How to uninstall Standard Notes on Mac
Standard Notes can be used without an account; in that mode, notes stay on this Mac. Before cleanup, use the app’s Backups settings to create and locate a backup, and separately export any attached files you need. The vendor’s uninstall instructions identify Help › Open Data Directory and Backups › Open Location; copy the wanted data from those locations before deleting it.
The recorded test used the official Mac package; the Homebrew route below is separate.
Remove the app
After confirming the backup, quit Standard Notes and move Standard Notes.app from Applications to Trash. The vendor also describes clearing its data and backups directories, but these are destructive choices, not prerequisites for moving the app. Keep an offline-only notebook and its backup until you have opened the exported copy.
Review local data
The path below is documented in the current Homebrew cask. In Finder, use Go › Go to Folder to inspect it. Do not remove its parent directory or another product’s data.
| Location | Decision |
|---|---|
~/Library/Application Support/Standard Notes |
Desktop support data named in cask zap and removed in the test. It may include offline-only notes, so keep it until backup is checked. |
The tested package uses bundle ID org.standardnotes.standardnotes. Review only files that actually appear on this Mac. A missing path needs no cleanup.
Vendor documentation · Additional vendor instructions
Check what remains
Run these read-only commands after quitting the app:
pgrep -il 'Standard Notes'
ls -d "$HOME/Library/Application Support/Standard Notes"
No process output means there is no matching process running now; it does not prove every helper is gone. A listed process needs its owner checked. If ls prints the path, that item remains and needs review. “No such file or directory” means this path is absent; a permission error means its state was not established.
If you installed it with Homebrew
The current standard-notes cask has a zap list covering Standard Notes support data, caches, helper preferences and saved state. A direct brew command with --zap applies the cask list without consulting Mole’s checkboxes. After backing up, use this command without --zap:
brew uninstall --cask standard-notes
Mole checks each zap path against your selections, other installed apps, and protected locations. An unchecked, shared, or unverifiable path suppresses --zap; selected remnants can still use Mole’s own removal flow. This cask was not the recorded installation channel.
What Mole lists
Mole lists Application Support/Standard Notes as an app-name review row, initially unchecked. Exact org.standardnotes.standardnotes caches and preferences can be selected by default. Its selection does not prove a backup exists, and an offline-only account can have no server copy.
What this test covered
The official Standard Notes.app 3.202.0 was removed on September 21, 2026, with a 2 MB Application Support/Standard Notes row selected. The run did not sign in or create notes, so it did not test offline-only data, backups, attachments or account sync.