Uninstalling Discord on Mac: A detailed guide

I’ve lost count of the nights spent on Discord – joining mates at a Fortnite round, laughing with them until sunrise after a CS or League of Legends match gone wrong. It’s where plans were made, friendships formed, and memes lived their short but glorious lives.

But eventually, every channel goes quiet, having its beginning and ending like any game. Maybe your gaming days are behind you, or you’ve moved your team chats elsewhere. Perhaps Discord just isn’t running as smoothly on your Mac anymore.

Either way, if the time has come to uninstall an app like Discord, this guide will let you know how to uninstall Discord completely in two ways, clearing every leftover, reinstalling it to fix some bugs, and clearing its cache.

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What is Discord?

Discord is a free, cross-platform communication app built for communities. It began as a voice and text tool for gamers but has since evolved into a global space where creators, students, remote teams, and friend groups connect every day.

According to Discord’s internal data, the platform now counts over 200 million monthly active users, and more than 90% of them chat while playing. That’s billions of gaming hours filled with laughter, strategies, and chaos – from intense Dota tactical calls to late-night Counter Strike slugfests.

For Gen Z, Discord feels as natural as Roblox, but it’s not just for them. Millennials use it to stay in touch after work, Gen Alpha grows up on it, and even veteran gamers from the Battle.net and Steam days keep their servers running.

It’s not just another app; it’s a backdrop to the modern gaming experience, it’s a shared digital space that bridges generations and brings people together.

Why remove Discord?

Discord might be free and fun, but it’s not always kind to your Mac. Here are the main reasons why you might want to part ways with Discord:

1. System load: it eats a fair chunk of memory and CPU, especially if you’re running multiple servers or streaming in HD, which slows down your Mac and other apps.
2. Notifications overload: Constant pings, badges, and message previews can get distracting, particularly if you use your Mac for work or study.
3. Startup overload: By default, Discord launches at startup. Combine that with other auto-start apps, and your Mac’s boot time can slow down dramatically.
4. Privacy concerns: Discord collects telemetry and usage data, which some of us dislike.
5. Complexity: Newcomers can find Discord’s layered channels, roles, and menus overwhelming.
6. Bugs with macOS: From failed updates, voice chat issues to issues with sound, camera, or system integration, sometimes Discord misbehaves.
7. Redundancy: Maybe Slack, Telegram, MS Teams, or FaceTime/Messages is enough for you to communicate.

Ways to uninstall Discord

I checked two uninstall methods on Discord v0.0.362 running on macOS 26.0 Tahoe. Here’s how they stack up:

Uninstall Discord manually

Manual removal takes a bit of digging, but it’s doable. Here’s the full checklist:

Step 1. Quit all Discord processes.

Open Activity Monitor → search for Discord → select each Discord process → click Stop (⨂).

Step 2. Delete the Discord app.

Open Finder → go to Applications → locate Discord.app → control-click Discord → select Move to Trash.

Step 3. Delete Discord leftovers.

• In Finder’s search bar, type Discord → set the filter to Name Contains → select all found files related to Discord.
• Right-click Discord remnants → select Move to Trash.

Step 4. Remove hidden Discord files.

On recent macOS, the system blocks the display of some folders in Finder by default. Therefore, you need to manually find and delete the following folders and files.

1. In Finder, press Shift + Cmd + G.
2. Check the following paths, deleting the Discord-related files and folders, if any:

   • ~/Library/Application Support/discord

     Copy

   • ~/Library/HTTPStorages/com.hnc.Discord

     Copy

   • ~/Library/HTTPStorages/com.hnc.Discord.binarycookies

     Copy

   • ~/Library/Caches/com.apple.nsurlsessiond/Downloads/com.hnc.Discord

     Copy

   • ~/Library/Caches/com.hnc.Discord

     Copy

   • ~/Library/Caches/com.hnc.Discord.ShipIt

     Copy

   • ~/Library/Preferences/com.hnc.Discord.helper.Renderer.plist

     Copy

   • ~/Library/Preferences/com.hnc.Discord.plist

     Copy

   • /private/var/folders/***/***/***/com.hnc.Discord

     Copy

   • /private/var/folders/***/***/***/com.hnc.Discord.helper.GPU

     Copy

   

Step 5. Empty Trash.

Step 6. Restart your Mac.

Uninstall Discord automatically (recommended)

If manual steps feel too tedious, the faster, safer way is to use App Cleaner & Uninstaller:

1. Download and open App Cleaner & Uninstaller.
2. Searchfor Discord and select it from the list of applications.
3. Click Uninstall.

4. In the Review and Remove window, click Remove.

Uninstall BetterDiscord or Discord Canary

BetterDiscord is a popular unofficial modification that lets you customize Discord with themes, plugins, and advanced features and settings not available in the official version.

Discord Canary, on the other hand, is an experimental build used to test new features before they reach the stable release.

By the way, in some cases, completely uninstalling the regular Discord app and installing Discord Canary often resolves persistent freezing or loading issues on Mac. It’s a handy trick if you’ve tried clearing caches and reinstalling but still run into performance problems.

Both can be removed easily using App Cleaner & Uninstaller – they appear as separate apps, so just search for their names and uninstall them the same way as regular Discord.

You can also delete BetterDiscord through its uninstaller. But for this, you need an initial installation file. If you prefer manual removal, follow the same Library paths as above, but look for folders named BetterDiscord or DiscordCanary.

How to delete Discord cache

Clearing the cache can fix glitches and free up space without fully uninstalling. Over time, cached files pile up and can cause slowdowns or loading errors.

Clear Discord cache with App Cleaner & Uninstaller

1. Open App Cleaner & Uninstaller.
2. Switch to Expert Mode.
3. Find Discord → select it.
4. Tick only the Caches box.
5. Click Remove → approve.

Clear Discord cache manually:

1. In Finder, press Shift + Cmd + G.
2. Go to

   ~/Library/Caches/

   Copy

   .
3. Search for and delete files named

   com.hnc.Discord

   Copy

   .
4. Repeat the process with this path:

   ~/Library/Caches/com.apple.nsurlsessiond/Downloads/

   Copy

   

How to reinstall Discord

Reinstalling Discord can often resolve performance glitches, login errors, or random crashes that persist even after clearing the cache. If the app is sluggish or unresponsive on your Mac, a clean reinstall is usually the simplest fix.

Here is the official reinstall guide:

1. Quit Discord with Cmd + Q.
2. Terminate all Discord processes using Activity Monitor.
3. Open Finder → use the shortcut Shift + Cmd + G → paste and delete these folders:

   • ~/Library/Application Support/Discord

     Copy

   • /Library/Application Support/Discord

     Copy

4. In Finder, switch to the Applications folder → locate and trash the Discord app.
5. Empty Trash.
6. Restart your Mac.
7. Reinstall Discord from the official source.

However, it depends on whether to reinstall Discord or not. In another case with freezing after the update, the fix was:

1. Open Finder.
2. Navigate to and right-click the Discord app.
3. Select Get Info.
4. Disable Rosetta if the Open using Rosetta box is checked.

Final talk

That’s it. You now know how to uninstall Discord from your Mac fully, clear every last cache, and even reinstall if needed. Whether you prefer the manual route or the 30-second auto-clean, both get the job done.

For me, the automatic method using App Cleaner & Uninstaller is a no-brainer. It’s quick, precise, and saves me from digging through folders every time I want to tidy up my Mac.