How to uninstall MongoDB Compass on Mac

MongoDB Compass connects to a MongoDB deployment; your data and the connection itself live in your MongoDB Atlas account or wherever your database runs, not in the app, so removing Compass never touches either. Compass keeps its settings, support files and session logs on this Mac, and stores passwords through the operating system's credentials API, which on a Mac is the Keychain, rather than in a file. These steps cover the official dmg from mongodb.com and the Homebrew cask mongodb-compass.

Quit and remove the app

  1. Quit MongoDB Compass from its menu or Command + Q, then check Activity Monitor for MongoDB Compass and confirm the process has exited.
  2. Move MongoDB Compass.app from Finder's Applications folder to the Trash.

Where MongoDB Compass keeps data

Location What it holds What to do
~/Library/Application Support/MongoDB Compass Configuration and support files Named after the app rather than its bundle ID; review before removing
~/Library/Caches/MongoDB Compass Cache Safe to remove after quitting
~/Library/Preferences/com.mongodb.compass.plist Preferences Remove for a clean reinstall
~/Library/Saved Application State/com.mongodb.compass.savedState Saved window state Remove with the app
~/.mongodb/compass Session logs, per MongoDB's own documentation Not removed by Mole; see below

MongoDB's own documentation puts Compass's session logs at ~/.mongodb/compass, and its own issue tracker confirms that a plain Trash removal leaves ~/Library/Application Support/MongoDB Compass on disk, with the ticket marked "won't fix." Compass logs documentation · COMPASS-4654

Compass stores MongoDB server passwords, SSH tunnel passwords and TLS/SSL passphrases through the operating system's credentials API, which on a Mac is the Keychain, not in a file; removing the app or its Application Support folder leaves those Keychain items in place. If you want them gone too, open Keychain Access and search for Compass before deleting any item. Compass FAQ

~/.mongodb is a shared folder: mongosh, MongoDB's own command-line shell, keeps its own configuration there too, in a separate subfolder. Mole doesn't list anything under ~/.mongodb, so removing Compass through Mole leaves mongosh alone. If you don't want the Compass logs, move ~/.mongodb/compass to the Trash yourself and leave the rest of ~/.mongodb in place.

Check the result

pgrep -il "mongodb compass"
launchctl list | grep -i mongodb
ls -d "$HOME/Library/Application Support/MongoDB Compass" ~/.mongodb/compass
  • No output from pgrep means no Compass process is running.
  • No output from launchctl list means no job with mongodb in its name is loaded in your session. A listed job means something is still registered under that name, possibly a MongoDB server you installed separately; check it before removing anything.
  • ls -d prints each folder that still exists. A surviving ~/.mongodb/compass is expected, since Mole doesn't collect it.

If you installed it with Homebrew

The mongodb-compass cask's zap list reaches ~/Library/Application Support/MongoDB Compass, ~/Library/Caches/MongoDB Compass, the recent-documents list, your preferences file and saved window state; it doesn't name ~/.mongodb. Running brew uninstall --cask --zap mongodb-compass yourself moves all of them to the Trash regardless of what you ticked in Mole. Homebrew MongoDB Compass cask

When Mole removes a Homebrew install, it checks the zap list first. ~/Library/Application Support/MongoDB Compass is an unselected row in Mole, so unless you tick it, Mole leaves --zap out and only the rows you ticked go to the Trash.

To keep Compass's settings, back up ~/Library/Application Support/MongoDB Compass first, or remove only the app:

brew uninstall --cask mongodb-compass

What Mole lists

For MongoDB Compass installed from mongodb.com or the Homebrew cask:

  • ~/Library/Caches/MongoDB Compass, your preferences file and saved window state are selected by default.
  • ~/Library/Application Support/MongoDB Compass is listed but not selected, because it's named after the app rather than its bundle ID. The Electron cache folders inside it, such as Cache, Code Cache and GPUCache, are listed as separate rows and selected.
  • ~/.mongodb/compass is not listed, because ~/.mongodb is a shared folder that MongoDB's own mongosh command-line tool also keeps files in.
  • Keychain items are not listed.

What this test covered

MongoDB Compass was installed with the Homebrew cask mongodb-compass and uninstalled on September 17, 2026, with Mole Preview 272, alongside other apps in the same batch. A follow-up check on September 19, 2026 confirmed that ~/.mongodb/compass, at 4 KB, was still on disk, which is expected since Mole doesn't collect that shared folder. Connecting to a database, saved connections and Keychain items were not tested, and neither was the official dmg from mongodb.com.