How to uninstall tev on Mac

tev is a high-dynamic-range (HDR) image comparison viewer designed for graphics researchers and photographers, featuring OpenEXR (.exr) support, multi-layer inspection, tone mapping, and IPC image streaming. Images and render outputs you opened in tev stay safely where you saved them; removing the app does not delete those image files. If you used tev's IPC socket for live rendering streams, quitting the app closes the socket without disrupting your background renderers. Local settings such as tone-mapping presets, exposure adjustments, and window layouts live in standard macOS Library locations. This guide covers the official Mac app and Homebrew cask tev.

Quit and remove the app

  1. Press Command + Q inside tev, or choose tev › Quit tev.
  2. Open Finder, navigate to Applications, and drag tev.app to the Trash.

Review local data

The paths in the table below are declared in the Homebrew cask. In Finder, press Shift + Command + G to inspect each path. Skip any path that is not present on your Mac.

Location What it holds What to do
~/Library/Preferences/org.tom94.tev.plist Tone mapping, exposure, and window preferences Preferences. Mole selects this file when it is present.
~/Library/Saved Application State/org.tom94.tev.savedState Saved window restoration state Saved window state. Mole selects this folder when it is present.

Check the result

pgrep -il tev
ls -ld "/Applications/tev.app" "$HOME/Library/Preferences/org.tom94.tev.plist" "$HOME/Library/Saved Application State/org.tom94.tev.savedState"
  • No output from pgrep means no matching process was found.
  • A printed line from pgrep indicates an active process. Check Activity Monitor to verify it is not another command containing tev.
  • An error from pgrep does not prove the app has quit.
  • A path printed by ls is still present on disk.
  • No such file or directory confirms that path has been completely removed.
  • Permission denied means your account lacks read access for that directory. Check your image files separately.

If you installed it with Homebrew

brew uninstall --cask tev

The cask quits org.tom94.tev during uninstall. Its zap list includes ~/Library/Preferences/org.tom94.tev.plist and ~/Library/Saved Application State/org.tom94.tev.savedState. Running brew uninstall --cask --zap tev removes that list unconditionally and does not read Mole's checkboxes. It does not delete images. Mole checks the full removal list and skips --zap when it reaches unchecked data, shared files, or a path it cannot verify. Leftovers you selected still use Mole's own removal.

What Mole lists

Mole selects the app, ~/Library/Preferences/org.tom94.tev.plist, and ~/Library/Saved Application State/org.tom94.tev.savedState when those items are present. Image files outside these paths are not part of this list.

These defaults assume “Remove data and settings with apps” is off. Opting in also selects eligible reviewed app data; shared stores and protected data retain individual review or stay locked.

What this test covered

On October 9, 2026, tev 2.14.0 from the official arm64 package was copied into Applications, opened to the tone-mapping panel, and removed. No image was imported. The recorded removal included the app and ~/Library/Preferences/org.tom94.tev.plist. The saved-state folder was not present. Status showed one tev row while it was running. No new launch agent was found. Mole's update page was not opened. A Homebrew install was not tested.