How to uninstall Nheko on Mac
Keep access to another verified Matrix session and any key backup you need before deleting Nheko’s local profile. The official project documentation confirms encrypted messaging and separate profiles. A server login alone does not establish that you can read old encrypted messages again.
Quit and remove the app
After saving and checking the backup, quit Nheko with Cmd + Q and move the Mac app from Applications to the Trash. Leave independently saved work and other applications in place.
Review local data
~/Library/Application Support/nhekois in the cask and was empty in the unsigned-in test; a signed-in profile can be materially different.~/Library/Caches/nhekois separate cache storage.~/Library/Preferences/com.nheko.nheko.plistis the historical preference path in the test and cask. Keep every separately named profile you still need.
Confirm that your other verified Matrix session can read wanted encrypted messages and that your key backup is available before discarding local data. After quitting, press Shift + Command + G in Finder to open ~/Library/Application Support/nheko, ~/Library/Caches/nheko and ~/Library/Preferences/com.nheko.nheko.plist when present. Move only the Nheko profile or item you chose to discard to the Trash, keeping other named profiles and backups separately.
Check the result
pgrep -ifl nheko
ls -ld /Applications/nheko.app "$HOME/Library/Application Support/nheko" "$HOME/Library/Caches/nheko"
No process output means this name was not found, not that every helper has gone. Check any match against the app’s actual executable path. A missing-path error from ls means only that location is absent; permission errors leave its state unknown. A surviving folder can be intentional data to keep.
If you installed it with Homebrew
The cask has no separate uninstall helper. Zap includes the local profile, cache, historical preferences and saved state; a manual zap can remove the local material needed for encrypted chat access.
To uninstall without zap, use:
brew uninstall --cask nheko
Mole checks Homebrew's full removal list and skips --zap when it reaches unchecked data, shared files or anything it cannot verify. It still removes the leftovers you selected. A direct brew uninstall --cask --zap nheko runs Homebrew’s full zap list without consulting Mole’s checkboxes.
Uninstalling Nheko does not deactivate the Matrix account or remove another Matrix client. Handle homeserver account settings separately.
What Mole lists
Mole selects the app and attributable cache/preference rows by default. ~/Library/Application Support/nheko is listed unchecked when Remove data and settings with apps in General > Cleaning is off. Turning it on can preselect eligible local data; uncheck the profile to retain it. A checkbox does not prove that a Matrix key backup is usable.
What this test covered
On September 21, 2026, the official arm64 Nheko 0.12.1 app was opened without signing in and removed. The app, historical preferences, support/cache rows and crash report were removed. The support folder was empty; real encrypted rooms, keys, account deactivation and Homebrew installation were not tested.