How to uninstall HBuilderX on Mac

HBuilderX is DCloud's code editor, from dcloud.io (bundle ID io.dcloud.HBuilderX). Your projects are folders you chose when you created or opened them, so removing the app does not delete them; check in the editor's project list where each one lives. The app's own settings sit in ~/Library/Application Support/HBuilder X (54.7 MB right after the first launch). DCloud's troubleshooting post calls it the configuration directory and tells you to back it up before deleting it. It does not say what the folder contains, so look at it yourself before you decide. The editor's built-in plugins live inside the app and leave with it. This guide covers the Apple silicon disk image from DCloud and the Homebrew cask hbuilderx.

Quit and remove the app

  1. Copy ~/Library/Application Support/HBuilder X somewhere safe if you want to keep your settings. Open the editor's project list and confirm every project you care about is in a folder you know.
  2. Quit HBuilderX with Command + Q. It starts bundled Node.js helper processes and a crash reporter from inside the app; in the test the group showed as one HBuilderX row with 9 processes in Mole's Status page, and Mole stopped the leftover Node and crashpad processes after moving the app.
  3. Open Finder, go to Applications and drag HBuilderX to the Trash.

The test registered no login item or launch agent.

Where the data lives

Press Shift + Command + G in Finder to open each path. Skip any path that is not on your Mac.

Location What it holds What to do
Your project folders Your code Keep. Mole does not list them.
~/Library/Application Support/HBuilder X The configuration directory, 54.7 MB in the test; DCloud advises a backup before deleting it Copy out, then remove. Mole lists it for review and selects it by default when eligible.
~/Library/Preferences/io.dcloud.HBuilderX.plist Preferences Remove. Selected by default.
The folder getconf DARWIN_USER_CACHE_DIR prints, then io.dcloud.HBuilderX Temporary cache, empty in the test Remove. Selected by default.

Check the result

pgrep -il HBuilderX
pgrep -fl 'HBuilderX.app'
ls -d /Applications/HBuilderX.app "$HOME/Library/Application Support/HBuilder X" "$HOME/Library/Preferences/io.dcloud.HBuilderX.plist"
  • No output from the two pgrep commands means HBuilderX and its bundled helpers are not running. A printed line is a process still alive, including a Node process started from inside the app; quit HBuilderX or end that one.
  • For ls -d, No such file or directory means that path is gone. A printed path is still on disk. A surviving configuration folder is expected if you kept it on purpose.

If you installed it with Homebrew

brew uninstall --cask hbuilderx

The cask quits HBuilderX and removes the app, nothing else. Its zap list trashes ~/Library/Application Support/HBuilder X and the preferences file. A direct brew uninstall --cask --zap hbuilderx therefore deletes the configuration directory and does not read Mole's checkboxes. Mole adds --zap only when its whole removal scope passes its zap gate (unchecked or shared paths, paths outside the reviewed boundary, unknown stanzas or unsupported directives suppress it) and otherwise removes the rows you selected itself. The Homebrew install was not tested.

What Mole lists

Mole selects the app, the preferences file and the temporary cache row. It lists ~/Library/Application Support/HBuilder X for review and selects it by default when eligible, so untick it if you want to keep your settings. Status shows HBuilderX as one row. Mole found no update channel for it.

What this test covered

On November 9, 2026, the Apple silicon HBuilderX 5.34.2026102909 disk image from DCloud, whose checksum matched the Homebrew cask, was copied to Applications on a test Mac without running brew install and opened once. It was removed with a source-built Mole with every review row ticked. Mole asked the app to quit, force quit it when it kept running, moved the app and 3 rows to the Trash with no failures, and ended 8 bundled Node and crashpad processes that were still running; a rescan then found nothing left. Status showed one row with 9 processes. No project was created or opened, and no DCloud account was signed in, so projects, plugin installs, sign-in, the Homebrew install and Mole's notarized release build were not tested.