How to Uninstall BBEdit on Mac

Back up your documents and any custom BBEdit scripts, text filters, or support files before removing the editor. This guide covers the direct Mac download used in the recorded test; the App Store and Homebrew builds need their own installation-channel checks. BBEdit can use a support folder in iCloud Drive or Dropbox, so do not assume everything you made is inside the app bundle. Bare Bones explains the support-folder options.

Remove the app and review its files

  1. Quit BBEdit and close any document you are editing. Keep your project and document folders wherever you saved them.
  2. Move BBEdit.app from Applications to Trash. If you installed its command-line tools separately, inspect those links before removing them.
  3. In Finder, use Go › Go to Folder to inspect ~/Library/Application Support/BBEdit and ~/Library/BBEdit. These can contain scripts, language modules, and other preferences worth keeping. Copy wanted items to a backup and open the copy before removing the originals.
  4. Inspect ~/Library/Preferences/com.barebones.bbedit.plist only if you want to reset BBEdit's settings. A missing path needs no action. Leave iCloud Drive and Dropbox folders alone unless you have checked the contents and sync state separately.

The BBEdit support notes explain why the App Store sandbox can create a different container. Do not remove an entire Containers folder or another app's data to chase a small leftover.

Check what remains

These commands only inspect the current Mac:

pgrep -il BBEdit
ls -ld ~/Library/'Application Support'/BBEdit ~/Library/BBEdit
command -v bbedit

No pgrep output means no matching process is running; a match means quit it before touching its files. ls prints paths that exist, reports “No such file or directory” for absent ones, and can report a permission error that needs investigation rather than a deletion. command -v shows only a command reachable through this shell's PATH; no output does not prove every link is gone. If it resolves, inspect its target and remove only a link you know belongs to this installation.

If you installed it with Homebrew

The BBEdit cask has a zap list covering Application Support/BBEdit, ~/Library/BBEdit, caches, and the BBEdit preferences file. To retain custom support files, use:

brew uninstall --cask bbedit

Running brew uninstall --cask --zap bbedit yourself processes the cask's whole zap list regardless of Mole's checkboxes. Mole omits --zap if a zap target is unchecked, shared, outside its reviewed boundary, or cannot be verified, and still handles selected remnants through its own removal flow. Neither uninstall command deletes your separately saved documents or cancels any purchase.

What Mole lists

Mole selects exact bundle-ID support, cache, and preferences rows by default. A folder named Application Support/BBEdit is listed for review but not selected by default; inspect scripts and support data before checking it. A sandbox Container may also be listed, but system permission or ownership checks can keep it in place. Mole does not treat an iCloud or Dropbox support folder as disposable app residue.

What this test covered

On September 20, 2026, BBEdit 16.0.3 from the official package was installed and removed with every review item selected. The recorded Application Support/BBEdit folder, about 70 KB, was removed. A roughly 320 KB Container remained after a macOS Trash permission error. The test did not establish the contents of a user's documents or cloud support folder and was not a Homebrew or App Store uninstall.