How to uninstall HandBrake on Mac

Export your custom presets before removing HandBrake. The Mac app is sandboxed, and HandBrake's documentation puts user presets inside its container, which Mole selects by default. Videos you already encoded are in the destination folder you chose and are not touched. These steps cover the official download from handbrake.fr and the Homebrew cask handbrake-app.

Export presets first

Open HandBrake, finish or cancel the queue, and export your presets from the preset pane; HandBrake's custom preset guide describes exporting one or many at a time for backup. Save the exported file somewhere outside Library, such as Documents. If HandBrake no longer opens, copy the preset file itself:

~/Library/Containers/fr.handbrake.HandBrake/Data/Library/Application Support/HandBrake/UserPresets.json

Finder may show the container folder as HandBrake rather than fr.handbrake.HandBrake.

Quit and remove the app

1. Let running encodes finish or stop them, then quit HandBrake from its app menu or press Command + Q.
2. Search for HandBrake in Activity Monitor and confirm it has exited.
3. Move HandBrake from Finder's Applications folder to the Trash.

HandBrake does not ship a Mac uninstaller. The command-line HandBrakeCLI is a separate install, such as the Homebrew formula handbrake, and is not removed with the app.

Where HandBrake keeps local data

The container path comes from HandBrake's documentation and the test; the last three come from the Homebrew cask's zap list and may not exist on a current install.

In the test, macOS refused to let Mole move the container to the Trash. If it is still there after uninstalling and your presets are exported, open ~/Library/Containers in Finder and drag it to the Trash yourself.

Check the result

Run these read-only commands in Terminal:

pgrep -il handbrake
ls -d ~/Library/Containers/fr.handbrake.HandBrake

• No output from pgrep means HandBrake is no longer running. A listed process means it is still open or encoding; stop it before touching its folders.
• ls -d printing the path means the container, and any presets inside it, is still there. "No such file or directory" means it is gone.

If you installed it with Homebrew

The handbrake-app cask's zap list trashes ~/Library/Application Support/HandBrake, the cache, preferences, saved window state and HandBrake's entry in the recent-documents list. It does not name the sandbox container, so a direct brew uninstall --cask --zap handbrake-app leaves your presets in place. It does not look at Mole's checkboxes either. Homebrew HandBrake cask

Mole checks the zap list first. If it would reach a row you left unticked, such as Application Support/HandBrake, Mole drops --zap and removes only the app and the rows you selected. Whether or not --zap runs, the container is Mole's own row, selected by default, so untick it if your presets are not exported.

To remove only the app:

brew uninstall --cask handbrake-app

What Mole lists

When you remove it with Mole:

• ~/Library/Containers/fr.handbrake.HandBrake is selected by default. It holds your presets; export them or untick it.
• The Application Scripts folder, cache, preferences and saved window state filed under fr.handbrake.HandBrake are selected by default.
• ~/Library/Application Support/HandBrake is listed but not selected, because it is named after the app rather than its bundle ID.
• The uninstall scan excludes personal folders such as Movies and Downloads.

What this test covered

On September 19, 2026, HandBrake was copied from the official download into Applications, opened once, then removed with Mole 1.15 Preview (build 277). The 141 MB app and its Application Scripts folder went to the Trash; macOS refused to move the container, so it stayed on disk. Presets and encoding were not tested, and the Homebrew cask was not uninstalled in this test.