How to uninstall SimpleX on Mac
Export your SimpleX chat database before removing the app or its data. In the official data guide, Settings › Database passphrase & export requires a passphrase before database export. Keep that passphrase and exported file outside SimpleX’s data folders.
Quit and remove the app
Finish the export, quit SimpleX with Cmd + Q and move SimpleX.app from Applications to the Trash. Database deletion in the app is a separate operation that loses chat data; it is not required merely to uninstall the desktop app. A separately installed SimpleX CLI or server is a separate component.
Review local data
~/.config/simplexand~/.local/share/simplexare the Mac desktop leaves Mole lists for review. Keep them until the database export and wanted attachments are safe.~/Library/Saved Application State/chat.simplex.app.savedStateis the only current cask zap target.- The CLI’s own data directory is not automatically owned by the desktop app; check the CLI configuration separately.
After confirming the exported database, passphrase and wanted attachments and quitting, use Shift + Command + G in Finder to open ~/.config/simplex and ~/.local/share/simplex. Move only a verified desktop SimpleX folder you chose to discard to the Trash. Keep the shared .config and .local parents and data still used by a separately configured CLI or server.
Check the result
pgrep -ifl SimpleX
ls -ld /Applications/SimpleX.app "$HOME/.config/simplex" "$HOME/.local/share/simplex"
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.
If you installed it with Homebrew
The cask manages SimpleX.app and has no separate uninstall helper. Its current zap stanza removes only the saved application state, not the two chat-data locations above. That narrow stanza does not make manual deletion of the database safe.
To uninstall without zap, use:
brew uninstall --cask simplex
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. A direct brew uninstall --cask --zap simplex runs Homebrew’s full zap list without consulting Mole’s checkboxes.
Uninstalling this client does not delete other users’ messages or remove a separately operated relay or server.
What Mole lists
Mole selects the app and exact preferences/cache rows by default. The two SimpleX home-data leaves are review rows, unchecked when Remove data and settings with apps in General > Cleaning is off. Turning it on can preselect eligible desktop data; leave the rows unchecked to retain chats or data used by a separate CLI.
What this test covered
On September 21, 2026, the official arm64 SimpleX 7.0.2 app was opened and uninstalled without Homebrew. The app, preferences and Darwin cache were removed; an 8 KB configuration folder was not listed in that run. Mole now lists the exact configuration and share-data leaves for review. No real chat, database restoration or separate CLI was tested.