How to uninstall AnyDesk on Mac

How you remove AnyDesk depends on how it was set up. The portable version runs only the AnyDesk client, while a full installation also adds the AnyDesk Service, which runs in the background and allows unattended access. A full installation should come off through AnyDesk's own uninstaller first, and your AnyDesk ID and alias live in a configuration folder that is gone for good once you delete it. These steps cover the official download from anydesk.com and the Homebrew cask anydesk.

Before you start

  • End any remote session and tell anyone who connects to this Mac that the address will stop working.
  • If you might reinstall and want to keep the same AnyDesk ID and alias, copy ~/.anydesk, and /etc/anydesk on a full installation, to a safe place such as Documents first. AnyDesk's macOS page says deleting its configuration folders removes the ID and alias permanently unless backed up.
  • Removing the app does not cancel an AnyDesk subscription.

Remove a full installation with AnyDesk's uninstaller

This follows AnyDesk for macOS:

  1. Open AnyDesk, open its Menu and choose About AnyDesk.
  2. Hold the Option key and click Uninstall at the top right.
  3. If macOS asks for an administrator password, enter it or ask the Mac's administrator; the service and its helper live in system folders.
  4. When the uninstaller has finished, delete the configuration folders you no longer need (see the table below).

Keep AnyDesk.app in Applications until the uninstaller has finished. Dragging the app to the Trash first can leave the service's launch files and helper behind, and you would then have to remove them by hand with administrator rights. On a managed Mac, check with your IT department before removing remote-access software.

Remove the client-only (portable) version

  1. Right-click the AnyDesk icon in the menu bar and choose Quit.
  2. Move AnyDesk from Finder's Applications folder to the Trash.
  3. Delete the configuration folders you no longer need.

Where AnyDesk keeps its files

Location What it holds What to do
~/.anydesk Your AnyDesk configuration, including this Mac's ID and alias Back up if you want the same ID later, otherwise remove
/etc/anydesk System-wide configuration of a standard client Remove after uninstalling; needs administrator rights
~/.anydesk-ad_<prefix>, /etc/anydesk-ad_<prefix> The same for a custom client, where <prefix> is your company's client prefix Remove after uninstalling
~/Library/Preferences/com.philandro.anydesk.plist App preferences Remove with the app
/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.philandro.anydesk.service.plist, /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.philandro.anydesk.Helper.plist The background service and its helper job Removed by the uninstaller; check they are gone
/Library/LaunchAgents/com.philandro.anydesk.Frontend.plist, /Library/LaunchAgents/com.philandro.anydesk.Hub.plist Per-login agents Removed by the uninstaller; check they are gone
/Library/PrivilegedHelperTools/com.philandro.anydesk.Helper Privileged helper Removed by the uninstaller; check it is gone

The configuration folders come from AnyDesk's documentation; the system files come from the Homebrew cask's uninstall steps and exist only after a full installation.

Check the result

Run these read-only commands in Terminal:

pgrep -il anydesk
ls /Library/LaunchDaemons /Library/LaunchAgents /Library/PrivilegedHelperTools | grep -i anydesk
ls -d ~/.anydesk /etc/anydesk
  • No output from pgrep means no AnyDesk process is running. A listed process after uninstalling means the service is still loaded; restart the Mac and check again. If it survives a restart, reinstall AnyDesk and run its uninstaller again.
  • No output from the second line means no AnyDesk service, agent or helper file is left. A listed file means the service part is still installed; remove it through AnyDesk's uninstaller rather than deleting one file at a time.
  • ls -d prints each configuration folder that still exists and reports "No such file or directory" for the rest. A surviving ~/.anydesk is expected if you kept your ID.

For helpers that keep coming back after an uninstall, see App still running after uninstall on Mac.

If you installed it with Homebrew

The anydesk cask's uninstall step quits AnyDesk and its helper processes and deletes the two launch daemons, the two launch agents and the privileged helper listed above, which needs an administrator password. Its zap list adds ~/.anydesk, with your ID and alias, and the preferences file. Running brew uninstall --cask --zap anydesk yourself does not look at Mole's checkboxes. Homebrew AnyDesk cask

Mole does not run zap for this cask, because ~/.anydesk sits outside ~/Library; Mole removes the app and the rows you selected instead.

To remove the app and its service but keep your ID:

brew uninstall --cask anydesk

What Mole lists

When you remove it with Mole:

  • ~/.anydesk is listed but not selected, because it holds your ID and alias.
  • The com.philandro.anydesk preferences file is selected by default.
  • Launch daemons and agents in /Library whose label carries com.philandro.anydesk are listed and selected by default, and removing them asks for administrator approval. The privileged helper in /Library/PrivilegedHelperTools is listed but not selected. This test copied only the app, so none of these system rows were exercised.
  • /etc/anydesk and custom-client folders are not listed.

What this test covered

On September 19, 2026, AnyDesk.app was copied from the official download into Applications without running a full installation, opened once, then removed with Mole 1.15 Preview (build 277). While it ran, Mole's Status tab showed AnyDesk as one row of five processes, and its process explanation noted that AnyDesk was listening on a public port. The app and its preferences went to the Trash and its startup entry left Mole's list. That build had no row for ~/.anydesk; the review row above was added after this run. The AnyDesk Service, AnyDesk's own uninstaller, a signed-in license and the Homebrew cask were not tested.