How to uninstall OpenMTP on Mac
Finish transfers and check the copies of your files before removing OpenMTP. The official instructions describe USB transfers between the Mac and connected devices; those transferred files are separate from app settings. This page covers the official Mac archive app.
Quit and remove the app
Wait for transfers to finish, quit OpenMTP with Cmd + Q and disconnect the device when it is no longer in use. Move OpenMTP.app to the Trash. Keep transferred files on both devices unless you separately intend to delete them.
Review local app data
After transfers have finished and OpenMTP has quit, open the two support folders below and ~/Library/Preferences/io.ganeshrvel.openmtp.plist with Finder Shift + Command + G. Copy wanted configuration outside the chosen folder, then move only the leaves you no longer need to the Trash. Skip missing paths. Remove ~/.io.ganeshrvel separately only after confirming its contents belong to the retired installation and nothing you retain uses it: open ~ with Finder Go to Folder, press Shift + Command + . to show hidden items, and move only .io.ganeshrvel to the Trash. Leave transferred files and shared Apple parent folders alone.
~/Library/Application Support/io.ganeshrvel.openmtpheld exact-ID app state and logs in the test; it is selected by default, so copy wanted configuration first.~/Library/Application Support/OpenMTPis a separate reviewed data parent with Electron cache children.~/Library/Preferences/io.ganeshrvel.openmtp.plistwas observed. The cask additionally names~/.io.ganeshrvel; review its ownership and contents rather than assuming all of that namespace is cache.- Files copied to the Mac or device are not generic uninstall data.
Check the result
pgrep -ifl OpenMTP
ls -ld /Applications/OpenMTP.app "$HOME/Library/Application Support/io.ganeshrvel.openmtp" "$HOME/Library/Application Support/OpenMTP" "$HOME/.io.ganeshrvel"
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 both support parents, exact preferences, ~/.io.ganeshrvel and an Apple shared-file-list entry; it is broader than an app-only uninstall.
To uninstall without zap, use:
brew uninstall --cask openmtp
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 openmtp runs Homebrew’s full zap list without consulting Mole’s checkboxes.
What Mole lists
Mole selects the app, exact-ID support data, preferences and attributable caches by default. ~/Library/Application Support/OpenMTP is listed for review: with Default remove app data off it starts unchecked; with it on, eligible own data can start checked. Inspect and uncheck it to keep local state. Its exact recent-document-list file can be selected, while the shared parent and device files stay outside removal. Keep any wanted app state by unchecking the relevant data row.
What this test covered
On September 25, 2026, the official OpenMTP 3.3.0 app was copied from its Mac archive and tested with a development build of Mole. Eleven items reached the Trash; the logs child was already absent after its parent was removed. Hidden temporary directories were intentionally not collected. A real device transfer and recovery of transferred files were not tested.