How to uninstall Netcatty on Mac

Netcatty is an open-source SSH client, SFTP browser and terminal manager from netcatty.app and its GitHub project. Its privacy policy says it stores your hosts, groups, usernames, notes, snippets and workspace state on your device, along with passwords, private keys, passphrases and access tokens in operating-system-backed storage where available, plus AI conversation state, and that uninstalling the app and removing its application-data directory removes the local data. Without cloud sync that folder holds the only copy of your saved hosts and credentials, so back up what you need first. Nothing in this guide touches ~/.ssh; keys and known hosts you made yourself stay where they are. This guide covers the Apple silicon disk image from the project's GitHub releases; there is no Homebrew cask for it.

Quit and remove the app

  1. Write down or copy out the hosts and credentials you still need. The folder ~/Library/Application Support/netcatty holds them, and its contents are secrets, so keep any copy somewhere private.
  2. Close your SSH and local terminal tabs and quit Netcatty with Command + Q; quitting ends the sessions in its tabs. In the test the app and its helpers ran 7 processes, which Mole's Status page groups into one Netcatty row.
  3. Open Finder, go to Applications and drag Netcatty to the Trash.

The test recorded no login item or launch agent for Netcatty.

Where the data lives

Press Shift + Command + G in Finder to open each path. Skip any path that is not on your Mac.

Location What it holds What to do
~/Library/Application Support/netcatty The app's profile, 2 MB in the test; per the privacy policy this is where saved hosts, snippets, settings and protected credentials live Back up what you need, then remove. Mole lists it for review and selects it by default.
~/Library/Application Support/netcatty/blob_storage, Cache, Code Cache, DawnGraphiteCache, DawnWebGPUCache, GPUCache Web caches inside that profile Remove. Selected by default.
~/Library/Preferences/com.netcatty.app.plist Preferences Remove. Selected by default.
Temporary cache folders named com.netcatty.app and com.netcatty.app.helper inside the folder getconf DARWIN_USER_CACHE_DIR prints App and helper caches Remove with the app. Selected by default.
A temporary folder named Netcatty inside the folder getconf DARWIN_USER_TEMP_DIR prints Temporary files, 4 KB in the test Remove. Mole lists it for review and selects it by default.
~/Library/Application Support/com.apple.sharedfilelist/com.apple.LSSharedFileList.ApplicationRecentDocuments/com.netcatty.app.sfl4 The app's recent-documents list Safe to leave. Mole may list the app's own list; the test build could not read this folder without Full Disk Access and left the file. Leave the other files in com.apple.sharedfilelist alone.

Check the result

pgrep -il netcatty
ls -d "$HOME/Library/Application Support/netcatty" "$HOME/Library/Preferences/com.netcatty.app.plist"
launchctl list | grep -i netcatty
  • No output from pgrep means neither Netcatty nor its helpers are running. A printed line is a process still alive; quit it or restart the Mac once.
  • A path printed by ls still exists. No such file or directory means that path is gone.
  • No output from launchctl means no Netcatty job is loaded for your user. A line means a background item is still registered; check Login Items & Extensions.

Account and subscription

Netcatty has no account of its own; the privacy policy says its maintainers run no central user account. If you turned on cloud sync, an encrypted copy of your vault sits with the provider you chose, which can be GitHub Gist, Google Drive, OneDrive, WebDAV or an S3-compatible service. Removing the app does not delete that copy, so remove it through the provider if you want it gone. Keys you added to servers stay on those servers until you remove them there.

What Mole lists

Mole selects the app, the preferences file, the six web cache folders inside Application Support/netcatty and both temporary cache folders. It lists ~/Library/Application Support/netcatty and the Netcatty temporary folder for review and selects them by default, so untick the profile if you want to keep your saved hosts. Before removing, Mole asks Netcatty to quit. The recent-documents list is only found when Mole can read that folder, which needs Full Disk Access.

What this test covered

On November 9, 2026, the test downloaded the Apple silicon disk image 1.1.90 from the project's GitHub release, whose sha256 matched the official release, copied the app to Applications, opened it once and quit it. It was removed with a source-built, re-signed Debug build of Mole with every review row ticked; Mole's notarized release build was not used. Mole moved 11 rows and the app to the Trash with no failures. The only item left was the recent-documents file, because that build ran without Full Disk Access and could not read its folder. Status showed one Netcatty row with 7 processes, and Mole detected an Electron updater that reads GitHub releases; no update was run. No host was added and no account was signed in, so connections, the vault, cloud sync and the AI agent features were not tested.