Uninstall Claude Code and Claude Desktop completely on Mac

Dragging Claude.app to Trash skips the most disk-heavy part of the cleanup: its folders remain invisible in the Library and can reach close to 10 GB. Claude Code also leaves a separate trail – a config folder, caches, session data, and sometimes multiple binaries. That’s why you have to uninstall the app properly on your Mac.

This guide reveals how to uninstall Claude Desktop and all three Claude Code paths, whether installed via the native installer, npm, or Homebrew, with a fast one-click option and a full manual route for each.

Skip manual cleanup, go automatic

Uninstalling modern Mac apps and AI tools manually means checking multiple hidden locations one by one, which is time-consuming and easy to miss files. There is another way: App Cleaner & Uninstaller scans Mac automatically, detects app-related files, and removes apps along with their stored data, caches, and extra components in seconds.

App Cleaner & Uninstaller

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Claude Desktop vs Claude Code: What are you uninstalling?

Claude’s global user base has grown to nearly 19 million monthly active users in 2026, which makes it one of the most widely used AI tools. And, it’s important to distinguish between two separate Anthropic products: Claude Desktop and Claude Code. They install and uninstall independently, but may still leave some overlapping files behind.

How to check what’s installed

• Claude Desktop:
  • Open Finder → Applications tab → look for Claude.app,
  • Check if the Claude icon appears in the Dock, or
  • Check in Terminal with:

    ls /Applications/ | grep -i claude

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• Claude Code:
  • Open Terminal and run:

    which claude

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  • A returned path means it’s installed.
  • Optional: To see the Claude Code’s version, run

    claude –version

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  • The expected result: the command is executable, and you see Claude Code’s version in the output.

How Claude Code determines the uninstall method

which claude

If both Claude Code and Claude Desktop are installed

If you have both apps installed, keep a few things in mind. Claude Code and Claude Desktop may interact at the file system level.

Case 1: Uninstalling Claude Desktop only

In particular, the native installer version of Claude Code may store its binary inside Claude Desktop’s support directory:

~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude-code/VERSION/

This is where a shared dependency risk arises: removing Claude Desktop can also remove Claude Code (better to know if you remove only Claude Desktop).

In this scenario, you have to reinstall Claude Code via npm or Homebrew. By doing so, you move the binary out of the Desktop folder so that Claude Code stays safe after uninstalling Claude Desktop.

Case 2: Uninstalling Claude Code only

If you want to remove Claude Code only, you are good to go, because its uninstall process is fully independent and does not affect Claude Desktop, its app bundle, or its system data in any way.

Case 3: Uninstalling Claude Desktop and Claude Code altogether

If you are about to uninstall both Claude tools, the recommended order is:

1. Uninstall Claude Desktop first.
2. Uninstall Claude Code the way you installed it.
3. Delete

   ~/.claude/

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   and

   ~/.claude.json

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   last.

Uninstall Claude Desktop

Removing the Claude Desktop is possible in three ways:

• Automatically with the uninstaller,
• Manually with Finder, and
• Via Terminal commands.

Remove Claude with the uninstaller

App Cleaner & Uninstaller is a dedicated uninstaller that scans the system, finds all files associated with Claude Desktop and Claude Code, including the Cowork VM bundle, which can take up to 10GB, and removes them together. The flow takes you a few clicks:

1. Download and open Nektony’s App Cleaner & Uninstaller.
2. Find Claude in the app list and select it.

   

   Optional:

   If you want to uninstall all Claude tools, including Claude Code, check the box next to the Anthropic AI Group folder.

3. Click Remove → review the Claude files to be deleted → confirm.

   Optional:

   Click Terminate to stop any remaining Claude processes.

   

4. Finish uninstalling Claude by clicking Empty Trash.

Delete Claude Desktop with Finder

My test environment was: Claude 1.6259.1, MacBook Pro M1, macOS Tahoe 26.4.1.

Step 1: Quit Claude Desktop and stop its processes.

1. Press Command+Q inside the app, or
2. Open Activity Monitor → search

   Claude

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   → click X to stop any running Claude or CoworkVM process.

Step 2: Delete Claude.app from Applications.

1. Open Finder.
2. Go to Applications.
3. Locate

   Claude.app

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   → right-click it.
4. Move to Trash.

Step 3: Delete Claude Desktop Application Support folders.

1. In Finder, press Shift+Command+G.
2. In the Go to Folder placeholder, copy-paste the path below:

   ~/Library/Application Support/Claude

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3. Hit Return.

   

4. Right-click the Claude and Claude-3p folders → Move to Trash.

   

Step 4: Remove the remaining Claude Desktop service files.

Repeat the action for the following directories:

• ~/Library/HTTPStorages/com.anthropic.claudefordesktop

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• ~/Library/Application Support/com.apple.sharedfilelist/com.apple.LSSharedFileList.ApplicationRecentDocuments/com.anthropic.claudefordesktop.sfl4

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• ~/Library/Caches/com.anthropic.claudefordesktop

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• ~/Library/Caches/com.anthropic.claudefordesktop.ShipIt

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• ~/Library/Preferences/com.anthropic.claudefordesktop.plist

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• ~/Library/Logs/Claude

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• ~/Library/Preferences/ByHost/com.anthropic.claudefordesktop

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Step 5: Clear Claude cache folders, being individual for each user:

1. In the Finder’s Go to Folder window, enter the following directory:

   /private/var/folders/

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2. In the search bar, enter

   claudefordesktop

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   .
3. Narrow down your search to Folders.
4. Check the search results → the cache folders shall be as follows:

   /private/var/folders/*/***/*/com.anthropic.claudefordesktop

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   /private/var/folders/*/***/*/com.anthropic.claudefordesktop.helper

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5. Select all Claude Desktop cache folders → right-click → Move to Trash.

Step 6: Empty Trash when done.

Remove Claude app with Terminal

This method removes Claude Desktop and all related files directly from Mac. Terminal removes data immediately, bypassing the Trash. In this case, recovery isn’t possible.

Step 1: Force quit Claude.

Open Terminal and run:

killall Claude

Step 2: Remove the Claude Desktop app.

rm -rf /Applications/Claude.app

Step 3: Remove the Claude Desktop support files.

Run each command separately:

• rm -rf ~/Library/Application\ Support/Claude

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• rm -rf ~/Library/Application\ Support/Claude-3p

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• rm -rf ~/Library/HTTPStorages/com.anthropic.claudefordesktop

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• rm -f ~/Library/Application\ Support/com.apple.sharedfilelist/com.apple.LSSharedFileList.ApplicationRecentDocuments/com.anthropic.claudefordesktop.sfl4

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• rm -rf ~/Library/Caches/com.anthropic.claudefordesktop

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• rm -rf ~/Library/Caches/com.anthropic.claudefordesktop.ShipIt

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• rm -rf ~/Library/Preferences/com.anthropic.claudefordesktop.plist

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• rm -f ~/Library/Preferences/ByHost/com.anthropic.claudefordesktop.ShipIt.*.plist

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• rm -rf ~/Library/Logs/Claude

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Step 4: Remove the Claude app cache folders.

1. Preview what the temp cache command would find:

   sudo find /private/var/folders -iname “*claudefordesktop*” 2>/dev/null | head

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2. If the search output is correct, clear the Claude temporary cache folders:

   sudo find /private/var/folders -iname “claudefordesktop” -exec rm -rf {} + 2>/dev/null

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Uninstall Claude Code

Check which installation method you used

You can install Claude Code in three ways (native installer, npm, and Homebrew). And each requires a different removal. Run these checks in Terminal one by one to see what’s on your Mac:

• # 1. Shows npm and Homebrew binaries in PATH (for native installer, shows path)

  which -a claude

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• # 2. Check npm

  npm list -g –depth=0 | grep claude

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• # 3. Check Homebrew

  brew list | grep claude

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• # 4. Check the native installer. this one doesn't appear in which -a

  ls ~/Library/Application\ Support/Claude/claude-code/

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How to uninstall Claude Code with the uninstaller

If the native installer is your case, the easiest and safest way to get rid of Claude Code is with App Cleaner & Uninstaller. This uninstaller detects Claude Code installed via the native installer, shows all connected files, and removes them when you click Remove.

1. Run App Cleaner & Uninstaller.
2. Find Claude Code in the app list → select it.

   

   Optional:

   To uninstall all Claude tools, including Claude Desktop, check the box next to the Anthropic AI Group folder.

3. Click Remove → confirm by clicking Remove one more time.

   

4. Empty Trash to remove Claude Code from your Mac permanently.

Delete Claude Code in Finder

This method also works for the native installer. If you are okay with digging in the Library to chase every Claude Code-related file, you are free to go this way.

Phase 1: Close Claude Code

1. Quit the application normally using Cmd+Q, or
2. If it stops responding, open Activity Monitor,
3. Search for Claude-related processes (including CoworkVM),
4. Select and terminate them using the Stop (X) button.

Phase 2: Remove the Claude Code main application files

1. Go to Finder.
2. Open the menu bar and select Go → Go to Folder (Shift+Cmd+G).
3. Paste the following path:

   ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude-code/

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4. Inside this directory, locate a folder labeled with the version number (for example, 2.1.128) containing the claude.app file.
5. Remove the entire claude-code directory by moving it to Trash.

Phase 3: Remove the Claude Code leftover configuration and support data

1. Return to Go → Go to Folder and enter:

   ~/.claude

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2. Move this folder to Trash.
3. Remove any Claude Code remaining components located in:

   • ~/.claude.json

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   • ~/Library/Caches/claude-cli-nodejs

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   • ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude-code-vm

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   • ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude-code-sessions

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   • ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/local-agent-mode-sessions

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   • ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/Session Storage

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~/Library/Application Support/Claude

Phase 4: Empty Trash

Remove Claude Code in Terminal

One more approach that works for users who installed Claude Code using the native installer and prefer a complete cleanup through Terminal commands.

1. Start by opening Terminal.
2. Execute the commands below one by one.

   • # Remove the main application data:

     rm -rf ~/Library/Application\ Support/Claude/claude-code

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   • # Clear cached files and runtime components:

     rm -rf ~/Library/Caches/claude-cli-nodejs

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     rm -rf ~/Library/Application\ Support/Claude/claude-code-vm

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     rm -rf ~/Library/Application\ Support/Claude/claude-code-sessions

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     rm -rf ~/Library/Application\ Support/Claude/local-agent-mode-sessions

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     rm -rf ~/Library/Application\ Support/Claude/Session\ Storage

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   • # Delete user-level configuration files:

     rm -rf ~/.claude

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     rm ~/.claude.json

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   • # Optional: remove all shared Claude data. If Claude Desktop is not installed and you want a full cleanup, you can also remove the entire Claude support directory:

     rm -rf ~/Library/Application\ Support/Claude

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   Note:

   Some projects may store their own local configuration files. To remove them, navigate into each project folder with cd and run there:

   • rm -rf .claude

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   • rm -f .mcp.json

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Claude Code uninstall with npm

This method works for you if you installed Claude Code using this command:

npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code

1. Remove the Claude Code npm package by running this command:

   npm uninstall -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code

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2. Confirm the binary is gone:

   which claude

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   No output means success. If a path still appears, another installation is active; run

   which -a claude

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   to find it.
3. If you use nvm (Node Version Manager) and have installed Claude Code across multiple Node versions, it may be present in each. In that case, switch between versions and repeat the uninstall process for each one:

   • nvm use <version>

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   • npm uninstall -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code

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4. Delete the remaining Claude Code config and cache:

   • rm -rf ~/Library/Caches/claude-cli-nodejs

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   • rm -rf ~/.npm/_cacache/

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   • rm -rf ~/.claude

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   • rm -f ~/.claude.json

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Uninstall Claude Code with Homebrew

The following steps are applicable if you installed Claude Code using Homebrew.

1. Confirm the exact package name:

   brew list | grep claude

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2. Remove the package:

   • brew uninstall claude-code

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     , or

   • brew uninstall claude-code@latest

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     if that’s what

     brew list

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     returned.
3. Clean up unused dependencies and stale download caches:

   • brew autoremove

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   • brew cleanup

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4. Confirm removal:

   • which claude

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   No output means the uninstall was successful.
5. Delete the Claude Code leftover config and cache.
   Homebrew does not remove user-level data, so these need to be cleared manually:

   • rm -rf ~/Library/Caches/claude-cli-nodejs

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   • rm -rf ~/Library/Application\ Support/Claude/claude-code-vm

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   • rm -rf ~/Library/Application\ Support/Claude/claude-code-sessions

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   • rm -rf ~/Library/Application\ Support/Claude/local-agent-mode-sessions

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   • rm -rf ~/Library/Application\ Support/Claude/Session\ Storage

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   • rm -rf ~/.claude

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   • rm -f ~/.claude.json

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Final decision to uninstall Claude from Mac

The best removal method to clean your Mac from Claude depends on what you have installed and how much manual work you’re willing to do.

Use App Cleaner & Uninstaller if:

• You want the fastest way to remove Claude Desktop and/or Claude Code.
• You installed Claude Code via the native Anthropic installer.
• You don’t want to search through hidden Library folders.
• You want to remove all files related to Claude automatically.

Use Finder if:

• You’re comfortable navigating hidden macOS folders on your own.
• You don’t mind manually checking multiple Library locations for leftovers.
• You installed Claude Code using the native installer.

Use Terminal if:

• You’re familiar with macOS command-line tools.
• You need to remove files that Finder can’t easily locate.
• You’re confident working with removal commands and understand the risks.
• Claude Code was installed with the native installer.

Use npm or Homebrew commands if:

• You installed Claude Code through npm or Homebrew.
• You plan to keep your dev environment clean and properly managed.