How to Uninstall Nova on Mac

Keep your project folders and their hidden .nova settings before uninstalling the editor. Panic says each local project stores its own configuration inside that folder; Nova extensions live in ~/Library/Application Support/Nova/Extensions, and clips can be exported from the Clips sidebar. Save anything you want to reinstall before removing application data. The recorded test used the direct Nova package.

Remove the app and review its data

Quit Nova after saving open files and stopping its tasks. Move Nova.app from Applications to Trash. Check ~/Library/Application Support/Nova/Extensions for extensions, ~/Library/Application Support/Nova for other local data, and ~/Library/Preferences/com.panic.Nova.plist for settings. Panic documents defaults export com.panic.Nova for moving settings to another Mac, but an export is a copy of settings, not a backup of project files or remote credentials. If you configured Git accounts or servers, check access in the provider before removing local settings. Leave each project directory and its .nova folder in place unless you deliberately retire that project.

Panic: moving Nova data · Nova settings

Check the result

These commands read the current state without removing anything:

pgrep -il Nova
ls -ld ~/Library/'Application Support'/Nova ~/Library/Preferences/com.panic.Nova.plist

No pgrep result means no matching process is running; a listed process should be identified and quit before removing data. ls prints an existing path, reports “No such file or directory” for a missing one, and may report a permission error that needs separate investigation. Do not treat a surviving remote file, project or deliberately retained preference as an uninstall failure.

If you installed it with Homebrew

The Nova cask lists Nova caches, preferences, WebKit data, Quick Look extension containers, and a privileged helper uninstall action. Its zap list can remove settings even when a project folder survives. Use brew uninstall --cask nova if you need to keep local data; a manual --zap processes the whole cask list without consulting Mole. Mole suppresses --zap for unchecked, shared, out-of-boundary or unverifiable targets and handles selected remnants separately.

brew uninstall --cask nova

Removing the application does not cancel a purchase or delete a remote account.

What Mole lists

Bundle-ID support, cache and preferences entries are selected by default. The display-name folder Application Support/Nova is listed for review but not selected by default, which matters if it holds extensions or clips. Embedded extension containers are subject to ownership and macOS permissions; a detected row is not a promise of removal.

What this test covered

Nova 14.1 from the official package was installed and removed on September 20, 2026, with review items selected. About 8 KB under Application Support/Nova was removed. The test did not create a project, sign into a Git provider, verify clips restoration, or run the Homebrew cask.