How to uninstall BetterZip on Mac
BetterZip creates and opens archives, and its settings live in its preferences file and Application Support folder, both of which Mole selects by default, so untick them or copy them elsewhere if you want the same setup after reinstalling. The steps below cover the official Mac download and the Homebrew cask betterzip.
Turn off the Finder extension, then quit and remove the app
If you turned on BetterZip's Finder extension, turn it off first under System Settings › General › Login Items & Extensions, so Finder stops loading it. If you added BetterZip services, remove them from the Services folder inside your home folder's Library. Then quit BetterZip and move it from Applications to the Trash. BetterZip's Help menu has commands that show every place that may hold files created by or for BetterZip (BetterZip help).
Where BetterZip keeps its data
In Finder, press Shift + Command + G and check each location that exists.
| Location | What it holds | What to do |
|---|---|---|
~/Library/Preferences/com.macitbetter.betterzip.plist |
BetterZip's settings file, per its help page | Selected by default; copy it first if you want to keep your settings |
~/Library/Application Support/com.macitbetter.betterzip |
App data | Selected by default; review before removing |
~/Library/Caches/com.macitbetter.betterzip |
Cache data | Safe to remove |
~/Library/Saved Application State/com.macitbetter.betterzip.savedState |
Window state | Safe to remove |
~/Library/Application Scripts/com.macitbetter.betterzip.findersyncextension, .Quick-Look-Extension, .Compress-with-BetterZip, and the matching ~/Library/Containers folders |
Data for the Finder extension, Quick Look preview and Compress with BetterZip extension | Remove with the app once the Finder extension is off |
~/Library/Group Containers/79RR9LPM2N.group.com.macitbetter.betterzip |
A shared group folder, named in the Homebrew zap list | Remove only if no other BetterZip copy, such as a Setapp one, is installed |
Check the result
pgrep -il betterzip
ls -d ~/Library/Application\ Support/com.macitbetter.betterzip ~/Library/Caches/com.macitbetter.betterzip
pluginkit -m | grep -i betterzip
- No output from
pgrepmeans BetterZip is not running. lsprinting a path means that folder is still there; "No such file or directory" means it is gone.pluginkit -mlists registered app extensions; a BetterZip line means macOS still has one of its extensions registered, so check whether another copy of BetterZip.app is still on the Mac.
If you installed it with Homebrew
Mole skips --zap when its list reaches unchecked or shared data, or cannot fully be checked, and still cleans the leftovers you selected.
The betterzip cask also links a betterzip command-line tool, which Homebrew removes with the app. Its zap list is longer than the table above: besides the extension folders, settings, cache and saved state, it reaches two Group Containers and their Application Scripts folders, 79RR9LPM2N.group.com.macitbetter.betterzip and 79RR9LPM2N.group.com.macitbetter.betterzip-setapp, the second one belonging to the Setapp edition. Mole can also list these group folders, taken from Homebrew's zap list for this app, but does not select them, so with the default selection Mole leaves --zap out. Running brew uninstall --cask --zap betterzip yourself trashes everything in that list regardless of what Mole would tick; to keep your settings, use brew uninstall --cask betterzip without --zap.
brew uninstall --cask betterzip
What Mole lists
For an officially downloaded BetterZip:
~/Library/Preferences/com.macitbetter.betterzip.plist,~/Library/Application Support/com.macitbetter.betterzip,~/Library/Caches/com.macitbetter.betterzipand the saved window state are selected by default.- The Finder extension, Quick Look and Compress with BetterZip folders under Application Scripts and Containers are selected by default, since their identifiers are BetterZip's own identifier with a suffix added.
- Group folders taken from the Homebrew zap list are listed but not selected by default.
What this test covered
BetterZip 6.0.6 was installed from the official Mac zip and uninstalled on September 20, 2026, with the official Mole 1.15.0 build 282. The whole review list was ticked, and the app, its bundle-id Application Support folder and the rest of the list went to the Trash. The Finder extension was never turned on in this run, so its registration and the pluginkit check above were not exercised, and no services were added. BetterZip help