How to uninstall QLMarkdown on Mac
Keep wanted QLMarkdown themes and preview settings before removing the app. The official uninstall instructions distinguish the app from its group support files. Markdown documents themselves are separate; this guide covers the official Mac archive app and its bundled extension.
Quit and remove the app
Close active Markdown Quick Look previews, quit QLMarkdown, then move QLMarkdown.app to the Trash as the vendor describes. The bundled preview extension leaves with the app. Keep your Markdown documents and any custom resources you want.
Review local settings and leftovers
Before deleting data, copy any themes, preview settings or custom resources you want to keep to a backup outside these folders. In Finder, press Shift + Command + G and open each path below. After quitting QLMarkdown and closing its previews, move only the listed files or folders you no longer need to the Trash; skip paths that do not exist.
| Location | What to do |
|---|---|
~/Library/Group Containers/group.org.sbarex.qlmarkdown |
The vendor's support folder. Back up wanted themes and resources before removing it. |
~/Library/Containers/org.sbarex.QLMarkdown |
Main app's sandbox data. Keep wanted preview settings, or remove for a clean start. |
~/Library/Application Scripts/org.sbarex.QLMarkdown |
Main app's sandbox scripts folder. Review and remove if no longer needed. |
~/Library/Containers/org.sbarex.QLMarkdown.QLExtension |
Bundled Quick Look extension's data. Review after closing previews. |
~/Library/Application Scripts/org.sbarex.QLMarkdown.QLExtension |
The Quick Look extension's sandbox scripts folder. Review after closing previews. |
~/Library/Application Scripts/group.org.sbarex.qlmarkdown |
Scripts associated with the app group. Remove only if no remaining app uses that group. |
The Homebrew cask lists these paths and also names Shortcut-Extension data, ~/Library/Application Support/QLMarkdown, preferences and the legacy ~/Library/QuickLook/QLMarkdown.qlgenerator. Check only those exact app entries that exist; leave the QuickLook and Group Containers parent folders and your Markdown documents in place.
Check the result
pgrep -ifl QLMarkdown
command -v qlmarkdown_cli
ls -l /usr/local/bin/qlmarkdown_cli
readlink /usr/local/bin/qlmarkdown_cli
ls -ld /Applications/QLMarkdown.app "$HOME/Library/Group Containers/group.org.sbarex.qlmarkdown" "$HOME/Library/Containers/org.sbarex.QLMarkdown"
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.
command -v reports the command found by this shell, not a running process. No path means it is absent from this shell's PATH; a surviving command may belong to another installation.
The vendor's CLI instructions allow a manually created /usr/local/bin/qlmarkdown_cli link. ls -l shows whether that entry exists, and readlink prints its target. If the target is exactly /Applications/QLMarkdown.app/Contents/Resources/qlmarkdown_cli and that is the app you just removed, open /usr/local/bin with Finder's Shift + Command + G and move only qlmarkdown_cli to the Trash; administrator authorization may be required. A different target may belong to another installation, so leave it alone. A missing-path error means there is no entry to remove. If readlink prints nothing or reports an error while the entry exists, do not assume it is that link. Never remove the bin folder.
If you installed it with Homebrew
Ordinary cask uninstall quits QLMarkdown and removes the cask-managed qlmarkdown_cli command. Zap covers main and extension containers/scripts, group variants, support/preferences and the legacy generator. Preserve wanted custom resources before running it.
To uninstall without zap, use:
brew uninstall --cask qlmarkdown
Mole checks the entire removal list before using --zap. It leaves zap out if a path is unchecked, shared or cannot be verified, then handles the leftovers you selected. A direct brew uninstall --cask --zap qlmarkdown uses Homebrew's full list without following your choices in Mole.
What Mole lists
Mole selects the app, its own caches, and the main app's Containers and Application Scripts folders by default. Its bundled extensions' folders can also be selected by default. The app-group folders above are selected when they belong to this app; before removing them, Mole checks whether another installed app still uses the group. Other reviewed support folders are not selected by default. Uncheck any settings or resources you want to keep.
These are the defaults with “Remove data and settings with apps” turned off. Enabling it can also select reviewed app data, so check the folders and uncheck anything you want to keep before confirming. Shared data still requires its own review.
What this test covered
On September 25, 2026, QLMarkdown 1.5.5 was copied from the official archive and tested with a development build of Mole. The app-group scripts folder was initially left behind and was moved to the Trash in the retest. Protected system WebKit temporary state was left intact. Custom theme recovery and the current Shortcut extension were not verified.