How to uninstall ChatWise on Mac

Back up conversations and uploaded files before removing ChatWise. Its data documentation identifies ~/Library/Application Support/app.chatwise as the Mac data directory: app.db and any app.db-shm or app.db-wal companions hold conversations and settings, while files holds conversation attachments. Copying only the main database can miss wanted files.

Preserve chats and quit

Save any working-directory changes made by agent sessions, then quit ChatWise and stop its related local tasks. Copy the entire existing support folder, including database companions and files, to an independent private backup outside every sync root and removal folder. Verify its contents and keep originals until recovery is confirmed.

Move ChatWise.app from Applications to the Trash in Finder. The v26 migration guide says earlier chats, files and settings are retained through upgrade, so do not assume an old-version upgrade made a separate backup. Keep project folders and independently installed model servers or MCP tools you still use.

Review the actual locations

The current cask names the support directory above, ~/Library/Caches/app.chatwise, ~/Library/Saved Application State/app.chatwise.savedState and ~/Library/WebKit/app.chatwise. After quitting, use Finder's Go › Go to Folder and remove only unwanted confirmed-owned app state after backup checks. Keep shared parents and provider-side data; local removal does not request deletion from a model provider.

If you installed it with Homebrew

Ordinary uninstall asks app.chatwise to quit and removes the managed app.

brew uninstall --cask chatwise

Zap additionally removes all four directories above, including conversations, settings and attachments. A direct brew uninstall --cask --zap chatwise ignores Mole's checkboxes. Mole uses zap only when its complete scope passes selection, ownership and safety checks; selected remnants otherwise use its own Trash flow.

Check the result

pgrep -ifl ChatWise
ls -ld "$HOME/Library/Application Support/app.chatwise" "$HOME/Library/Caches/app.chatwise"

No process match means no arguments matched that name; identify a surviving match before quitting it. Printed folders remain, expected if retained. A missing-path error means that exact folder is absent; permissions or command errors are inconclusive. Folder existence alone does not establish conversation or attachment recovery.

What Mole lists

The exact bundle-ID support folder, cache and saved-state entries are selected by default; back up and uncheck the support row to keep chats and settings. Web-view entries still follow their own safety checks. The optional app-data preference does not change those exact app defaults or establish ownership of projects and separately installed tools.

What this test covered

On September 22, 2026, the official-download ChatWise 26.9.0 app was copied into Applications and removed with selected support data. Follow-up found the attributed support, updater and ShipIt paths absent. Populated chats, attachments, provider credentials, agent work and the Homebrew uninstall route were not tested.