How to Uninstall ToDesk on Mac and What It Leaves Behind

UninstallPublished Updated 6 min read

Dragging ToDesk to the Trash removes the app in Applications and little else. Its installer also puts launch services, a privileged helper and an audio driver in /Library, and writes a device registration file under /etc. While those remain, one of the services can start ToDesk again after you quit it, and a reinstall comes back as the same remote-control device.

I ran ToDesk 5.1.0.0's official installer on a test Mac in September 2026 and removed it with Mole. The launch services, the uninstaller helper, the support folder, the logs and ~/Library/ToDesk went. Two things stayed: the audio driver, and /private/etc/todesk, a folder holding a single reg.conf. I moved those two to the Trash by hand, and Mole has listed both ever since. The component list below was first measured from ToDesk 4.10.1.0's installer; the /etc folder is what the 5.1.0.0 run added.

What ToDesk installs outside the app

The dmg on ToDesk's site is a downloader, ToDesk_Installer.app, which fetches the real package, ToDesk_5.1.0.0.pkg for the version I tested. The package asks for an administrator password because it writes well outside Applications:

  • Two launch agents in /Library/LaunchAgents: com.youqu.todesk.startup.plist and com.youqu.todesk.session.plist
  • Three launch daemons in /Library/LaunchDaemons: com.youqu.todesk.service.plist, com.youqu.todesk.UninstallerHelper.plist and com.youqu.todesk.UninstallerWatcher.plist
  • A privileged helper, /Library/PrivilegedHelperTools/com.youqu.todesk.UninstallerHelper
  • A support folder, /Library/Application Support/ToDesk
  • An audio driver, /Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/HAL/ToDeskOutputDriver.driver, version 1.3.0 on my test Mac
  • A device registration folder, /private/etc/todesk, with reg.conf inside

The app itself sits at /Applications/ToDesk.app. Quitting it does not keep it closed while the launch files are in place: one of the services keeps ToDesk alive, and it can bring the app back between the moment you quit it and the moment its launch file is gone. App still running after uninstall? covers that pattern in general.

What each item is and what to keep

Item What it is Keep or remove
/Applications/ToDesk.app The app Remove
The five com.youqu.todesk launch files Start ToDesk's services at login and at boot Remove, before the programs they start
com.youqu.todesk.UninstallerHelper Privileged helper in /Library/PrivilegedHelperTools Remove, after the launch files
/Library/Application Support/ToDesk ToDesk's system support folder Remove, after the launch files
ToDeskOutputDriver.driver ToDesk's audio output driver, loaded by Core Audio Remove
/private/etc/todesk Device registration, a single reg.conf Your call, see below
~/Library/ToDesk Session recordings in record Review first, this is your data

~/Library/ToDesk is not like the rest. ToDesk keeps session recordings in its record folder, and those are files you made, not leftovers. Mine was empty because I never recorded a session. Open yours before deciding, and copy out anything you want to keep.

reg.conf holds this Mac's ToDesk identity: a random ID, a GUID, the device name and some private data. The installer writes it in the same second as its package receipts, and removing the app leaves it in place. If it stays, a reinstall comes back as the same remote-control device. Remove it if the Mac is changing hands or you want a fresh device; keep it only if you plan to reinstall and want the old one back.

Do not clean up by searching your Mac for "todesk". Cursor and other apps built with ToDesktop carry com.todesktop in their identifiers, so the same search finds them too. Go by the exact paths above.

Remove it in this order

  1. Copy any recordings you want out of ~/Library/ToDesk/record.
  2. Quit ToDesk, then move /Applications/ToDesk.app to the Trash. If ToDesk opens again, that is the keep-alive service, and it stops once its launch file is gone.
  3. In Finder, choose Go › Go to Folder, open /Library/LaunchAgents and then /Library/LaunchDaemons, and move the five com.youqu.todesk files to the Trash. Finder asks for an administrator password.
  4. Then move the helper in /Library/PrivilegedHelperTools, /Library/Application Support/ToDesk, ToDeskOutputDriver.driver in /Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/HAL, and /private/etc/todesk if you decided to let the device ID go.
  5. Restart. Moving a launch file does not stop a service launchd is already running; that is why Mole stops each one just before it moves the file, and a restart does the same for a removal by hand.

The launch files go before the helper and the support folder because they are what points at those programs. Find Library leftovers after uninstalling Mac apps explains the user Library side of the same cleanup.

Checking what is left

pgrep -il todesk
ls /Library/LaunchAgents /Library/LaunchDaemons /Library/PrivilegedHelperTools | grep youqu.todesk
ls -d "/Library/Application Support/ToDesk" /Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/HAL/ToDeskOutputDriver.driver /private/etc/todesk ~/Library/ToDesk
pkgutil --pkgs | grep youqu

No output from pgrep means nothing from ToDesk is running; a line such as ToDesk or ToDesk_XPCHelper is a process that is still up, and a restart clears it once the launch files are gone. No output from the second command means the five launch files and the helper are gone, and each line it prints is one that is still there. For the third, "No such file or directory" is the answer you want for each path; a path it prints back still exists, which is expected for ~/Library/ToDesk or /private/etc/todesk if you chose to keep them. Lines from pkgutil are package receipts, the installer's records in the package database, not programs that run.

How Mole handles it

In Mole, ToDesk's system items come from an exact list of the paths above, never from a search for "todesk", so Cursor and the other ToDesktop apps stay out of it. The five launch files, the helper, the support folder, the driver and /private/etc/todesk are all listed but none is selected by default, and the same goes for ~/Library/ToDesk and two installer caches under /var/folders, com.todesk.downloader and com.youqu.todesk.UninstallerClient. You tick what goes.

Mole quits ToDesk and moves the app first. The system items move only once ToDesk.app is gone, need your administrator password, and go to the Trash. Each selected service is stopped just before its launch file moves, and the helper and support folder move only when no remaining launch file points into them. If you selected the UninstallerWatcher daemon, Mole turns it off before the app moves and turns it back on if that fails. The driver moves only when its code signature matches ToDesk's Team ID and signing identifier, and /private/etc/todesk only when it is a real folder holding nothing but reg.conf. If the keep-alive service brought ToDesk back midway, Mole quits it again once every launch file is gone, and it forgets the two uninstaller package receipts only after the app and every one of these system items are absent.

FAQ

Can I delete /private/etc/todesk?

Yes, once ToDesk.app is gone. It holds only reg.conf, this Mac's ToDesk device identity. Leaving it means a reinstall comes back as the same device; removing it takes an administrator password.

Will uninstalling ToDesk delete my session recordings?

Moving the app to the Trash does not touch them. They are in ~/Library/ToDesk/record, and Mole lists that folder without selecting it, so it stays unless you tick it.

Why does ToDesk open again after I quit it?

One of its launch services keeps it alive. Move the app and the five com.youqu.todesk launch files to the Trash, then restart, and it stays closed.