How to uninstall DBeaver on Mac
Everything you set up in DBeaver lives in one folder, ~/Library/DBeaverData: saved connections, encrypted credentials, SQL scripts, projects, downloaded drivers and settings. Removing the app does not remove it, and deleting it removes all of that at once. Export what you want to keep before you touch the folder. Your databases themselves are not on this Mac unless you run them here, and uninstalling DBeaver does nothing to them. These steps cover the official download from dbeaver.io and the Homebrew cask dbeaver-community, which install the same DBeaver Community app.
Export connections and scripts first
In DBeaver, choose File › Export, then DBeaver › Projects, to write your projects, including their connections and scripts, to an archive you can import later with File › Import (DBeaver projects documentation). Open the archive location afterward to confirm the file exists. Saved passwords are the easiest thing to lose: after you import on another Mac or a fresh install, open one connection and check that it still logs in before you delete anything.
If you only need the raw files, DBeaver keeps each project's connection list in data-sources.json and its encrypted credentials in credentials-config.json, inside ~/Library/DBeaverData/workspace6/General/.dbeaver for the default project (connection configuration files). Copy the whole .dbeaver folder rather than single files.
DBeaver can also keep a generated master password in the macOS Keychain when integrated security is turned on under Window › Preferences › General › Security (integrated security). Removing DBeaver does not touch that Keychain item, and Mole never reads or removes Keychain items.
Quit DBeaver and remove the app
Quit DBeaver from its app menu. It runs as a Java process, so check Activity Monitor for dbeaver if the app seems to linger. Move DBeaver from Applications to the Trash. In the recorded test a DBeaver entry stayed in System Settings › General › Login Items & Extensions after removal, pointing at the deleted app; it starts nothing, and you can turn it off there.
Where DBeaver keeps its data
| Location | What it holds | What to do |
|---|---|---|
~/Library/DBeaverData |
Workspace (workspace6) with projects, connections, credentials and scripts, plus drivers, secure storage and global settings (workspace location) |
Export first; keep it if another DBeaver edition is still installed |
~/Library/Caches/org.jkiss.dbeaver.core.product |
Cache | Safe to remove |
~/Library/HTTPStorages/org.jkiss.dbeaver.core.product |
Stored web request data | Safe to remove |
~/Library/Preferences/org.jkiss.dbeaver.core.product.plist |
macOS-level app preferences | Safe to remove |
~/Library/Saved Application State/org.jkiss.dbeaver.core.product.savedState |
Saved window state | Safe to remove |
~/Library/DBeaverData is not only DBeaver Community's: DBeaver Lite uses the same folder, and its Homebrew cask lists it too. If another DBeaver edition is still on this Mac, leave the folder alone.
Check the result
Run these read-only commands in Terminal:
pgrep -il dbeaver
ls -d ~/Library/DBeaverData
ls ~/Library/DBeaverData/workspace6/General/.dbeaver
- No output from
pgrepmeans DBeaver has quit. - The
ls -dline printing the path means your DBeaver data is still there, which is expected if you kept it; "No such file or directory" means it is gone. - The last line lists the connection files of the default project. Seeing
data-sources.jsonmeans your connections are still on disk. "No such file or directory" means either the whole folder is gone or you never used the default project.
If you installed it with Homebrew
The dbeaver-community cask stops DBeaver on uninstall and removes the dbeaver command it links. Its zap list includes ~/Library/DBeaverData (every connection, credential and script), plus the cache, HTTP storage, preferences and saved window state. brew uninstall --cask --zap dbeaver-community moves all of them to the Trash whatever you selected in Mole, even if DBeaver Lite still uses the folder. To keep your data, remove only the app:
brew uninstall --cask dbeaver-community
Mole adds --zap only when everything in the zap list sits in your own ~/Library, none of it touches a row you left unchecked, and none of it is claimed by another installed app. ~/Library/DBeaverData is listed but not selected, and another installed DBeaver edition also blocks it, so in those cases Mole removes the app without --zap and moves only the rows you selected.
What Mole lists
When you remove it with Mole:
~/Library/DBeaverDatais listed but not selected, so your connections and scripts stay unless you tick it.- The cache, HTTP storage, preferences plist and saved window state named after
org.jkiss.dbeaver.core.productare selected by default, as are DBeaver's crash reports. - Keychain items are outside the uninstall scope, and Mole does not connect to database servers to delete data.
What this test covered
DBeaver Community was installed from the official download and uninstalled on September 19, 2026, with a Mole Preview build, with the review list shown. Its crash reports were selected by default and removed. ~/Library/DBeaverData was not on Mole's list at the time and stayed on disk; the review-only row above was added to Mole in the same test batch. A Login Items entry pointing at the removed app remained. No connections or scripts are recorded, so exporting, credentials and the Keychain item were not tested, and the Homebrew cask was not part of it.
