How to uninstall MacDroid on Mac
MacDroid mounts an Android phone in Finder, so the files you see there live on the phone, and removing MacDroid from your Mac does not touch them. Finish any copy and unmount the phone before you start; deleting something inside the mounted phone deletes it on the phone. Removing the app does not cancel a MacDroid subscription. This guide covers MacDroid downloaded from macdroid.app and the Homebrew cask macdroid; both install MacDroid.app with the bundle ID us.electronic.macdroid.
Unmount the phone first
- Let any copy to or from the phone finish.
- In MacDroid, select the device and click Unmount, the same place you mounted it (MacDroid: connect and mount using ADB). You can also eject it in Finder's sidebar.
- Unplug the phone.
- If you used ADB mode, you turned on Developer options and USB debugging on the phone for MacDroid. Turn USB debugging off again in the phone's settings if nothing else needs it.
Quit MacDroid and remove the app
Electronic Team's steps are to choose Quit from the MacDroid menu in the menu bar, drag MacDroid from Applications to the Trash, then empty the Trash (MacDroid uninstallation). Emptying the Trash is the permanent step; wait with it until you have checked the result below.
MacDroid ships two extensions inside the app, a Finder extension and a File Provider extension that presents the phone in Finder, plus a small launcher used for opening it at login. All three leave with the app.
Where MacDroid keeps its data
| Location | What it holds | What to do |
|---|---|---|
~/Library/Preferences/us.electronic.macdroid.plist |
App settings | Remove with the app |
~/Library/Application Support/us.electronic.macdroid, ~/Library/Caches/us.electronic.macdroid, ~/Library/HTTPStorages/us.electronic.macdroid, ~/Library/HTTPStorages/us.electronic.macdroid.binarycookies, ~/Library/WebKit/us.electronic.macdroid |
App data, cache, cookies and web data | Remove with the app |
~/Library/Application Support/MacDroid |
A small data folder named after the app, 8 KB in the test | Remove with the app |
~/Library/Logs/MacDroid.log |
App log | Remove with the app |
~/Library/Containers/us.electronic.macdroid.AFTFinderSync, ~/Library/Containers/us.electronic.macdroid.mountprovider and their ~/Library/Application Scripts folders |
Sandbox folders of the Finder and File Provider extensions | Remove with the app |
~/Library/Application Support/FileProvider/us.electronic.macdroid.mountprovider |
The File Provider extension's state as macOS keeps it | Remove after the phone is unmounted |
~/Library/Group Containers/XS85JU6YZ3.us.electronic.macdroid and the ~/Library/Application Scripts folder of the same name |
Data shared between MacDroid and its extensions | Remove once no copy of MacDroid is left on this Mac |
These locations come from the Homebrew zap list and the test; Electronic Team's page lists none of them.
Check the result
After the app is in the Trash, run these read-only commands:
pgrep -il macdroid
pluginkit -m | grep -i us.electronic.macdroid
ls -d "$HOME/Library/Group Containers/XS85JU6YZ3.us.electronic.macdroid"
- No output from
pgrepmeans MacDroid is not running. A listed process means the app or one of its extensions is still active. - No output from
pluginkitmeans the extensions are no longer registered. A listed line means macOS still has a MacDroid extension registered, usually from another copy of the app somewhere on the Mac. ls -dprinting the path means the group container is still there, which is what happened in the test. Once you are sure no copy of MacDroid is left on the Mac, you can move it and the~/Library/Application Scriptsfolder of the same name to the Trash in Finder. "No such file or directory" means it is gone.
If you installed it with Homebrew
Mole skips --zap when the zap list reaches data you left unchecked, a path another installed app uses, or anything Mole cannot check, and it still cleans the leftovers you selected.
The macdroid cask's zap list covers ~/Library/Application Scripts/us.electronic.macdroid.AFTFinderSync, ~/Library/Application Support/MacDroid, ~/Library/Application Support/us.electronic.macdroid, the cache, ~/Library/Containers/us.electronic.macdroid.AFTFinderSync, ~/Library/Group Containers/XS85JU6YZ3.us.electronic.macdroid, the cookies file, ~/Library/Logs/MacDroid.log and the preferences file. Running brew uninstall --cask --zap macdroid yourself moves them to the Trash, whatever you ticked in Mole. The list does not name the File Provider extension's folders, the HTTP storage folder or the WebKit data, so a zap leaves those. Because Application Support/MacDroid and the group container are unticked by default, Mole leaves --zap out while they stay unticked. To remove only the app:
brew uninstall --cask macdroid
What Mole lists
For MacDroid downloaded from macdroid.app:
- The preferences file,
Application Support/us.electronic.macdroid, the cache, HTTP storage, cookies, WebKit data,MacDroid.logand the temporary caches are selected by default. - The Containers and Application Scripts folders of the two extensions inside the app,
AFTFinderSyncandmountprovider, are selected by default, because both ship inMacDroid.appand their IDs continue the app's own. Application Support/MacDroidis listed but not selected, because it is matched by the app's name.Application Support/FileProvider/us.electronic.macdroid.mountprovideris listed but not selected. Tick it after the phone is unmounted.- The group container
XS85JU6YZ3.us.electronic.macdroidand its Application Scripts folder are listed but not selected. Before removing a group, Mole checks that no other installed app claims it; when that check cannot clear the group, Mole keeps it and the row says it could not confirm that no other app uses the group. - Files on your phone are never listed.
What this test covered
On September 26, 2026, MacDroid 2.10 was downloaded from Electronic Team's download server, installed, launched once without connecting a phone, and uninstalled with a development build of Mole with every listed row ticked. While it ran, Mole's Status page showed MacDroid as one row of three processes, about 40 MB. The app and 16 of the 18 listed rows went to the Trash, including both extensions' folders and the File Provider folder. Mole kept the group container and its Application Scripts folder, as designed: a copy of MacDroid.app left over from an earlier test was still elsewhere on the Mac and declares the same group. No login item or background task appeared. An earlier test on September 23, 2026 with the same version also removed the Finder extension and the other rows, and also left the group container; that run found no macFUSE component. No phone was connected, so the unmount and ADB steps come from Electronic Team's documentation.
