recommended for modern 64-bit Windows systems. We’ll explain how MSYS2 manages packages using Pacman, making it easy to install, update, and maintain your development tools. Whether you’re learning **C programming**, **C++ development**, working on competitive programming, or compiling open-source pro