How to Uninstall Sogou, Baidu and WeChat Input Methods on Mac

I installed Sogou Input from its official package and then tried to uninstall it. The first attempt was refused with "app is running". Two launch agents that the installer had placed in /Library/LaunchAgents were set to KeepAlive, so every time SogouServices and SogouTaskManager were asked to quit, launchd started them again. A user later reported a similar refusal with Tencent's Chatterfly input method: the delete failed because it was "in use".

An input method is not a normal app. It lives in its own folder, macOS keeps it running in the background, and Sogou and Baidu bring helpers of their own. This post covers Sogou, Baidu and WeChat Input (WeType) on a Mac: where each one lives, what keeps running, which leftovers are your data, and the order that keeps you able to type. I have not tested iFlytek's input method yet, so it is not covered here.

Where input methods live

Input methods do not go into /Applications. There are two folders for them: /Library/Input Methods for every account on the Mac, and ~/Library/Input Methods for your account only. The official Sogou and Baidu installers both put their app into /Library/Input Methods, owned by root, so moving it takes an administrator password. WeChat Input sits there too, as /Library/Input Methods/WeType.app.

This is also why an input method can look like it is always running. macOS starts input methods on demand, and opening the keyboard pane in System Settings loads every one that is installed. A running Sogou or Baidu process does not mean you have been typing with it.

Remove it from the input source list first

Uninstalling the input source you are typing with can leave you briefly unable to type, and the input menu in the menu bar keeps showing it until the menu restarts. Take it out of the list before touching any files:

1. Switch to another input source from the input menu in the menu bar, such as ABC.
2. Open System Settings › Keyboard › Text Input › Input Sources › Edit.
3. Select the third-party input method and click Remove (the minus button).

Apple describes this pane in Change Input Sources settings on Mac. Removing an input source from the list does not delete it; the app, its helpers and its data are all still on the Mac.

What keeps running

Each of the three I looked at runs more than one process:

• Sogou: the input method itself (SogouInput), plus SogouServices and SogouTaskManager, which the two agents com.sogou.SogouServices and com.sogou.SogouTaskManager in /Library/LaunchAgents keep alive. Both agents are KeepAlive, so quitting the processes does nothing while the agents are loaded.
• Baidu: the input method (BaiduIM), an agent com.baidu.InputService in /Library/LaunchAgents that runs enableInput from inside the app, and a daemon com.baidu.baiduService in /Library/LaunchDaemons that runs baiduService from inside the app in the system domain.
• WeChat Input: the input method (WeType).

The order matters: remove or unload the launch agents before quitting the processes, otherwise they come straight back. If you delete files by hand, restart once afterwards so nothing is left running from the Trash.

What each one leaves behind

Sogou, from the official 6.25.1 installer:

Baidu, from the official 5.7 installer:

WeChat Input is the one I type with every day, so I have not uninstalled it. On this Mac Mole lists 17 items for it and selects 11 by default. The one file it does not list is ~/Library/Preferences/com.tencent.WeTypeSettings.plist, which belongs to WeChat Input's settings helper; once WeChat Input is gone, it can go too.

Your dictionary folders are the only part here worth keeping. Copy BaiduInput or Sogou/InputMethod to a folder outside ~/Library before removing anything, and if you plan to reinstall later, keep that copy.

Checking what is left

These commands only read. None of them changes anything:

ls "/Library/Input Methods" ~/Library/Input\ Methods 2>/dev/null
pgrep -il 'sogou|baiduim|baiduservice|enableinput|wetype'
ls /Library/LaunchAgents /Library/LaunchDaemons ~/Library/LaunchAgents | grep -iE 'sogou|com\.baidu\.(inputservice|baiduservice)'
ls -d ~/Library/Application\ Support/Sogou/* ~/Library/Application\ Support/BaiduInput ~/.sogouinput 2>/dev/null

The first command lists the input methods still installed; SogouInput.app, BaiduIM.app or WeType.app in its output means that one is still there. pgrep printing nothing means none of their processes is running. A line from a bundle you already removed is still running from the Trash and goes at the next restart, and a process that comes back within seconds after quitting means a launch agent is still loaded. The third command should print nothing once the agents and the daemon are gone. The last one lists the data folders; whatever it shows is still on disk, and whether to keep it is your call after the backup.

How Mole handles it

Mole looks in both Input Methods folders, so an input method shows up in the app list like any other app. It does not show an "active now" hint or a last-used date for input methods, because macOS keeps them running whether you use them or not. When you pick one, Mole reminds you to switch to another input source first.

The input method and the launch agents and daemon whose program sits inside it are selected by default. Before asking a running input method to quit, Mole unloads those selected launch items, so KeepAlive cannot start the helpers again; that is the fix that came out of the Sogou refusal above. Items owned by root need your administrator password. The user data folders (BaiduInput, Sogou/InputMethod, ~/.sogouinput), Sogou's resource folders, its helper caches and its Quick Look previewer are listed but not selected. Mole only claims those exact subfolders, not the Sogou parent, ~/Library/sapi or the shared Bugly folder. Everything goes to the Trash, where you can still get it back.

After a batch that removed an input method, Mole restarts the input menu so the old entry disappears. When I removed Chatterfly before that change, the input menu still listed it, and it looked like the uninstall had failed. For the difference between a leftover and a background helper, see App still running after uninstall on Mac? and Disable startup programs and login items on Mac.

FAQ

Can I just drag the input method to the Trash?

You can move the app out of /Library/Input Methods with an administrator password, but the launch agents stay behind, and the Sogou and Baidu helpers they started keep running until you restart. Remove it from the input source list first, then the launch items, then the app.

The input method is gone but still shows in the input menu. Did the uninstall fail?

Probably not. The input menu keeps the list it read when it started. Log out and back in. Mole's Optimize also includes an Input switching repair that restarts the same menu.

Will I lose my custom words?

Only if you delete the dictionary folder. Copy ~/Library/Application Support/BaiduInput or ~/Library/Application Support/Sogou/InputMethod somewhere outside ~/Library first; Mole lists these folders without selecting them.