How to uninstall Postgres.app on Mac

Postgres.app runs PostgreSQL servers on your Mac, and each server keeps its databases in a data directory. By default those sit in ~/Library/Application Support/Postgres, one var-XX folder per PostgreSQL major version. Removing the app leaves them in place; deleting that folder deletes every database in it, so back up anything you need with pg_dump first. These steps cover Postgres.app downloaded from postgresapp.com and the Homebrew cask postgres-app. A PostgreSQL installed with a Homebrew formula, MacPorts or the EnterpriseDB installer is a separate installation and is not covered here.

Back up your databases

Postgres.app's documentation asks you to back up any data with pg_dump before uninstalling. The command-line tools ship inside the app, so run the backup while Postgres.app is still installed and the server holding the database is running. Replace DBNAME with the name of a database, in both places:

/Applications/Postgres.app/Contents/Versions/latest/bin/pg_dump DBNAME > DBNAME.sql

The dump file is written to the folder Terminal is currently in. Repeat for each database you want to keep, then check with ls -l DBNAME.sql that the file is there and not empty before you remove anything.

If you plan to reinstall Postgres.app, you can also leave the data directory where it is; the uninstall steps below treat deleting it as optional.

Quit Postgres.app and remove it

Postgres.app's install and uninstall page lists these steps:

1. Quit Postgres.app, via its menu bar icon if one is shown, and drag it from Applications to the Trash.
2. Optionally delete the data directories, by default in ~/Library/Application Support/Postgres. Do this only after the backup above, or when you are sure no database in it is needed.
3. Optionally delete Postgres.app's preferences with defaults delete com.postgresapp.Postgres2.
4. If you added the command-line tools to your $PATH, optionally remove that setting with sudo rm /etc/paths.d/postgresapp. Check first with the ls line in the next section; if the file is not there, skip this step.

After quitting, search Activity Monitor for postgres. A process named postgres or postmaster means a server is still running. Also look for PostgresMenuHelper: in the recorded test the menu bar helper stayed running after Postgres.app had quit.

On first launch, Postgres.app registered a login helper, com.postgresapp.Postgres2LoginHelper, in the recorded test. It disappeared with the app. If a Postgres entry is still listed in System Settings › General › Login Items & Extensions, turn it off there.

Where Postgres.app keeps its files

That is the default data location. If you pointed a server at another folder, its data is there instead. The data and $PATH locations come from Postgres.app's documentation, the cache and cookies from the Homebrew cask's zap list.

Check the result

Run these read-only commands in Terminal:

pgrep -il postgres
launchctl list | grep -i postgresapp
ls "$HOME/Library/Application Support/Postgres"
ls -l /etc/paths.d/postgresapp

• No output from pgrep means nothing named postgres is running. A listed postgres process means a server is still up, either from Postgres.app or from another PostgreSQL installation; a listed PostgresMenuHelper means the menu bar helper is still open. Quit them before deleting data.
• No output from launchctl list means the login helper is not loaded. A com.postgresapp.Postgres2LoginHelper line means it is still registered; turn it off in Login Items & Extensions.
• ls on the Postgres folder lists the var-XX data directories still there, which is expected if you kept your databases. "No such file or directory" means the folder is gone.
• ls -l /etc/paths.d/postgresapp printing the file means the $PATH setting is still there. "No such file or directory" means it was never added or has been removed.

If you installed it with Homebrew

The postgres-app cask's uninstall step unloads the com.postgresapp.Postgres2LoginHelper login helper and quits Postgres.app and its menu bar helper. Its zap list includes ~/Library/Application Support/Postgres, which holds your databases, along with the cache, cookies and preferences. Running brew uninstall --cask --zap postgres-app yourself moves the data directories to the Trash, whatever you ticked in Mole. Homebrew Postgres.app cask

To keep your databases, back them up first, or remove only the app:

brew uninstall --cask postgres-app

Mole adds --zap only when every path in the zap list sits inside your own ~/Library, touches no row you left unticked, and is not claimed by another installed app. Application Support/Postgres is unticked by default, so unless you tick it, Mole leaves --zap out and removes the app and the rows you selected.

What Mole lists

When you remove Postgres.app with Mole:

• ~/Library/Application Support/Postgres is listed but not selected, so your databases stay unless you tick it.
• The com.postgresapp.Postgres2 preferences file and the per-user temporary caches of the app and of its menu bar helper, com.postgresapp.Postgres2MenuHelper, are selected by default.
• /etc/paths.d/postgresapp is not listed.
• Launch jobs of a PostgreSQL you run through brew services are not listed or unloaded, even though their names also contain postgres.

What this test covered

On September 25, 2026, Postgres.app 2.9.6 was downloaded from the official release, whose checksum matched the Homebrew cask, copied into Applications, opened once without initializing a database, and removed with a development build of Mole with every listed row ticked. The 1.84 GB app, the empty ~/Library/Application Support/Postgres, the preferences file and a temporary cache went to the Trash, and the login helper was gone afterwards. A rescan then found the menu bar helper's temporary cache still on disk; Mole was changed the same day to list that helper's files, and a second uninstall removed it. No database was created, so the test does not show data being kept or removed. The $PATH setting and the Homebrew cask were not tested.