How to uninstall MacDown on Mac

Save open Markdown documents and copy any custom themes before removing MacDown. This guide covers the app downloaded from the MacDown project, with separate instructions for an existing Homebrew installation. Removing the editor does not require deleting the documents you wrote in it.

Quit and remove MacDown

  1. Save each open document and check that its Markdown file and linked images are in a location you intend to keep.
  2. Choose MacDown › Quit MacDown, or press Cmd + Q while MacDown is active.
  3. In Finder, open Applications and move MacDown.app to the Trash.
  4. Keep your Markdown files, image folders and exported documents. They are your work, wherever you chose to save them.

For a reinstall, start by removing only the app. Download replacements from the MacDown project; do not disable macOS security checks to launch a rejected package.

Review settings separately

In Finder, choose Go › Go to Folder and open each location individually. These locations are documented in the Homebrew cask, rather than measured first-launch data from our test.

Location What to do
~/Library/Application Support/MacDown Keep a copy if you want to retain custom support files and settings; inspect the contents before removal.
~/Library/Preferences/com.uranusjr.macdown.plist Keep for a troubleshooting reinstall, or move to the Trash to reset preferences.
~/Library/Caches/com.uranusjr.macdown Disposable cache after quitting the editor.
~/Library/Cookies/com.uranusjr.macdown.binarycookies and ~/Library/WebKit/com.uranusjr.macdown App-owned web data; keep it if you want to reuse that state.
~/Library/Saved Application State/com.uranusjr.macdown.savedState Saved window state, separate from your document files.
~/Library/Application Support/com.apple.sharedfilelist/com.apple.LSSharedFileList.ApplicationRecentDocuments/com.uranusjr.macdown.sfl* MacDown's recent-document records, separate from the documents themselves.

After quitting and checking separate copies of wanted support files, move only the existing MacDown items you no longer need to the Trash. For the sfl* pattern, open its parent folder in Finder and select only filenames beginning with com.uranusjr.macdown.sfl; * is a filename pattern, not a literal Finder path. Keep that parent and other apps' records. A missing folder is normal if that installation never created it. Do not delete every file whose name contains “MacDown”.

If you installed it with Homebrew

Uninstall the existing cask without zap:

brew uninstall --cask macdown

This also removes the cask-managed macdown launcher. Direct --zap additionally targets app support, preferences, caches, cookies, WebKit data, saved state and recent-document records; it ignores Mole’s checkboxes. Save wanted data first. Mole uses zap only when its complete scope passes review; otherwise selected remnants use Mole’s own removal path.

Check the result

These read-only checks assume the app was in Applications:

ls -d /Applications/MacDown.app
pgrep -ifl '/MacDown\.app/Contents/'
command -v macdown

“No such file or directory” from ls means the app is absent at that location. No pgrep output means no matching process was found. A permissions or command error leaves that check unresolved. If command -v prints a path, inspect whether it belongs to MacDown before changing it; a command found in PATH is not proof the app is running.

What Mole lists

Mole lists existing MacDown caches and bundle-ID preferences as selected by default. ~/Library/Application Support/MacDown is listed but initially unselected when the app-data preference is off; opting in can select eligible app data. Keep it unchecked if you need its contents. Documents saved elsewhere do not need to be selected to remove the editor.

What this test covered

On September 21, 2026, MacDown 0.7.2 from the official ZIP was copied into Applications and removed with Mole. The Intel app could not launch on the Apple silicon test Mac, and Rosetta was not installed. The removal review contained only the app, so this verifies app removal without a successful first launch. It does not verify theme restoration, document recovery or a Homebrew uninstall.