How to uninstall Plex on Mac

This guide is about Plex, the desktop app you watch and listen with, not Plex Media Server, the separate app that holds your library. Removing the desktop app leaves your server, its library and your Plex account alone. The one thing of yours inside the desktop app's folder is its Downloads: media you saved for offline use sits in ~/Library/Application Support/Plex/Plex Media Server/Sync/, and it goes when that folder goes. The steps cover Plex downloaded from plex.tv and the Homebrew cask plex; both install Plex.app with the bundle ID tv.plex.desktop.

Plex or Plex Media Server

App	What it is	Its data
`Plex.app`	The desktop player this guide covers	`~/Library/Application Support/Plex`
`Plex Media Server.app`	The server that scans and serves your media	`~/Library/Application Support/Plex Media Server/`

The folder inside the desktop app's data is also called Plex Media Server, because that is where the desktop app keeps its Downloads and their logs (Plex: Downloads on desktop). It is not your server's library. If you want to remove the server as well, follow Plex's separate article, which warns that it deletes all library metadata and watch state (Plex: Uninstall Plex Media Server).

Keep your downloads if you need them

Open the Downloads library in the app's sidebar to see what is stored offline. Downloaded items came from a Plex Media Server and can be downloaded again as long as that server and its owner still allow it. Plex notes that files copied into the download folder by hand are not recognized, so a copy you make there is only useful as a plain backup of the media files.

Quit Plex and remove the app

Plex's own steps are to make sure Plex.app is not running, delete the Plex folder in ~/Library/Application Support/, then delete the app from Applications (Plex: Windows and macOS introduction and installation).

Quit Plex from its menu and check Activity Monitor that no Plex process is left.
Move Plex.app from Applications to the Trash.
Only when you no longer need its Downloads, move ~/Library/Application Support/Plex to the Trash too.

Removing the app does not cancel Plex Pass or delete your Plex account.

Where Plex keeps its data

Location	What it holds	What to do
`~/Library/Application Support/Plex`	The desktop app's data, including `Plex Media Server/Sync` (your Downloads) and `Plex Media Server/Logs` (download logs)	Keep it while you want the Downloads; otherwise remove it, as Plex's own steps do
`~/Library/Logs/Plex`	App logs	Remove with the app
`~/Library/Caches/Plex`	App cache	Remove with the app

The log locations come from Plex's desktop app logs article; the cache folder was observed in the test and is in the Homebrew zap list.

Check the result

After the app is in the Trash, run these read-only commands:

pgrep -lf Plex.app
ls -d "$HOME/Library/Application Support/Plex" "$HOME/Library/Application Support/Plex Media Server"

No output from pgrep means the desktop app is not running. A listed process means it is still open; pgrep matches only Plex.app, not Plex Media Server.app.
ls -d printing Application Support/Plex means the desktop app's data, with any Downloads, is still there, which is what a Mole uninstall with the default selection leaves.
Application Support/Plex Media Server printing means a Plex Media Server has used this Mac. That folder belongs to the server, not to the app you just removed. "No such file or directory" for it means there is no server data here.

If you installed it with Homebrew

Mole skips --zap when the zap list reaches data you left unchecked, a path another installed app uses, or anything Mole cannot check, and it still cleans the leftovers you selected.

The plex cask's zap list is ~/Library/Application Support/Plex, ~/Library/Caches/Plex and ~/Library/Logs/Plex. Running brew uninstall --cask --zap plex yourself moves all three to the Trash, including your Downloads, whatever you ticked in Mole. It does not touch Plex Media Server's folder. To remove only the app:

brew uninstall --cask plex

Homebrew's plex cask

What Mole lists

For Plex downloaded from plex.tv:

~/Library/Application Support/Plex is listed but not selected, because it holds your Downloads.
Inside it, Plex Media Server/Cache and Plex Media Server/logs are listed as their own rows and selected by default. Sync, where Downloads live, is not one of them and stays with the unselected folder.
~/Library/Caches/Plex, ~/Library/Logs/Plex and the temporary cache under tv.plex.desktop are selected by default.
Plex Media Server was not on the test Mac, so the test does not show how its folder would appear when you remove the desktop app. If a row for Application Support/Plex Media Server shows up, leave it unticked unless you are removing the server too.

What this test covered

On September 26, 2026, Plex 1.115.0 was downloaded from plex.tv, installed, launched once without signing in, and uninstalled with a development build of Mole with every listed row ticked. While it ran, Mole's Status page showed Plex as one row of six processes, about 1005 MB. The app and all six listed rows went to the Trash, including the 594 KB data folder, and a rescan found none of them left; no login item or background task appeared. An earlier test on September 20, 2026 with the same version from the same source gave the same result. Nothing was signed in or downloaded, so the Downloads advice above comes from Plex's documentation, not from this test.