How to uninstall TRAE on Mac

TRAE keeps its AI chat data on your Mac: according to TRAE's troubleshooting page, ~/Library/Application Support/Trae/ModularData holds the chat databases, and clearing them loses chat history, unaccepted code changes and the snapshots used to roll a chat back. Removing the app leaves that folder in place; deleting it is final. Your projects stay wherever you keep them. These steps cover the international TRAE, the app named Trae in Applications with the bundle ID com.trae.app, downloaded from trae.ai, and the Homebrew cask trae. TRAE CN is a separate app and was not tested.

Quit TRAE and remove the app

  1. Save your work and quit TRAE from its app menu or with Command-Q.
  2. Search for Trae in Activity Monitor and check that its processes have exited. If TRAE CN is also open, its processes can match the same search; leave them alone.
  3. Move Trae from Finder's Applications folder to the Trash.
  4. Open System Settings › General › Login Items & Extensions and turn off any TRAE entry that is still listed.

Where TRAE keeps its files

In Finder, press Shift + Command + G and check each location. Skip the ones that do not exist.

Location What it holds What to do
~/Library/Application Support/Trae App data; its ModularData folder holds AI chat history, unaccepted changes and snapshots Keep it if you want your chat history back after reinstalling; remove it for a clean start
~/.trae Listed in Homebrew's zap list for TRAE. Other tools that install agent skills or rules for several editors can also write into it Look inside before removing it, and keep anything another tool put there
~/.trae-cn TRAE CN's folder Keep it while TRAE CN is installed
~/Library/Caches/com.trae.app, ~/Library/HTTPStorages/com.trae.app Cache and web storage Remove with the app
~/Library/Preferences/com.trae.app.plist, ~/Library/Preferences/com.trae.app.helper.plist Preferences Remove with the app
~/Library/Saved Application State/com.trae.app.savedState Saved window state Remove with the app
~/Library/Caches/com.trae.ShipIt Cache of TRAE's updater Remove with the app

The ModularData description comes from TRAE's documentation. The other paths come from the Homebrew cask's zap list and the recorded test.

Check the result

Run these read-only commands in Terminal:

pgrep -il trae
launchctl list | grep -i trae
ls -d "$HOME/Library/Application Support/Trae" ~/.trae ~/.trae-cn
  • No output from pgrep means no TRAE process is running. A listed process means TRAE, or TRAE CN, is still open.
  • No output from launchctl list means no TRAE job is loaded in your session. A com.trae.ShipIt line means TRAE's updater job is still registered; it is the job the Homebrew cask unloads when it uninstalls TRAE.
  • ls -d prints each folder that still exists and reports "No such file or directory" for the rest. A surviving Application Support/Trae is expected if you kept your chat history, and ~/.trae-cn belongs to TRAE CN.

If you installed it with Homebrew

The trae cask's uninstall step quits TRAE and unloads com.trae.ShipIt. Its zap list includes ~/.trae, ~/Library/Application Support/Trae with your chat history, the caches of the app and its updater, web storage, both preferences files, saved window state and TRAE's entry in the recent-documents list. Running brew uninstall --cask --zap trae yourself moves them to the Trash, whatever you ticked in Mole. Homebrew TRAE cask

To keep your chat history, remove only the app:

brew uninstall --cask trae

Mole never adds --zap for this cask, because ~/.trae sits outside ~/Library. It removes the app and the rows you selected instead.

Removing TRAE does not cancel a TRAE subscription. For other AI coding tools and what they leave behind, see Clean Up AI Coding Tools on Mac: Caches, CLIs, Transcripts.

What Mole lists

When you remove TRAE with Mole:

  • ~/Library/Application Support/Trae is listed but not selected, so your chat history stays unless you tick it.
  • Mole can also list ~/.trae, taken from Homebrew's zap list for this app, but does not select it.
  • Caches, preferences, web storage and saved window state filed under the bundle ID com.trae.app are selected by default.
  • ~/.trae-cn is not listed.

What this test covered

On September 22, 2026, the international TRAE was downloaded from trae.ai, copied into Applications, opened once, and removed with a development build of Mole through its quit-and-remove step; the app reported version 3.5.81. With the rows belonging to TRAE ticked, the 1.07 GB app, ~/Library/Application Support/Trae (8.2 MB) and ~/.trae (3.4 MB) went to the Trash. A ~/.trae-cn folder left from an earlier TRAE CN installation was not listed and stayed. No sign-in, chat or extension is recorded, and TRAE CN and the Homebrew cask were not tested.