How to uninstall Kdenlive on Mac

Archive wanted projects before removing Kdenlive. The official archive guide describes File > Archive Project, which copies the required project and media files to a directory or archive and updates the copied project's media paths.

Keep projects and media

Save edits, finish or stop rendering, archive wanted projects and verify the archived copy before continuing. Keep original clips and finished videos separately. Quit Kdenlive, then move kdenlive.app from Applications to the Trash.

The local test found app settings in ~/Library/Preferences/kdenliverc, support data in ~/Library/Application Support/kdenlive and cache in ~/Library/Caches/kdenlive. Keep settings you want after reinstalling. These locations are separate from your project file and media library; do not clear all KDE or XDG directories.

After confirming the project archive and settings backup and quitting Kdenlive, press Shift + Command + G in Finder to open ~/Library/Application Support/kdenlive, ~/Library/Caches/kdenlive, ~/Library/Preferences/kdenliverc, ~/Library/Preferences/kdenlive-layoutsrc and ~/Library/Preferences/org.kde.Kdenlive.plist when present. Move only the Kdenlive folder or file you chose to discard to the Trash; keep projects, media, archives and KDE/XDG parent directories.

Check the result

pgrep -ifl kdenlive
ls -ld /Applications/kdenlive.app "$HOME/Library/Preferences/kdenliverc" "$HOME/Library/Application Support/kdenlive" "$HOME/Library/Caches/kdenlive"

Inspect matching executable paths. Missing-path errors mean those locations are absent, permission errors leave them unverified. Check retained projects, media and archives separately.

If you installed it with Homebrew

brew uninstall --cask kdenlive

The cask defines its managed removal. Its zap list names the support and cache directories above, ~/Library/Preferences/kdenlive-layoutsrc, ~/Library/Preferences/kdenliverc and ~/Library/Preferences/org.kde.Kdenlive.plist. It resets layout and settings data, not just cache; saved projects and Movies are not in this list.

A direct brew uninstall --cask --zap kdenlive runs its whole zap list regardless of Mole's checkboxes. Mole checks Homebrew's full removal list and skips --zap when it reaches unchecked data, shared files or anything it cannot verify. It still removes the leftovers you selected.

What Mole lists

Mole selects the app, attributable cache and exact bundle-owned preferences when present. The support directory and kdenliverc preference are review rows, unchecked when Remove data and settings with apps in General > Cleaning is off. Turning it on can preselect eligible app settings; shared KDE data still needs individual review. Leave settings you want unchecked. These rows do not authorize deleting project files or a Movies library.

What this test covered

On September 21, 2026, Kdenlive 26.08 from the official Mac package was launched and removed. The selected empty support directory and caches were removed; kdenliverc existed but was not listed in that run. Its current review rule was checked in source for this guide, not by a new physical uninstall. Project editing, archive recovery and a Homebrew installation were not verified.