How to uninstall Quicksilver on Mac
Save your Quicksilver setup before removing it. Its support folder can contain custom triggers, learned abbreviations, plugins, scripts and Shelf or clipboard contents, so it is more than a cache. This guide covers the official Mac download and the Homebrew cask quicksilver.
Choose whether to keep your setup
The official installation and removal manual gives two choices. Moving Quicksilver.app to Trash leaves configuration for a later reinstall. For a fuller removal, use Uninstall Quicksilver in its preferences while the app is still available.
Before using that button, quit other tasks that use Quicksilver and copy ~/Library/Application Support/Quicksilver to a backup outside that folder if you want its contents. Check that the copy opens. If you only want to remove the app, quit Quicksilver and move it from Applications to Trash instead; keep the support folder.
Review the documented locations
Use Finder's Shift + Command + G to inspect each location. The paths below are documented in the official manual; skip any that your copy did not create.
| Location | Contents and removal decision |
|---|---|
| ~/Library/Application Support/Quicksilver | Catalog sources, triggers, learned inputs, plugins, scripts and Shelf or clipboard items. Keep for a reinstall, or back up before deleting. |
| ~/Library/Preferences/com.blacktree.Quicksilver.plist | Preferences and internal state. Keep if you want the previous settings. |
| ~/Library/Caches/Quicksilver | Cached indexes and state. Inspect after quitting and remove only this app's folder. |
| ~/Library/Caches/com.blacktree.Quicksilver | The app's bundle-identified cache and state. Inspect after quitting. |
Do not remove folders that Quicksilver merely indexed: your documents and application files remain their own data.
Check what remains
pgrep -il Quicksilver
ls -d /Applications/Quicksilver.app "$HOME/Library/Application Support/Quicksilver" "$HOME/Library/Preferences/com.blacktree.Quicksilver.plist"
No output from pgrep means no matching process name is running. A listed process means you should check whether Quicksilver is still open. A printed path from ls still exists; a missing-path error means that exact entry is absent, while a permission error leaves the result unknown. A surviving support folder is expected if you chose to keep your setup.
If you installed it with Homebrew
To uninstall without zap:
brew uninstall --cask quicksilver
The current cask's zap list names the entire support folder and the preferences file, including your triggers, plugins and Shelf data. A direct brew uninstall --cask --zap quicksilver removes them regardless of Mole's checkboxes; back them up first if needed.
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.
What Mole lists
~/Library/Application Support/Quicksilver is listed for review, not selected with the Remove data and settings with apps setting off. If that option is on, eligible app data can be selected automatically, so uncheck this folder when keeping your configuration. The app's bundle-identified preferences and caches are selected by default; its display-name cache can also be selected when no other installed copy claims it.
Mole does not remove your indexed documents merely because Quicksilver used them.
What this test covered
Quicksilver 2.6.0 from the official package was copied to Applications, opened and uninstalled on September 21, 2026, without a Homebrew receipt. The app and preferences went to Trash, and no survivor was recorded from that removal list. The run did not establish removal or restoration of a populated plugin collection, custom triggers or Shelf contents, and it did not exercise the vendor's Uninstall Quicksilver button.