How to uninstall Goodnotes on Mac

Back up your Goodnotes library before you remove the app. Goodnotes' manual backup article describes the steps: open the Goodnotes menu at the top right of the Library view and choose Cloud & Backup › Manual Backup › Back Up Now, then pick a safe place for the .zip file. Keep Goodnotes open in the foreground until the backup finishes, and restore it later by importing that .zip. If you use iCloud sync, also check that your notebooks open on another device. Removing the app does not cancel a subscription; check that separately. These steps cover the Mac App Store version; Goodnotes has no Homebrew cask.

Quit Goodnotes and remove the app

  1. Finish the backup, then quit Goodnotes.
  2. Search Activity Monitor for Goodnotes and check that it has exited.
  3. Move Goodnotes from the Applications folder to the Trash.

Where Goodnotes keeps its data

In Finder, press Shift + Command + G and open each location that exists.

Location What it holds What to do
~/Library/Containers/com.goodnotesapp.x The app's sandboxed data, 13.4 MB on the test Mac after one launch without signing in Make the backup first, then remove it with the app
~/Library/Containers/com.goodnotesapp.x.WidgetExtension and ~/Library/Application Scripts/com.goodnotesapp.x.WidgetExtension The widget extension inside Goodnotes Remove them with the app
~/Library/Application Scripts/com.goodnotesapp.x Scripts folder for the app Remove it with the app
~/Library/Caches/CloudKit/com.goodnotesapp.x Goodnotes' iCloud cache Safe to remove; never remove the whole CloudKit folder
group.com.goodnotesapp.goodnotes, group.com.goodnotesapp.nexushelper and group.com.goodnotesapp.open-in-action-extension under ~/Library/Group Containers App Group folders the app declares for sharing data with its extensions Remove them only after your backup is safe
~/Library/Application Scripts/group.com.goodnotesapp.goodnotes Scripts folder for the first App Group Remove it with the group folders, if at all

Check the result

Run these read-only commands in Terminal:

pgrep -il goodnotes
mdfind "kMDItemCFBundleIdentifier == 'com.goodnotesapp.x'"
ls -d "$HOME/Library/Containers/com.goodnotesapp.x" "$HOME/Library/Caches/CloudKit/com.goodnotesapp.x"
ls "$HOME/Library/Group Containers" | grep -i goodnotes
  • No output from pgrep means Goodnotes is not running.
  • No output from mdfind means Spotlight finds no remaining copy of the app. A path in the output is a copy still on disk.
  • ls -d printing a path means that folder is still there. "No such file or directory" means it is gone.
  • The last command lists any Goodnotes App Group folders still on disk. No output means none are left. A listed folder is not a failed uninstall, because Mole does not list them.

What Mole lists

  • ~/Library/Containers/com.goodnotesapp.x is selected by default and holds the app's data, so make the backup first or untick it.
  • ~/Library/Application Scripts/com.goodnotesapp.x, ~/Library/Caches/CloudKit/com.goodnotesapp.x, the widget extension's container and Application Scripts folder, the app's recent-documents list and its temporary cache folders, including the WebKit ones, are selected by default.
  • ~/Library/Application Scripts/group.com.goodnotesapp.goodnotes is listed but not selected.
  • The folders under ~/Library/Group Containers are not listed. Their names do not carry the app's own bundle ID, and Mole keeps App Group folders unless it can prove which app owns them.

What this test covered

Goodnotes 7.1.24 from the Mac App Store was launched without signing in and uninstalled with a development build of Mole on September 26, 2026, with every listed row ticked. Mole's Status page showed Goodnotes as one row with six processes using 261 MB. Eleven items went to the Trash, including the 1.5 GB app and the 13.4 MB container. ~/Library/Application Scripts/group.com.goodnotesapp.goodnotes was ticked, but Mole skipped it as protected app data and it stayed. No login item or launch agent appeared. In an earlier test on September 21, 2026, the app, its Application Scripts folder and its temporary cache went to the Trash, but the container and the WebKit temporary data could not be moved to the Trash in that run. No notebook was created, and sign-in, iCloud sync and subscriptions were not tested.