What is the Panther folder in Windows 10? Is it safe to delete it?

Windows setup log files are in different locations on the hard disk. These locations depend on the setup phase. The Panther folder is a folder where you will get installation, setup, or upgrade log files.

What is the Panther folder?

The Panther folder may be located at different locations depending on the setup phase:

Down-level phase

C:$WINDOWS.~BTSourcesPanther

Windows Preinstallation Environment phase

X:$WINDOWS.~BTSourcesPanther

Online configuration phase or first boot phase

C:WINDOWSPANTHER

Windows Welcome phase

C:WINDOWSPANTHER

Rollback phase

C:$WINDOWS.~BTSourcesPanther

These log files can be most useful for troubleshooting each setup phase of Windows 10 installation. Renaming or Deleting then has no negative effects.

If you performed an upgrade installation then the Panther folder size can be in GBs.

Panther folder blue

In some Windows versions, the name of the folder is in the color blue. This means that the folder has been compressed.

Is it safe to delete the Panther folder

If you are sure that the installation has gone well, then you may delete the Panther folder.

Information about some other Windows folders:

$SysReset folder | $Windows.~BT & $Windows.~WS folders | $WinREAgent folder | WinSxS folder | REMPL folder | ProgramData folder | System32 and SysWOW64 folders | Sysnative folder | Catroot & Catroot2 folders.