How to uninstall Proxyman on Mac

Proxyman reads HTTPS traffic by installing its own root certificate into the System keychain, and its Proxy Setting Tool adds a privileged helper at /Library/PrivilegedHelperTools/com.proxyman.NSProxy.HelperTool. Neither goes away when you delete the app, and a leftover trusted certificate is a security risk, so clear both while Proxyman is still installed. This guide covers the app downloaded from proxyman.com, the channel this test used, and the Homebrew cask proxyman.

Quit Proxyman and remove the app

  1. If you turned on system-wide or per-app capture, turn it off in Proxyman first.
  2. Open the Certificate menu, choose Reset all Certificates and enter your Mac password. Then open Keychain Access, select the System keychain and delete any Proxyman certificate still there; Proxyman's own documentation asks you to do this once you stop using it. Install the certificate on macOS
  3. If you ever set up the Proxy Setting Tool, open Proxyman's Preferences, go to the Advanced tab and choose Uninstall Proxy Setting Tool. You can also delete /Library/PrivilegedHelperTools/com.proxyman.NSProxy.HelperTool directly, which needs an administrator password. Proxy Setting Tool
  4. Quit Proxyman from its menu or with Command + Q.
  5. Drag Proxyman from Applications to the Trash, or run brew uninstall --cask proxyman if you installed it with Homebrew.
  6. Open System Settings › General › Login Items & Extensions and turn off any Proxyman entry that remains.

Where Proxyman keeps its files

Location What it holds What to do
~/Library/Application Support/com.proxyman.NSProxy App data Selected by default in Mole; copy it first or untick it if you want to keep anything Proxyman stored locally
~/Library/Caches/com.proxyman.NSProxy and ~/Library/Caches/Proxyman Caches Remove with the app
~/Library/HTTPStorages/com.proxyman.NSProxy, ~/Library/WebKit/com.proxyman.NSProxy and ~/Library/Cookies/com.proxyman.NSProxy.binarycookies Web storage and cookies Remove with the app
~/Library/Preferences/com.proxyman.NSProxy.plist and ~/Library/Saved Application State/com.proxyman.NSProxy.savedState Preferences and saved window state Remove for a clean reinstall
~/.proxyman* and /Users/Shared/Proxyman Named in Homebrew's zap list Look inside before removing
Proxyman's root certificate in the System keychain Lets Proxyman decrypt HTTPS traffic Remove with step 2
/Library/PrivilegedHelperTools/com.proxyman.NSProxy.HelperTool The Proxy Setting Tool helper Remove with step 3

Check the result

pgrep -il proxyman
ls -d "$HOME/Library/Application Support/com.proxyman.NSProxy" /Users/Shared/Proxyman /Library/PrivilegedHelperTools/com.proxyman.NSProxy.HelperTool
security find-certificate -a -c Proxyman /Library/Keychains/System.keychain
  • No output from pgrep means Proxyman has quit.
  • ls -d prints each path that still exists and reports "No such file or directory" for the rest. A surviving helper means the Proxy Setting Tool is still installed; remove it as in step 3.
  • security find-certificate printing a certificate record means a Proxyman certificate is still in the System keychain; delete it in Keychain Access. The message "The specified item could not be found in the keychain" means none is left there.

If you installed it with Homebrew

A plain brew uninstall --cask proxyman already quits the app, unloads the helper's launchd job and deletes /Library/PrivilegedHelperTools/com.proxyman.NSProxy.HelperTool, which is why it may ask for an administrator password. It does not reset the certificate, so do step 2 first either way.

The cask's zap list adds /Users/Shared/Proxyman, ~/.proxyman*, the Application Support, Caches, Cookies, HTTPStorages, WebKit, preference and saved state paths above, plus ~/Library/Application Support/com.proxyman, the com.proxyman preference files and the recent-documents list. Running brew uninstall --cask --zap proxyman yourself removes all of them, whatever you ticked in Mole. Homebrew Proxyman cask

When Mole removes a Homebrew install, it checks the zap list first. This one names /Users/Shared/Proxyman and ~/.proxyman*, both outside ~/Library, so Mole always leaves --zap out for Proxyman: Homebrew runs the plain uninstall above, and only the rows you ticked in Mole go to the Trash.

What Mole lists

For Proxyman installed from proxyman.com or the Homebrew cask:

  • ~/Library/Application Support/com.proxyman.NSProxy, both Caches folders, HTTPStorages, WebKit data, the com.proxyman.NSProxy cookie file, preferences and saved window state are selected by default.
  • /Library/PrivilegedHelperTools/com.proxyman.NSProxy.HelperTool and /Users/Shared/Proxyman, when they exist, are listed but not selected. If you tick the helper, Mole asks for your administrator password to remove it.
  • Mole can also list ~/.proxyman*, ~/Library/Application Support/com.proxyman and the com.proxyman preference and cookie files, taken from Homebrew's zap list for this app, but does not select them.
  • The root certificate in your keychain is not listed; remove it with step 2.

What this test covered

Proxyman was copied from its official download into Applications and uninstalled on September 19, 2026, with Mole Preview 277, alongside other apps in the same batch; there was no Homebrew receipt. Before removal, Mole's update check showed it as up to date through its Sparkle feed, and Mole's startup list showed a Proxyman login item. ~/Library/Application Support/com.proxyman.NSProxy was selected by default and removed; no ~/Library/Application Support/Proxyman folder existed. After removal the Proxyman login item was still listed, pointing at the app in the Trash. Traffic capture, the certificate, the Proxy Setting Tool helper, /Users/Shared/Proxyman and a Homebrew install were not tested.