diff --git a/packages/tools/checkIgnoredFiles.ts b/packages/tools/checkIgnoredFiles.ts
index b68e70a886..b2103cee08 100644
--- a/packages/tools/checkIgnoredFiles.ts
+++ b/packages/tools/checkIgnoredFiles.ts
@@ -1,9 +1,11 @@
 import { execCommand, getRootDir } from '@joplin/utils';
+import { toSystemSlashes } from '@joplin/utils/path';
 import { readFile, writeFile } from 'fs-extra';
 import { chdir } from 'process';
 
 const main = async () => {
-	chdir(await getRootDir());
+	const rootDir = await getRootDir();
+	chdir(rootDir);
 
 	const previousContent = {
 		'.gitignore': await readFile('.gitignore', 'utf8'),
@@ -20,7 +22,7 @@ const main = async () => {
 	if (newContent['.gitignore'] !== previousContent['.gitignore'] || newContent['.eslintignore'] !== previousContent['.eslintignore']) {
 		await writeFile('.gitignore', previousContent['.gitignore'], 'utf8');
 		await writeFile('.eslintignore', previousContent['.eslintignore'], 'utf8');
-		throw new Error('.gitignore or .eslintignore would be modified - run `yarn updateIgnored`');
+		throw new Error(`.gitignore or .eslintignore would be modified - run \`cd "${toSystemSlashes(rootDir)}" && yarn updateIgnored\``);
 	}
 };