Uninstall GIMP on Mac
Back up any custom brushes, scripts or plug-ins you added to GIMP before removing it. These steps cover GIMP installed from the official disk image and from the Homebrew cask gimp; the recorded test used the Homebrew cask.
Quit and remove the app
Quit GIMP from its app menu, then move GIMP from Applications to the Trash (official download), or let Homebrew remove it (see below).
Where GIMP keeps its data
GIMP files its configuration under a per-version folder, and stores its current preferences file both with and without a version number.
| Location | What it holds | What to do |
|---|---|---|
~/Library/Application Support/GIMP/<version> (for example 3.2) |
Your customized brushes, scripts, plug-ins and other per-version settings | Back it up if you added anything of your own; otherwise safe to remove |
~/Library/Caches/GIMP |
Regenerable cache | Safe to remove |
~/Library/Preferences/org.gimp.gimp.plist |
Current preferences | Safe to remove |
~/Library/Preferences/org.gimp.gimp-<version>.plist and ~/Library/Saved Application State/org.gimp.gimp-<version>.savedState |
Version-specific preferences and saved window state | Safe to remove |
macOS filenames are not case-sensitive here, so Gimp and GIMP in a path both mean the same Application Support folder.
Check the result
Run these read-only commands in Terminal:
pgrep -ilf gimp
launchctl list | grep -i org.gimp
ls -d ~/Library/Application\ Support/GIMP
ls ~/Library/Preferences | grep -i org.gimp
No output from pgrep means GIMP is not running. No output from launchctl list means GIMP never registered a background job. ls -d on the Application Support folder either lists it, with one subfolder per version, or reports "No such file or directory". The last command lists any GIMP preferences files still on disk, including the version-numbered one; an empty result means none are left.
If you installed it with Homebrew
The next Mole update will skip --zap when its list reaches unchecked or shared data, or cannot be fully checked. Mole will still clean the leftovers you selected. Preview 290 does not include this protection.
Mole Preview 290 removes a Homebrew cask the same way as brew uninstall --cask --zap gimp. The cask's zap list moves ~/Library/Application Support/Gimp (your brushes, scripts and plug-ins), the version-numbered preferences file, and the version-numbered saved-window-state file to the Trash, whatever you have ticked in Mole. The version-numbered files are not something Mole's own uninstall list recognizes on its own, since they are not exact matches for GIMP's bundle id; they only get removed here because Homebrew's own list names them directly. Back up anything you added first, or run the app-only removal below. Homebrew GIMP cask
brew uninstall --cask gimp
What Mole lists
This describes Mole 1.15 (currently in Preview) for GIMP installed from the official download:
~/Library/Application Support/GIMPis listed but not selected, so your brushes, scripts and plug-ins are kept unless you tick the row.~/Library/Caches/GIMPand~/Library/Preferences/org.gimp.gimp.plistare selected by default.- The version-numbered
org.gimp.gimp-<version>.plistpreferences file and the matching saved-window-state file are outside Mole's uninstall list for an official-download install; they are removed only when Homebrew's zap step names them directly.
What this test covered
GIMP was installed and removed through the Homebrew cask gimp on September 17, 2026, with a development build of Mole; Mole reported it as already covered by its existing rules, so nothing new was added for this app. Homebrew's zap step moved ~/Library/Application Support/GIMP/3.2 (41 MB) to the Trash before Mole's own scan ran, and Mole's own removal took the current org.gimp.gimp.plist preferences file and ~/Library/Caches/GIMP. A GIMP.app copy already sitting in the Trash from an earlier, unrelated date was left untouched, since it predated this test and the Trash was not emptied. The official disk-image install was not part of this uninstall test.