How to uninstall Azure Data Studio on Mac

Microsoft retired Azure Data Studio on February 28, 2026 and now points users to Visual Studio Code, so removing it is a one-way move: back up anything you still need from its settings before you start, since nothing here transfers to VS Code on its own. This guide covers the official arm64 zip build and the Homebrew cask azure-data-studio.

Quit Azure Data Studio and remove the app

  1. Save open work and quit Azure Data Studio from its application menu.
  2. Check Activity Monitor for a lingering Azure Data Studio or Azure Data Studio Helper process.
  3. In Finder's Applications folder, move Azure Data Studio to the Trash. Microsoft's own download and install page covers only the general macOS steps of dragging an app to the Trash; it does not document Azure Data Studio's own data paths, which come from the local test below instead.

Where its data lives

Location What it holds What to do
~/Library/Application Support/azuredatastudio The app's data folder, about 19.8 MB after first run in the test Listed but not selected. Back it up before deleting if you still want your settings.
~/.azuredatastudio A small item in your home folder, 8 KB in the test Listed but not selected
~/Library/Preferences/com.azuredatastudio.oss.plist App preferences Selected by default
~/Library/Preferences/com.azuredatastudio.oss.helper.plist Helper process preferences Selected by default
~/Library/Saved Application State/com.azuredatastudio.oss.savedState Window state Selected by default

Before removing, note the servers you connect to so you can add them again in another tool; the connection details you saved were not examined in this test.

If you installed it with Homebrew

Mole checks the cask's zap list first: when it reaches a row you left unticked, Mole drops --zap and still cleans up the rows you selected through its own recoverable Trash step.

The azure-data-studio cask's zap list matches Application Support/azuredatastudio plus the two preference files and saved state above. Because the settings folder is unticked by default, Mole normally runs brew uninstall --cask azure-data-studio without --zap.

The cask also links an azuredatastudio command; Homebrew removes it together with the app.

Running the zap step yourself moves everything above to the Trash regardless of what you ticked in Mole:

brew uninstall --cask --zap azure-data-studio

To keep your settings, back up Application Support/azuredatastudio first, or remove only the app:

brew uninstall --cask azure-data-studio

Check the result

pgrep -il "azure data studio"
command -v azuredatastudio
ls -d ~/Library/Application\ Support/azuredatastudio ~/.azuredatastudio
  • No output from pgrep means no Azure Data Studio process is running.
  • No output from command -v means the azuredatastudio command was not found in this shell's PATH. Output means it still resolves somewhere; check that location separately if you removed the app another way.
  • ls -d prints each folder that still exists and reports "No such file or directory" for the rest.

What Mole lists

For Azure Data Studio installed from the official download:

  • ~/Library/Application Support/azuredatastudio and ~/.azuredatastudio are listed but not selected, so you choose whether to keep them.
  • The preferences filed under com.azuredatastudio.oss and the saved window state are selected by default.
  • Mole does not claim Visual Studio Code's own Code/ folder or ~/.vscode for Azure Data Studio.

For a Homebrew install, the zap list reaches the settings folder, so Mole normally leaves --zap out unless you tick that row too.

What this test covered

On September 21, 2026, Azure Data Studio 1.52.0 was copied from the official download into Applications, opened, and removed with a Preview build of Mole 1.15 (build 282) with every listed row ticked; there was no Homebrew receipt. The app, its preferences and Application Support/azuredatastudio (about 19.8 MB) went to the Trash. The 8 KB ~/.azuredatastudio was not listed and stayed on disk after the app was removed; the review row above was added to Mole after this test. Connecting to a server, extensions and the Homebrew cask were not tested.