How to uninstall MuseScore on Mac

MuseScore keeps its settings and app data in a nested MuseScore/MuseScore4 folder under Application Support, separate from the scores you write. The app's display name is "MuseScore 4", though its bundle ID and most of its data folders are still named MuseScore. Back that folder up first if you want to keep your preferences. These steps cover the official DMG from the MuseScore GitHub releases page; the Homebrew cask musescore is a separate path with its own risk, described below.

Quit MuseScore and remove the app

  1. Save your open scores, then choose MuseScore 4 › Quit MuseScore 4.
  2. Search for MuseScore in Activity Monitor and confirm the process has exited.
  3. Find MuseScore 4 in Finder's Applications folder and move it to the Trash. If macOS says it is in use, return to the previous step.
  4. Open System Settings › General › Login Items & Extensions and turn off any MuseScore entry that is still listed.

Where MuseScore keeps local data

Location What it holds What to do
~/Library/Application Support/MuseScore/MuseScore4 Settings and app data Listed but not selected by default; back it up before you tick it
~/Library/Caches/MuseScore/MuseScore4 App cache Listed but not selected by default; safe to tick
~/Library/Preferences/org.musescore.MuseScore*.plist (two files in the recorded test) App preferences Selected by default
~/Library/Application Scripts entries and the temporary cache under /var/folders named after MuseScore's bundle ID Helper and temporary files Selected by default
~/Library/Containers/org.musescore.MuseScore.QuickLookPreviewExtension Sandbox container for MuseScore's Quick Look preview extension Selected by default; macOS can refuse to move it, see below

The MuseScore handbook's Preferences page confirms you can set custom folders for scores, styles, templates, plugins and soundfonts from inside the app, and offers a one-click "Reset preferences" action; it does not publish a fixed default path, so check your own Preferences › Folders tab, or File › Open Recent, before assuming where your scores live. MuseScore 4 Preferences handbook

Check the result

pgrep -il musescore
ls -d ~/Library/Application\ Support/MuseScore
ls ~/Library/Containers | grep -i musescore
  • No output from pgrep means MuseScore is no longer running. A listed process means it is still open; quit it before touching its data.
  • ls -d printing the Application Support path means the MuseScore folder, including your settings, is still there, expected if you kept that row unticked. "No such file or directory" means it is gone.
  • The grep line lists any MuseScore container still under ~/Library/Containers, such as the Quick Look preview extension's. It holds no scores. macOS can refuse to move a sandbox container to the Trash, which is what happened in this test; you can drag it to the Trash in Finder.

If you installed it with Homebrew

Mole checks the zap list first: unchecked or shared data, or anything it cannot fully verify, keeps --zap out, and it still removes whatever you selected.

The musescore cask's zap list reaches ~/Library/Application Support/MuseScore, ~/Library/Caches/MuseScore and ~/Library/Caches/org.musescore.MuseScore, the preferences files, and saved window state. Running brew uninstall --cask --zap musescore yourself moves all of that to the Trash without looking at Mole's checkboxes. Homebrew MuseScore cask

Since the zap list reaches the unticked MuseScore/MuseScore4 rows, Mole leaves out --zap for a Homebrew install of MuseScore unless you tick them.

To remove only the app and keep your settings:

brew uninstall --cask musescore

What Mole lists

  • ~/Library/Application Support/MuseScore/MuseScore4 and ~/Library/Caches/MuseScore/MuseScore4 are listed but not selected, since Mole matches them by the vendor and product folder names rather than the bundle ID.
  • The preferences files, Application Scripts entries and temporary cache named after org.musescore.MuseScore are selected by default.
  • The Quick Look preview extension's container is selected, because its ID org.musescore.MuseScore.QuickLookPreviewExtension continues MuseScore's own bundle ID.
  • Your scores are never listed, wherever you chose to save them.

What this test covered

On September 21, 2026, MuseScore 4.7.5 was copied from the official DMG into Applications, opened once, then removed with Mole 1.15.0 Preview (build 282) and Full Disk Access granted, with every listed row ticked. The 546.6 MB app, both nested MuseScore/MuseScore4 Application Support and Caches folders, both preferences files, MuseScore's Application Scripts entries and its temporary cache went to the Trash. The Quick Look preview extension's 4 KB container was listed, but macOS refused to move it (error 513), so it stayed on disk. No scores were created or tested, and the Homebrew cask was not tested.