How to uninstall Alfred on Mac

Your workflows, snippets, themes and most other Alfred settings live in one package, Alfred.alfredpreferences. By default it sits in ~/Library/Application Support/Alfred, but if you set up syncing it lives in a folder you chose, such as a Dropbox or iCloud Drive folder, and Alfred's sync guide says other Macs can read it from there. Removing Alfred does not touch that sync folder, and you should not delete it while another Mac still uses it. This guide covers Alfred 5 from Alfred's download and the Homebrew cask alfred.

Find your preferences and save what you need

  1. Open Alfred Preferences › Advanced and look at Syncing. If it shows a folder, click Reveal in Finder; that is where your Alfred.alfredpreferences lives. If it reads Not Synced, the package is in ~/Library/Application Support/Alfred.
  2. Copy Alfred.alfredpreferences to a backup location if it is not already in a synced folder you trust.
  3. Clipboard History, the main hotkey, snippet auto-expansion and a few other settings stay on each Mac and never sync, according to the same guide, so they go with this Mac's local data.
  4. Keep your Powerpack license email. Alfred's preferences page notes that resetting the preferences also removes the Powerpack activation, so you will enter the license again after a reinstall.

Quit Alfred and remove the app

  1. Quit Alfred from the Alfred hat in the menu bar, or with the Quit Alfred button in Alfred's General preferences.
  2. Search Activity Monitor for Alfred and check that both Alfred and Alfred Preferences have exited.
  3. Move Alfred 5 from Finder's Applications folder to the Trash.
  4. Open System Settings › General › Login Items & Extensions. In the recorded test Alfred's login item was still listed after the app was in the Trash; turn it off there.
  5. If you gave Alfred access under System Settings › Privacy & Security, such as Accessibility, you can remove its entries there too.

Where Alfred keeps its data

The folders below are the ones Alfred's preferences page lists for a full reset.

Location What it holds What to do
~/Library/Application Support/Alfred Local data, prefs.json that points at your preferences, and Alfred.alfredpreferences when you do not sync Keep it until your preferences are backed up; remove it last
Your sync folder, if you chose one Alfred.alfredpreferences shared with other Macs Leave it; removing Alfred on this Mac does not need it gone
~/Library/Preferences/com.runningwithcrayons.Alfred.plist and ~/Library/Preferences/com.runningwithcrayons.Alfred-Preferences.plist App preferences; removing them with the Alfred folder resets the Powerpack activation Remove only for a clean start
~/Library/Caches/com.runningwithcrayons.Alfred Caches Safe to remove after quitting

Check the result

Run these read-only commands after the app is in the Trash:

pgrep -il alfred
cat "$HOME/Library/Application Support/Alfred/prefs.json"
ls "$HOME/Library/Application Support/Alfred"
  • No output from pgrep means neither Alfred nor Alfred Preferences is running.
  • cat printing a path shows which Alfred.alfredpreferences Alfred was using. A path inside your sync folder means your settings are there and untouched. No such file or directory means Alfred was using the default location, or the folder is already gone.
  • ls listing Alfred.alfredpreferences means the local copy is still there, which is expected if you kept it.

If you installed it with Homebrew

The alfred cask's uninstall step quits Alfred and removes its Alfred5 login item. Its zap list trashes ~/Library/Application Support/Alfred, the caches, the cookies, both preferences files and the Alfred Preferences saved window state. If you do not sync, brew uninstall --cask --zap alfred therefore moves your local Alfred.alfredpreferences, with its workflows and snippets, to the Trash. A sync folder you chose is not on the list.

To keep your local preferences, remove only the app:

brew uninstall --cask alfred

Mole adds --zap only when every path on the zap list sits inside ~/Library, none of them touches a row you left unchecked, and no other installed app claims them. ~/Library/Application Support/Alfred is listed but unselected by default, so Mole leaves --zap out unless you tick that row. A brew command you type yourself never consults Mole's checkboxes.

What Mole lists

For Alfred from Alfred's download:

  • ~/Library/Application Support/Alfred is listed but not selected, so a local Alfred.alfredpreferences stays unless you tick it.
  • The caches and the com.runningwithcrayons.Alfred preferences file are selected by default.
  • The Alfred Preferences helper's preferences file is listed but not selected.
  • Your sync folder is not listed. Mole does not edit login items or privacy permissions; turn those off in System Settings.

What this test covered

On September 19, 2026, Alfred 5.8 was copied from Alfred's download into Applications, opened, and uninstalled with a Preview build of Mole 1.15. There was no Homebrew receipt. ~/Library/Application Support/Alfred was listed, left unselected and stayed on disk. Alfred's login item, com.runningwithcrayons.Alfred, was still listed in System Settings afterwards, pointing at the app in the Trash. No Powerpack license, workflow, sync folder or Homebrew install was tested.