The governor of North Carolina is the head of government of the U.S. state of North Carolina. Seventy-five people have held the office since the first state governor, Richard Caswell, took office in 1777. The governor serves a term of four years and chairs the collective body of the state's elected executive officials, the Council of State. The governor's powers and responsibilities are prescribed by the state constitution and by law. They serve as the North Carolina's chief executive and are tasked by the constitution with faithfully carrying out the laws of the state. They are ex officio commander in chief of the North Carolina National Guard and director of the state budget. The office has some powers of appointment of executive branch officials, some judges, and members of boards and commissions. Governors are also empowered to grant pardons and veto legislation.

Historically, North Carolina has had a weak governor with limited authority. Unlike most of their counterparts in the United States, the North Carolina governor lacks line-item veto power, while additional executive authority is vested in other elected officials on the Council of State. While the state has grown increasingly politically competitive since the mid-20th century, Republicans have had difficulty in winning gubernatorial elections in North Carolina, and the office has usually remained in Democratic hands. The current governor, Democrat Josh Stein, took office on January 1, 2025.

The office of governor is the oldest public office in the state of North Carolina. Historians trace its origins to the appointment of Ralph Lane as the governor of the Roanoke Colony in 1585. From 1622 to 1731, the Province of Carolina/Province of North Carolina had governors appointed by the colony's lords proprietors. From then until 1774, the governors were chosen by the British Crown. The governors during these times were politically weak executives and generally conformed to the wishes of their appointers. They were aided in the execution of their office by the Governor's Council, an advisory board of appointed officials that also collectively served as the upper house in the North Carolina General Assembly. After 1731, the councilors were chosen by the Privy Council and were responsible to the British King, further diluting the governor's authority.

During the period of royal control after 1731, North Carolina's governors were issued sets of secret instructions from the Privy Council's Board of Trade. The directives were binding upon the governor and dealt with nearly all aspects of colonial government. As they were produced by officials largely ignorant of the political situation in the colony and meant to ensure greater direct control over the territory, the instructions caused tensions between the governor and the General Assembly. The assembly controlled the colony's finances and used this as leverage by withholding salaries and appropriations, sometimes forcing the governors to compromise and disregard some of the Board of Trade's instructions. Frequent tensions between Governor Josiah Martin—a firm supporter of the instructions—and the Assembly in the 1770s led the latter to establish a committee of correspondence and accelerated the colony's break with Great Britain.

The state of North Carolina's first constitution in 1776—adopted by the Fifth Provincial Congress—provided for a governor to be elected by a joint vote of both houses of the General Assembly to serve a one-year term. They were limited to serving no more than three terms within a six-year period. Candidates had to be at least 30 years old, had to have lived in the state for five years, and own at least £1,000 worth of land. The constitution also provided for a legislatively-determined Council of State to "advise the Governor in the execution of his office". From its inception, the office of governor in North Carolina was weak in its powers, largely restricted out of fear of the actions taken by British colonial governors. In practice, the Council of State limited the governor's executive authority, as sometimes the governor was required to get their approval before taking a course of action. The governor was given the power to issue pardons and reprieves and was made commander-in-chief of the state's military forces "for the time being". They had no power to make executive appointments except during legislative recesses and with the advice of the council.

The Fifth Provincial Congress elected Richard Caswell to serve as the independent state's first governor pending legislative elections and the formation of the General Assembly. Caswell was sworn in on January 16, 1777. The General Assembly reelected him to the role at its first session in April. In 1835, the constitution was amended to allow for the popular election of the governor to a two-year term, thus giving the office more political independence from the legislature. The holder of the office was restricted to no more than two terms within a six-year period. Edward Bishop Dudley became the first popularly-elected governor.

In 1868, North Carolina ratified a new constitution which extended the governor's term of office to four years but limited the holder to one term. Under the 1868 constitution, the governor's executive power was derived from the following provision: "The executive department shall consist of a governor, in whom shall be invested the supreme executive power of the State." The new constitution also granted the governor appointive powers, allowing them to appoint "all officers whose offices are established by this Constitution, or which shall be created by law, and whose appointments are not otherwise provided for" with the advice and consent of the Senate. The document also affirmed the governor's power to grant pardons, reprieves, and commutations. Over time, this was interpreted to included paroles. The Council of State was revised to include several other popularly-elected executive officials serving ex officio. Under the constitution, the governor called and presided over the council's meetings but was not a formal member of the body.

In 1871, Governor William Woods Holden was impeached and removed from office. Holden was the first governor in the United States to ever be removed in such a fashion and is the only North Carolina governor to have ever been impeached. In 1875, the state held a convention which ratified several amendments to the constitution, including an alteration which removed the governor's ability to appoint officials who derived their offices' existence from state statutes. The governor was left with de jure responsibility over appointments for constitutional officers who did not have their appointments otherwise provided for, but as no such officers existed, the changes essentially stripped governors of their appointive abilities. Following litigation in state courts over contested appointive jurisdiction in the late 19th century and early 20th century, several state governors called for the restoration of their appointive powers.